A colorful assortment of roasted root vegetables with seasonal ingredients like potatoes, carrots, and onions. A healthy recipe served with a creamy homemade yogurt ranch sauce!
The best way to get excited about the change in seasons is by hitting your local market for fresh vegetables. As I push my cart down the colorful aisles of produce, I can’t help but instantly crave a big plate of roasted root vegetables to nibble on. Let’s not forget a creamy ranch sauce for dipping. You are going to love how I’ve added tons of flavor to this healthy dish!
With spring in full bloom, the offerings at the market are bountiful and vast. It was just a matter of me selecting what root vegetables I wanted to take home.
Some of my favorite springtime vegetables to roast are mild and sweet cippolini onions, multi-colored baby fingerling potatoes, crunchy rainbow carrots, and of course some fragrant rosemary and thyme. These ingredients harvested at their peak are just the right combination for a delicious roasted root vegetable dish.
How to roast root vegetables
Keep it simple! Drizzle some high-quality olive oil, just enough to coat the vegetables. A generous sprinkling of kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper for seasoning. The potatoes, carrots, and onions harvested at their peak will have a natural sweetness, so just a little bit of salt helps to enhance their delicate flavors.
Fresh sprigs of rosemary and thyme infuse the vegetables with aromatic flavors as it roasts, and make your home smell like you are in Tuscany. The vegetables should be cooked at high temperatures of 400°F so that the vegetables become tender and slightly caramelized for extra flavor!
Seasonal roasted root vegetables are incredibly tasty on their own, but I love a good sauce to drizzle and dip! I decided to make a healthier version of ranch sauce for you. All you need to do is grab a bowl and whisk together some nonfat Greek yogurt, a splash of milk, mustard, onion and garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
Some fresh chopped chives, parsley, and dill are a garden trifecta of flavors to add to the ranch sauce. This vegetable dish is perfect to serve with some Greek chicken skewers or with some juicy salmon burgers.
This recipe is super easy as fresh roasted spring root vegetables only require a drizzle of olive oil and coarse kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to make the flavors pop.
You can roast any of your other favorite vegetables that you find at the market, just make sure to cut them into similar sizes, so they cook evenly with the other vegetables. What sauce or dressing do you like with roasted root vegetables?
Should you cook slightly greened potatoes?
No! The green surface color happens because the potatoes have been exposed to light during storage. The natural defense mechanism creates chlorophyll and indicates a build-up of a toxin called Solanine over time. In nature, potatoes turn themselves green to prevent them from being eaten by insects, and predators and respond to damage and disease. Who knew potatoes were so smart? It’s better to toss them out, instead of risk getting sick. To prevent this, store potatoes in a cool dark place (50-64°F/ 10-18°C). At temperatures below 40°F/4°C, the starch in the potato converts to sugar. This can cause the potato to look gray and streaky when cooked or burn when fried because of the increase in sugar in the potato.
Roasted Root Vegetables with Yogurt Ranch Sauce
Ingredients
Roasted Vegetables
- 1 pound fingerling potatoes, cut in half length-wise, or baby potatoes
- 1 pound carrots, peeled and cut in half length-wise
- 8 ounces cippolini onions, cut in half and peeled
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
Yogurt Ranch Sauce
- ½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tablespoons milk
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon dijon mustard
- black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives
- 1 tablespoon minced parsley
- 1 tablespoon chopped dill
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a sheet tray with foil and lightly drizzle with olive oil or spray with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, toss and coat the vegetables with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. In one layer, spread the vegetables out on the sheet tray. Add the thyme and rosemary in different areas of the sheet tray on top of the vegetables.
- Roast for 15 minutes and then gently stir the vegetables. Roast for an additional 10 to 15 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Discard the rosemary and thyme.
- In a medium-sized bowl whisk together the yogurt, milk, garlic, onion, salt, mustard, pepper, chives, parsley, and dill. Serve vegetables with ranch sauce.
Equipment
Nutrition Facts
Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000-calorie diet. All nutritional information is based on estimated third-party calculations. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods, and portion sizes per household.
Cate says
Thank you for the tip on storing potatoes.
Looking for this exact sauce for my roasted root veggies. Tastee!
Just pulled 10 pounds of carrots today after months in the ground through winter. They are awesome.
Thanks again!