The Focus

Level: Beginner

Objective: To Introduce the class to a simple and universally appropriate technique

Reading Time: 5 Minutes

Chapter 1 | All About Roasting

Slowly but surely y’all are turning into cooking rockstars right before my eyes! So I want to reward you this week with a short and somewhat simple lesson. In my humble opinion, roasting vegetables is THE best way to make them a consistent part of your diet. The crispness, the caramelization -- ugh, the science behind it just makes my heart melt with fiber filled joy. You’d be surprised by the lack of veggies the average person actually eats over the course of a week. But I’m not here to talk about problems, I’m here to offer solutions. 

The Nutritional Science of Roasting

The New Year’s diets are going steady right now, so for this section I wanted to focus on whether or not cooking vegetables really affects the nutritional value like people think it does. To come to that conclusion, let’s first explain how roasting works.

Roasting as a cooking technique is sort of a blanket statement. It simply means to cook something with dry heat at a high temperature. Oven roasted, fire roasted -- you could even say a microwave is a roasting apparatus. But since I try to stay away from microwaves, and open combustion is an inconvenient option, we will solely be talking about how ovens are the perfect piece of equipment to get the job done.

Roasting is very different than baking! Oven roasting is when a cook lays an ingredient on a flat surface and “bakes” the ingredient at a high temperature (around 400°F) aiming to create a browned and crispy surface on the food. So roasted cookies are not technically a thing, since they are cooked around 350°F. Oven roasting is a pretty passive way to cook, making it perfect for weeknight meals and those days where you just feel uninspired to go full chef mode at home.

1. VOCAB - There is another technique called slow roasting. Typically used for large pieces of meat. It is roasting at a temperature between 200 and 320°F.

So we know how to do it, but the question still remains… WHAT does cooking something to this degree do to the nutritional value of a vegetable? Well, after some research the true answer is that IT DEPENDS. Methods that require submersion in a liquid like boiling, or frying have been proven to reduce the nutritional value at a higher rate than methods like steaming, sauteing, or ROASTING! The reason is simple. When something is called to be submerged in a hot liquid, cooking time is increased. Meaning the nutrients found in common vegetables have more time to leach out into the cooking liquid. (Miglio, Chiavaro, Visconti, Fogliano, & Pellegrini, 2007) So if the efficiency of your vitamin intake matters, the only thing I would say is to stay away from those 2 methods.

Cooking is in our nature. It allows us to take ingredients that are otherwise indigestible and turn it all into delicious and new flavor experiences. There is no question whether or not cooking a vegetable deteriorates some of the nutrients it once contained. The question at hand is whether it changes these nutritious compounds to a degree where it is worth sacrificing FLAVOR! And because I’m a flavor junkie, my answer is NO. A vegetable, is a vegetable, is a vegetable… and I believe that food should be enjoyed. I’ll stop here because I think you all get the point. But If you are struggling to keep a balanced diet, try the upcoming method out to give your tastebuds a new perspective on veggies.

Proper Roasting Tidbits

• My sweet spot for roasting vegetables is 375 - 400° Fahrenheit. The proper temperature range for meats is a little less finite, since they all have various properties.

• Give the roasting food ample amount of space on the sheet pan. If they are too close together or piled on top of each other, the moisture being released will cause the veggies to steam; ultimately preventing that crispy brown exterior. Use 2 sheet pans if necessary.

• If roasting only 1 pan of something, always set your oven rack in the center. This is where the heat is most evenly distributed.

  1. It is also in your favor to rotate the front of the pan to the back of the oven halfway through cooking. The back of the oven is typically the hottest, and can lead to uneven cooking if not accounted for.

• If you are using a convection oven (an oven with a fan in the back that evenly distributes heat) LOWER the cooking temperature the recipe states by 25°F

• If using, trim any parchment paper to fit exactly the size of the baking sheet. Excess paper can burn and catch fire.

Check for Understanding

• Did we nerd out today? A little. But did you learn a basic technique that you can apply to any plant based food item? Yes. This upcoming recipe uses brussels sprouts and carrots. But try your hand at roasting things like cauliflower, sweet potatoes, squash, corn, and any other veggies you can get your hands on. Just remember to douse them with a bit of oil, season with salt and pepper, lay on a flat surface, and throw it into a 375-400°F oven!

Chapter 2 | Recipe of the Week

To practice your new knowledge, try out my recipe for Roasted Veggies with a Hot Honey Drizzle. The technical term for this “drizzle” is called a gastrique!

• Vocab - Gastrique is a french term that in the culinary world identifies a sweet and sour sauce made from reducing honey and vinegar.

Wanna impress your friends with some major flavor? Throw this together with some chicken and rice and watch their jaws drop at the 5-star chef of the night!

See you all next week! As always, if you have any questions or comments, leave them down below!

Class dismissed!

Citations:

Miglio, C., Chiavaro, E., Visconti, A., Fogliano, V., & Pellegrini, N. (2007, December 11). Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. Retrieved January 17, 2020, from https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/jf072304b