Roasted Kohlrabi, Carrots and Baby Broccoli With Garlic Scapes
Some notes on roasting vegetables…
Roasted vegetables are a wonderful sweet and savory taste experience. After trying many different combinations of vegetables, I’ve found that the trick to mastering roasting is for each vegetable to be cut to the right size so they will be tender at the same time and not having to keep them all cooking because one is not tender yet. After some experimenting, I found that daikon radishes (white and purple and probably green too), parsnips, carrots and sweet potatoes all consistently cook fine when cut no more than an inch by a half and inch. Beets, rutabagas, kohlrabi and turnips are the ones that need to be cut no more than a half an inch. If it all goes right, the onions are slightly caramelized and all the vegetables come out sweet with only a hint of the naturally bitter undertone left in the vegetables that have them.
Doing vegetables this way is really fun and goes along side lamb or beef roasts or burgers, barbecued steak, roasted chicken or turkey and scrambled eggs — just about everything. Ideally, they need to be eaten right away.
I’ll be posting a series of combinations of roasted vegetables and will be putting this introduction with each of them hoping it will help everyone become successful at these really delicious and pretty side dishes.
Roasted Carrots, Kohlrabi and Baby Broccoli With Garlic Scapes
Ingredients
The amounts of each of the cut up vegetables will vary depending on the size you buy. A total of 6 cups of vegetables, plus the onions, works well for an 18 by 13 sheet pan. Don’t overcrowd of the vegetables will steam instead of caramelizing.
- 2 purple or green kohlrabi, peeled (use a knife), and cut into small 1/2″ pieces
- parts of different color carrots, peeled and sliced diagonally in 1/3″ slices
- 3 baby broccoli (peel stalk with a carrot peeler, cut into 2″ pieces
- small or medium yellow or white sweet onion, sliced in wedges
- 1 cup of 1 1/2 – 2″ garlic scape pieces
- 3 1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon avocado or olive oil, divided
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 1/2 tablespoon chopped rosemary
- salt
Instructions
Line a sheet pan with foil or parchment paper. Place kohlrabi, carrots and baby broccoli pieces in a medium bowl and onions in another bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon of oil over the onions and mix with your hands to spread the oil over all the pieces. Spread the onions on the prepared cookie sheet and bake in a 425 degree oven for 8 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Mix 1 teaspoon olive oil with the scape pieces in a small bowl and set aside. Measure 2 tablespoons oil into a small bowl and add the garlic and rosemary and mix. Pour mixture over the kohlrabi, carrots, and baby broccoli stalks and mix with hands to coat all the pieces. Place the scales and baby broccoli tops in another bowl and sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of oil. Spread the kohlrabi, carrots, and baby broccoli stalks among the cooked onions. Sprinkle with salt. Roast for 10 minutes, remove from oven and add the garlic scapes and baby broccoli tops, stir with a nylon spatula to reposition and turn the vegetables over and return to oven for an additional 20 minutes until lightly browned and making sure the kohlrabi is very tender and sweet by removing one with a fork and tasting it. This is high heat. Keep an eye on it so they don’t burn.
