Roasting vegetables, Especially this time of Year

November is root vegetable and cruciferous vegetable time. Cruciferous vegetables are broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, bok choy, Brussels sprouts. You can find carrots and broccoli year round wherever you shop, but Oh how they are different at different times of the year. Now they have a slightly different color. They are hydrated. Broccoli is full of Broccoli water. Cabbages are full of natural sugar. Use these to your advantage

The photos below are Kohlrabi, delicious and crunchy raw, but sweet and perfect when roasted with olive oil and salt. Kohlrabi off season is harder, dryer, and closer to wood. It needs long roasting and some kind of liquid.

I cut my favorite cruciferous vegetables into manageable pieces, toss in oil, season and roast in a pan at medium high to high heat. Then I splash with lemon or a delicate ponzu and serve. Intense, concentrated, and sometimes charred. Their raw, pure flavor intensified. The whole reason for cooking at all.

Hydrated Broccoli in season