Portugal vegetables – roasted

A tray of fresh oven roasted vegetables is one of our favourite ways of enjoying all of the seasonal produce Portugal has to offer us.

A couple of roasted chicken legs and a tray of roasted vegetables has become a regular supper early in the week or the day after guests leave – a mass of vegetables seems to be what our bodies crave after the overindulgences of an Algarve weekend!

Vegetables – roasted

Roasted vegetables are so easy to make, following a few golden rules:

1. Chop everything into similar sized chunks.
2. Season with salt, pepper, herbs, olive oil and something sharp, like wine or sherry vinegar.
3. Roast the harder veg, like carrots, squash and onions for the first 20 minutes, then add the softer stuff (tomatoes, courgettes,) for another 20 mins.

It’s a shame that as far as you can work out from a lot of restaurants here, the bounty of roasted vegetables available in the Algarve don’t make it any further than the soup pot. Cooking roasted vegetables is a great way of using up all the shiny produce you end up buying on impulse when touring the local markets!

Whether it’s carrots, onions and squash, seasoned with lots of rosemary and thyme to accompany some lamb, or tomatoes, courgettes and thick spring onions – with basil and white wine vinegar, plonked next to a barbecued fish, we seem to be able to customise a tray of vegetables, roasted in the oven, to accompany any meal. Why not work towards your “5 a day,” and do the same!

Image credit: christmasstockimages