Caribbean Roasted Vegetables

I know it's pretty shocking that I'm not posting a baked good. Sometimes I think about just changing my blog to only baking but there are some really yummy (and sometimes healthy) meals/dips/etc that I find and I want to share those too. Like this one. Practically every weekday for the last year, I took raw vegetables to work or school to eat as a snack. It took me a while but yes I got sick of them. This is what I've replaced them with. Roasted deliciousness. Usually I do sweet potatoes, carrots, rutabaga, beets and butternut squash. I've also used celery root (which I've always wanted to try) and yea maybe I just don't know how to cook it but that did not taste very good. I've tried a couple of different dressings (and done it with just a bit of oil too) but this one is the best so far. I was skeptical of the cinnamon and cloves but the dressing tastes so yummy.

When choosing vegetables for roasting, choose ones that are more sturdy. Broccoli and eggplant are definitely not sturdy (I tried those knowing what would happen but did it anyway). I've been roasting vegetables every week for the last month or so and have determined that I like to cook them at a lower temperature for a really long time (up to 3 hours if the pieces are a bit on the big side). It's really important that you cut the vegetables approximately all the same size (seems obvious but I'm usually not too concerned about this). We cook up a big batch on the weekend then eat it randomly throughout the week, with lunch or dinner.

This recipe comes from my new favourite cookbook, Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites. Not every recipe I've tried has been awesome but there have been some good ones. The reason I love it is because they're vegetarian (aside from the chapter on fish - what's with that), healthy and relatively easy and quick to make.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Balkan Roasted Vegetable Salad
Portabello Fettuccine with Spinach Pesto, Roasted Peppers & Romano Cheese

Caribbean Roasted Vegetables
Adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

12-15 cups of chopped vegetables (could be a butternut squash, a sweet potato, a few beets, a few carrots, and a rutabaga)

Dressing:
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tbsp canola oil
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp packed brown sugar
1 small onion, coarsely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeds removed and minced

Puree the dressing ingredients in a food processor.

Prepare the vegetables and two baking sheets. Preheat the oven to 350F. Mix the vegetables with the dressing in a large bowl or pot. Spread them out evenly on the baking sheets. Bake for about 2 hours or longer, depending on how roasted you want them to be. Flip the vegetables a few times (definitely check them at the 1 hour mark to make sure they're doing okay) and if you want move the sheets as well in the oven.