Fall is the season to embrace your oven for the workhorse it is and roast, roast, roast. Sometimes there's nothing I love more than roasting cauliflower florets and eating them straight off the pan. I usually make double the amount I need for a recipe because I know what will happen the second I pull them from the oven.
After a brief hiatus, I'm finally getting back in the swing of things with The Food Matters Project. This week's recipe was chosen by Camilla (check out her blog for the original recipe!). This kind of salad is a great way to use up bits and ends that might normally be discarded. I had planned to focus more on parsnips and carrots, but it turned out that I had half of a sweet potato, a knob of celery root, and some cauliflower leftover in the refrigerator, so I put them to good use.
BARLEY SALAD WITH ROASTED FALL VEGETABLES
1 cup barley
A variety of fall vegetables, diced (I used 5 carrots, 1 sweet potato, 1/2 a celery root, 1/2 a head of cauliflower)
Parsley, chopped
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place all the vegetables on a roasting pan, season with salt, pepper, olive oil, and toss to combine. Roast until tender and beginning to brown, about 35 minutes.
While the vegetables cook, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the barley, and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until tender. Drain the barley, then pour it back into the same pan. When the vegetables are done, scrape them into the pot with the barley, season with salt, more olive oil, and add in the chopped parsley.