Garlic Roasted Veggies

I'll be honest. When I was growing up, I absolutely HATED vegetables. I'm not joking. I literally wouldn't eat a vegetable unless is was fried or (sometimes) cooked into a spaghetti sauce.

I'm not sure when exactly I took such a complete turn in this. It was some time in college. Actually it may have been when I studied abroad in Vienna. My roommates and I had reached the point of not being able to consume any more butter, fried food, or red meat. Seriously - there's so much of that in German/Austrian cuisine. Anyways, a few of my roommates and I took turns cooking. Not wanting to be that one person who was super picky, especially since we were in another country and already having to figure out how to cook there, I ate pretty much anything my roommates made me. One of my roommates, Whitney, was a wonderful cook (she still is) and love love LOVED vegetables. I found myself consuming - and LIKING - more and more vegetables!

I was astonished. So was my family. They still can't believe how much I now love vegetables. My love for these lovely colorful vegetables has simply intensified with each year. Most recently, I have found that I like asparagus. I think I had judged asparagus a little prematurely because it always surprised me in my sushi. I'm not really big on bacon, so the asparagus-bacon combo didn't d anything to entice me. My love of vegetables has grown so much in the past few years, that I decided to actively pursue other vegetables. I decided I would try fresh asparagus and green beans this summer. I went to a friend's house a couple weeks ago and lo and behold - she had made asparagus! Never wanting to be the ungrateful guest, I put a little on my plate (but not too much!) just to try. The first bite, and I was HOOKED. I couldn't wait to add asparagus to my veggie repertoire!

All that to say that I, too, now love love LOVE vegetables. Today's recipe is Garlic Roasted Vegetables. I made these tonight ahead of the rest of our meal. AJ and I literally had to walk into another room to keep from consuming the entire pan before dinner! Of course, you can change this recipe to include/exclude the vegetables you like/don't like, but it is just so yummy!

Garlic Roasted Veggies
1/2 yellow onion, roughly chopped (the bigger, the better!)
10 asparagus stalks, cut into 1 1/2" to 2" pieces
3 carrots, cut into 1 1/2" - 2" pieces
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons sea salt
1 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
8 oz mushrooms, quartered

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In a greased cookie sheet, combine all vegetables but tomatoes and mushrooms. Evenly spread olive oil, sea salt, red pepper, and lemon juice on top.

3. Bake for 30 minutes, stirring every 10-15 minutes.

4. Add the tomatoes and mushrooms, bake for an additional 10 minutes.

5. If you like your veggies more on the crisp side (like me), increase heat to broil for two minutes.

Serve immediately. Delicious by itself, or serve on the side of chicken or fish. Pictured at the top of this entry with Captain Hook Coconut Cod (recipe coming soon).