Oven Roasted Root Vegetables with Horseradish Dill Sauce

I am a huge fans of veggies, and I love the flavor you get from roasting them in the oven. This makes a pretty big batch of vegetables but I'll usually just portion them into microwave containers and bring one to work everyday for lunch. This works as a good vegetarian main dish or you can use it as a side dish, the flavors of the vegetables works really well with pretty much every kind of meat. 

Rutabagas, turnips and parsnips are all under rated as far as I am concered. Rutabagas are used in some countries in place of any other root vegetable, including potatoes and let me tell you, mashed rutabaga is DELICIOUS. And they make a fantastic addition to a large variety of soups. I know I was hesitant to buy it at first since I'd never eaten it before but it's delicious and has a really high Vitamin C content. Trust me on this, give it a shot. 

Parsnips are related to carrots and you can definitely tell by looking at them since they basically looks like an albino carrot. They have a slightly sweet flavor and it's high in vitamins and minerals especially in potassium. It is also chock full of anti-oxidants so there are definitely health benefits to eating them. 

If you've never tried any of these three root vegetables, I highly recommend giving them a shot. They are so tasty and incredibly good for you. 

And also tasty.

Roasted Root Vegetables 

1 1/2 lb of baby red potatoes 

2 small onions, coarsely chopped

1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1" chunks 

2 parsnips, peeled and cut into 1" chunks 

1 turnip, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 lb baby carrots

3 stalks of celery, coarsely chipped 

10 whole garlic cloves, peeled

olive oil

1-2 tablespoons thyme 

kosher salt & pepper to taste 

cayenne 

Horseradish dill sauce 

1 cup mayo, sour cream or yougurt 

1-2 tablespoons horseradish 

1 tablespoon dried dill weed

1/8 teaspoon cayenne 

salt and pepper to taste

1. Pre-heat oven to 425, lightly coat the bottom of a large roasting pan with olive oil. I don't actually have a large enough roasting pan so I usually use 2 - 9" x 11" baking dishes. You don't want the vegetables to be too crowded and you will have to stir them halfway through so you want to make sure there is enough room to do that without spilling all over the place

2. In a pretty big mixing bowl, combine all the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme to your taste. Carefully pour the veggies and garlic into the prepared baking dishes. Sprinkle CAREFULLY with cayenne pepper, do not get too carried away with cayenne as not only can it make the veggies too spicy to eat, cayenne adds a very distinct flavor when too much is added and it's not very pleasant. 

3. Bake veggies for 45 minutes to an hour, or until the potatoes are tender 

4.While the vegetables are baking, prepare the horseradish sauce. Mix all of the ingredients in a small bowl, I like to mix it in a tupperware bowl or something with a lid so I can mix them up and stash it in the fridge to chill while the vegetables continue to cook. 

5. eat all the food

*this sauce is also what I use when I make fish, or beef or basically anything because I love it so much. I use the olive oil mayo but you can also use regular mayo, Miracle Whip, plain yougurt or sour cream. Mayo gives it a slightly sweet finish whereas the yogurt and sour cream give it a tangyness that is a nice contrast depending on what you are serving it with. 

I could use a guest NOMMER on this but I'd give it a 9 out of 10 personally.