Sheet-Pan Roasted Root Vegetables with Thyme
Root vegetables are the cheapest produce in the store through the cold months, and a sheet pan turns them into a side that goes with almost anything. The only trick to roasting without oil is heat and space: a hot oven dries and browns the cut surfaces, and pieces spread apart brown instead of steaming into mush. Carrots, turnips, beets, celery root, and potatoes all roast at about the same rate cut to the same size, and unpeeled garlic cloves go sweet and soft in their skins to squeeze over at the end. A splash of apple cider vinegar off the oven does what a pinch of salt would do, waking up the caramelized sweetness so nothing tastes flat.
Ingredients
- 3 wholes Carrots (cooking), cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 wholes Turnips, peeled and cut into wedges
- 2 wholes Beets, peeled and cut into wedges
- 1 whole Celery root, peeled and cut into 1 inch chunks
- 2 wholes Potatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks
- 6 cloves Garlic, unpeeled
- 1 tbsp Thyme, leaves stripped
- 1 tbsp Rosemary, chopped
- 2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp Black peppercorns, freshly ground
- 2 tbsp Flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Method
- Heat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Keep the beets on their own corner of the pan or on a separate sheet, because they bleed and will stain the paler vegetables pink. That is cosmetic, not a flaw, so it is up to you.
- Toss all the vegetables and the unpeeled garlic with 3 tablespoons (45 ml) water, the thyme, rosemary, and black pepper. The splash of water and the moisture in the vegetables is enough to carry the herbs and start the cooking; oil is only there for browning, and high heat does that job instead.
- Spread everything in a single layer with space between the pieces. Crowding is the one mistake that ruins oil-free roasting: pieces that touch trade steam and go soft, while pieces with room around them dry at the surface and brown. Use two pans if one is tight.
- Roast 35 to 40 minutes, turning once halfway, until the edges are deep brown and a knife goes through easily. The browning is the flavor here. Dry surfaces and real heat give you the caramelized, roasty taste people usually credit to the oil.
- Squeeze the soft roasted garlic out of its skins over the vegetables, then toss with the apple cider vinegar and parsley while everything is still hot. The vinegar hitting hot vegetables lifts the sweetness and stands in for the salt you are not adding.
Nutrition
Estimated per serving: 150 calories, 4 g protein, 8 g fiber, 90 mg sodium. Computed from USDA FoodData Central reference values for the main ingredients. This is an approximation, not a laboratory measurement. How these are computed.
Cost per serving is estimated from US national-average retail prices for cheap staple forms, using BLS dried-bean prices and USDA produce prices. Prices vary by store and season, so treat it as a guide, not a receipt. How this is computed.
