Roasted Veggies with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Cauliflower, brussels sprouts, sweet potato --- the mere mention of these vegetables had my brothers and I groaning with disgust at the dinner table. I'm a big girl now, and my palate has evolved to appreciate and enjoy the flavor of these veggies. Aside from taste, these veggies are packed with nutrition and high in fiber, so you can totally load your plate guilt-free with these gems.

This recipe is a fantastic way to highlight these underappreciated vegetables, and it is super easy to prepare. This is a delicious and nutritious side dish for the Thanksgiving table.

The most time consuming part is cleaning and cutting the veggies:
Roast the prepared veggies until they are cooked through and golden brown:
While the veggies are roasting, you can whip up the vinaigrette. A few months back, the nice people from POM Wonderful sent me a box of their fantastic pomegranate juice, which I put into good use in this recipe. Along with the pomegranate juice, I added just a smidge of pomegranate molasses, which delivers an essential pungent and tart flavor to the vinaigrette. After tossing the still warm veggies with the vinaigrette, top the dish with a generous handful of pomegranate seeds, and...

...enjoy! Easy, isn't it?

Roasted Vegetables with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

adapted from Martha Stewart Living - November 2009

For the Roasted Vegetables

1/2 head cauliflower, cut into small florets
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut

1/2 lb brussels sprouts, halved

2 tbsp olive oil

salt and pepper

For the Vinaigrette

1/3 cup pomegranate juice

1 tsp pomegranate molasses (if you can't find this ingredient, you can omit)

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

Preheat the oven to 425F degrees.

Toss the vegetables and oil in a large bowl and season with salt and pepper. (To avoid washing another dish, I toss and season directly on the baking sheet) Roast for 20-30 minutes, until golden brown. Transfer veggies to a serving platter.

Make the vinaigrette. In a bowl mix the pomegranate juice and molasses. Pour in oil in a slow steady stream, whisking until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper.

Just before serving, drizzle vinaigrette over warm vegetables, and top with pomegranate seeds.

Serves 6

Cran-Apple Crisps (TWD)

As a thin-blooded native Californian, I was reaching for my fuzzy slippers and huddling under a flannel blanket last night as the temperature dipped into the 40's. Okay...you can stop laughing at my weather wimpiness, as I get enough mocking at home courtesy of my hubs. As a New Jersey native, he thought last night's temperature was "refreshingly crisp" and sat next to his shivering wife wearing a t-shirt and shorts.

The hubs and I will forever disagree about how we define cold weather, but we both agreed that this warm Cran-Apple Crisp was the perfect sweet ending to our evening meal. With a short and sweet ingredient list, this recipe can be assembled in a flash. I used a combination of winesap and orin apples that came from Ha's Apple Farm.

For those of you who are SoCal based, I highly recommend that you visit Mr. Ha's stand at your local farmers market (I've seen his stands in Hollywood and Santa Monica). He offers a fantastic variety of apples and they are all super delicious - his fujis are da bomb!Don't be shy about piling a generous amount of the cinnamon ginger crisp topping into the ramekins. Once they are baked, the ingredients settle into a sweet mass of warm and spice-scented deliciousness...
A scoop of vanilla ice cream is an absolute must for this dessert...
Overall, I thought this crisp was yummy! As the crisp topping is sweet, I didn't think the fruit base needed too much additional sugar, so will make a note to dial down the sugar quantity in the fruit mixture. As the apples I used were not overly juicy, I halved the amount of flour called for in the recipe, and the crisp didn't get soggy... it was perfect!

I had quite a bit of crisp topping leftover, and used it the next day as a delicious and not-so-heathly mix-in for my morning oatmeal.

Thanks Em of The Repressed Pastry Chef for this delicious TWD selection. Please visit Em's blog for the complete recipe.

Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies (TWD)

These Sugar-Topped Molasses Spice Cookies are a must-bake during this time of year. When these cookies are baking in the oven, the delicious smells of molasses and spices will permeate the house and remind you that the holidays are here.

The spicy kick in these beauties come from ginger, cinnamon, allspice, --- and black pepper. Do not shy away from the black pepper, as they add a really nice heat to these cookies.

These cookies are definitely going to be incorporated into my holiday cookie baskets this year!

Thanks Pamela of Cookies With Boys for this delicious selection! Make sure to visit Pamela's blog for the complete recipe.

This month, the Tuesdays With Dorie bakers have been given license to bake the November line-up out of order, so make sure to peruse the TWD Blogroll to see some fantastic fall baking.