Roast Veggie Salad

It's been a busy week -- either long days in the lab, or eating out as we usually do on Wednesday evenings after the Harvard Immunology Seminar Series lectures (followed by wine and cheese reception at the medical school). Either way it means our own kitchen doesn't see much action...

After a long day in the lab on Thursday, we sat down around 9 pm to a dinner of roasted vegetable salad. Melissa has done this a few times before, and our favorite combination is roasted beets and fennel bulbs, although she has previously included carrots and potatoes among other things that looked good at the grocery store or happened to be growing in our little urban garden. For anyone who has yet to associate beets with good food experiences, the roasted root is a much different beast from the boiled and pickled one. When roasted long and slow, the sugars caramelize beautifully and make a tasty crust at the edges of the peeled root (see above).

Melissa roasts the peeled and rough-cut veggies for about an hour arranged in a nonstick roasting pan with just cooking spray and balsamic vinegar, then serves them on a field green salad with fresh tomatoes and some good olive oil, sea salt and fresh ground pepper. She enjoyed the salad with a glass of 2006 Redcliffe sauvignon blanc (Marlborough, NZ). I washed it down with a Long Trail Ale (it may have been two; Vermont, USA) from the six-pack that Taylor brought by around 9:45 pm on his way back into town from his volunteer teaching gig at Norfolk Medium Security Prison (you'll have to ask him about that...).

Not a bad night, all in all.