Roasted Harvest Vegetables with Dijon Mustard Sauce
This is a delicious recipe I developed over many fall harvests All together it makes a great vegetarian dinner for a cool fall night.
This is a delicious recipe I developed over many fall harvests All together it makes a great vegetarian dinner for a cool fall night.
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 cup milk
- 2 large sweet potatoes
- 1 large onion
- 16 brussels sprouts
- 4 sprigs fresh rosemary (up to 5 sprigs)
- 0.5 tsp. cinnamon
- 0.25 tsp. nutmeg fresh grated
- 1 pinch cloves
- 1 tsp. unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 tsp. salt (kosher or sea salt)
- 0.5 tsp. freshly ground pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil (up to 3)
- 3 tbsp butter
- 3 tbsp flour
- 0.75 cup vegetable broth
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 cup shredded italian cheese
- 1 dash tabasco sauce or other hot sauce
- 1 cup rice
- Carbohydrate 75.9564421833698 g
- Cholesterol 80.445 mg
- Fat 36.0154273960802 g
- Fiber 7.97643642148555 g
- Protein 17.2126415101351 g
- Saturated Fat 19.1485160937597 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (410g)
- Sodium 1400.96270321123 mg
- Sugar 67.9800057618842 g
- Trans Fat 2.12552617707779 g
- Calories 687 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Prepare rice as directed on package.
- Peel sweet potatoes and cut them into large chunks. (they will shrink when roasted) Peel onion and cut into large chunks. Trim Brussels sprouts and cut them in half lengthwise. Put all the vegetables into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Mix together in a small bowl the cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, cocoa powder, salt and pepper. Sprinkle this over the vegetables and stir until they are evenly coated with the spice mixture. Put them on a rimmed cookie sheet and lay the fresh rosemary over the top. Make sure the Brussels sprouts are cut side down. (this makes for a great golden bottom) Roast for 45 minutes or until all vegetables are nice and tender.
- While the veggies are cooking, make rice and sauce:
- Sauce
- Melt butter in a medium pan over medium heat. Add flour, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Whisk well, and cook 2 minutes over medium heat to take away the raw flour taste. Add broth and milk all at once and whisk constantly until smooth. Add Dijon mustard and cook until bubbly and thick. Turn heat to low and whisk in cheese gradually. Whisk until melted. Taste and add more salt, pepper and hot sauce to taste.
- To serve, put rice into the center of a large platter and surround with roasted vegetables. Drizzle the sauce over the veggies or serve the sauce on the side. Garnish with a couple of fresh sprigs rosemary.
- This makes a great vegetarian dish, but if you must, add your favorite meat to round out the meal.
Charred edges on sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts emerge from high-heat convection at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, creating aromatic pyrazines through the Maillard reaction. Cutting root vegetables into large chunks prevents them from turning to mush during the 45-minute roast, maintaining internal moisture while exterior starches caramelize. Fresh rosemary needles release fat-soluble essential oils directly onto the roasting pan, infusing the olive oil coating as the temperature climbs. Placing Brussels sprouts cut-side down maximizes direct contact with the hot metal sheet, encouraging thermal conduction for a deep golden-brown crust.
Utilizing fresh rosemary delivers robust piney volatile compounds that dried herbs lose during commercial dehydration and long storage. Freshly grated nutmeg introduces warm, volatile terpene oils that pre-ground powders lack entirely due to rapid oxidization in the pantry. Raw alliums like fresh onions contain sulfur compounds that mellow significantly under dry heat, shifting from pungent to sweet as complex carbohydrates break down into simple sugars. Dried cocoa powder adds bitter tannins that balance the high natural sugar content found in dense root vegetables.
Building a roux requires cooking flour and butter together for precisely two minutes to eliminate the raw starch taste by gelatinizing flour molecules in fat rather than water. Whisking vegetable broth and milk all at once into the cooked roux prevents lump formation by evenly hydrating starch granules before they clump. Gradual addition of Italian cheese over low heat ensures the dairy proteins do not separate into a grainy emulsion, maintaining a smooth viscosity in the sauce.
Combining these components creates a bridge between earthy sweetness and sharp pungency. The mustard compounds interact chemically with dairy fats, softening the mustard's volatile pungency into a rounded savory profile that coats the tongue. Rice serves as a neutral starch base, absorbing excess moisture from the sauce while providing textural contrast against the tender roasted root vegetables.
Utilizing fresh rosemary delivers robust piney volatile compounds that dried herbs lose during commercial dehydration and long storage. Freshly grated nutmeg introduces warm, volatile terpene oils that pre-ground powders lack entirely due to rapid oxidization in the pantry. Raw alliums like fresh onions contain sulfur compounds that mellow significantly under dry heat, shifting from pungent to sweet as complex carbohydrates break down into simple sugars. Dried cocoa powder adds bitter tannins that balance the high natural sugar content found in dense root vegetables.
Building a roux requires cooking flour and butter together for precisely two minutes to eliminate the raw starch taste by gelatinizing flour molecules in fat rather than water. Whisking vegetable broth and milk all at once into the cooked roux prevents lump formation by evenly hydrating starch granules before they clump. Gradual addition of Italian cheese over low heat ensures the dairy proteins do not separate into a grainy emulsion, maintaining a smooth viscosity in the sauce.
Combining these components creates a bridge between earthy sweetness and sharp pungency. The mustard compounds interact chemically with dairy fats, softening the mustard's volatile pungency into a rounded savory profile that coats the tongue. Rice serves as a neutral starch base, absorbing excess moisture from the sauce while providing textural contrast against the tender roasted root vegetables.
