We adapted this recipe from one of Ina Garten’s wonderful cookbooks, “Barefoot Contessa – Back to Basics.”  This dish not only tastes delicious, but it combines the starch and vegetable sides all into one dish, cooked on a single cookie sheet.  Through trial and error (probably more error than trial), we determined what we think are the best cooking times for each element of the dish to ensure that the potatoes cook fully and none of the veggies get over-cooked.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Drizzle some olive oil on a cookie sheet and stir in the potatoes.  After they are coated in olive oil, spread out the potatoes in a single layer, with most of them cut-side down (skin-side up), so that they will brown nicely.

Leeks are the next ingredient to go in the oven, so prepare the leeks while the potatoes cook.  One of our changes to Ina’s (can we call her Ina?) recipe is to substitute leeks for fennel bulbs, just because we love leeks.  In this dish, they get a little bit crispy and add a subtle onion flavor to the rest of the veggies.

After cutting off the tips, cut the white and light green part of the leeks into into 2-2.5 inch pieces.

Then cut the leek pieces in half, length-wise.  On a related note, if anyone knows of a good use of the leftover leek pieces (on the right in the pic), please leave a comment.  We hate having to throw those out.

The potatoes cook alone for about 15 minutes, turning once halfway.  See how they are starting they are starting to brown?

Add the leek pieces to the cookie sheet with the potatoes and put the sheet back in the oven.

Prepare the green beans and asparagus.  For the green beans, cut off any brown or withered tips, then cut them in half.  Depending on the size of your asparagus, cut it in thirds.

Pull the potatoes and leeks out of the oven to turn/toss.  After they cook a bit longer, add the green beans, toss and put the cookie sheet back in the oven.

After the veggies have cooked for 5-10 minutes, add the asparagus, toss, and back in the oven they go.

During one of the veggie checks, pay attention to the leeks.  If some of the pieces are still thick with all the layers intact, you may want to use  your spatula to break them up.  This gives you more crispy layers.

After the veggies are almost done, sprinkle them with salt & pepper, then grate some parmesan cheese over the veggies and put the sheet back in the oven for a couple of minutes to melt the cheese.

Cheese, melted.  Veggies, roasted.

This is one of our favorite side dishes.  It takes a little extra time to get all the veggies cooked the appropriate amount, but it’s otherwise very easy and such a great way to combine essential food groups!

Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• fingerling potatoes, cut in half lengthwise (you can also use small potatoes cut in half, or medium ones cut into fourths)
• 3 leeks, rinsed
• thin green beans (“haricots verts”)
• thin asparagus
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place the potatoes on a cookie sheet, drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over the potatoes and stir to coat the potatoes evenly.  Place them in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes, turning once halfway through.

While the potatoes cook, cut the root tips off of the leeks and cut off the white parts.  Cut the white parts in half, length-wise.  After the potatoes have cooked for 15 minutes, add the leeks to the cookie sheet and stir them together with the potatoes.  Cook the leeks and potatoes 20 minutes, stirring with a spatula halfway through.

Next add the green beans, stir the veggies together, and cook for 5-10 minutes.

Finally, add the asparagus, stir the veggies together, and cook for 5 minutes.

When the roasted vegetables are almost done, take them out of the oven to salt and pepper them, then sprinkle grated Parmesan over them, and cook for about 2 more minutes.

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