Adventures in Vegetarian Cooking: Roasted Portabellos with Sweets and Beets

I love beets and sweet potatoes.  Anything that tastes like candy but counts as a vegetable gets a gold star from me.  One of my favorite ways to eat them is to roast them together.  I call it sweets and beets (after the Terra chips).  I love them so much that I will brave 90 degree weather to cook them.  I was pretty hot and grumpy by the end of it - so probably not the best recipe for a hot summer day.  Fall would be a better time for this recipe.

First I sauteed some scapes and scallions (about three of each) in olive oil.

 Then I added the sweets potatoes and beets.  If you roast beets by themselves you don't have to peel them, just throw them in the pot.  By the time they are cooked the peels will slip right off.  I always peel them because I roast them with the sweet potatoes. 

 I basted the mushrooms in olive oil, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar

 The sweets and beets took about 40 minutes, the mushrooms took about 25 at 425 degrees.  To get some protein/grains we tried Trader Joe's Harvest Grains.  It was a mix of orzo, couscous, garbanzo beans, and quinoa. 

I initially made it with just salt, pepper, and butter.  It was a bit bland so I went to my go to spice, which (as always) made it great:

We both loved it and come fall, it will be on regular rotation in our house:

I generally don't write out recipes here b/c of copyright.  If I'm following other people's recipes to the T, I don't want to run the risk of infringing their copyright.  So I prefer just to link back to them if the recipe is online or mention where I got the recipe from, if you are inspired to try it.  But this recipe is mine, so I'll give writing an actual recipe a try.



For the sweets and beets:
1/4 cup scapes cut into 1/2 inch strips (or two-three garlic cloves, minced)
1/4 cup scallions cut into 1/2 inch strips (or 1/2 a large onion, diced)
8-12 medium beets, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
Salt and pepper to taste

For the mushrooms:
2 large portabello mushrom caps, stems removed
1/2 T rosemary
1/2 T thyme
1 T olive oil
1/2 T balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

For the grains
1/2 package Trader Joe's Harvest Grains blend
Chicken broth or Vegetable broth or water
1 T butter**
1 T garam marsala Indian spice blend
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425.  In a large, oven safe pan* sautee the scapes and scallions in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the beets, sweet potatoes and salt and pepper.  Mix to coat evenly with oil and place pan in oven.  Stir and check every 20 minutes.  It should be done in 40-60 minutes.  You are looking for the vegetables to be soft to the touch and some of the sweet potatoes should be slightly brown (carmelized).

Season both sides of the mushrooms with the rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vingear.  Place the mushrooms top side down on a cookie sheet (you might want to line with tin foil to avoid having to scrub your cookie sheet later).  Place in oven for 20-25 minutes, flip once.

Follow the package directions of the Harvest Grains.  Add salt pepper and garam marsala once cooked. 

*I used a cast iron dutch oven but if you don't have something that can go from stovetop to oven you can sautee in separate pan and then transfer to an oven save dish
**If you use vegetable broth or water and coconut oil (or other butter substitute) this recipe would be VEGAN!