Cook Once, Eat Thrice: Roasted Vegetables with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette

Happy Saturday! I love that the holidays are coming up. Christmas is really my favourite time of the year. And this year I’m working on an advent/24 day countdown to Christmas. That means I won’t have all the time in the world to start making big meals… and with all of the holiday parties coming up, I want to make sure we eat well and keep on track in between. Keeping those two goals in mind, I wanted to make sure I provide my family with delicious meals, and let me spend more time with my family. So November’s Cook Once, Eat Thrice series keeps both of those two goals in mind. A new twist, is the main part is meatless! You can serve each of these next few dishes as sides, or as a stand alone meal… and they are amazingly delicious!

These roasted vegetables alone are amazing as is, and really are perfect alongside any dish. I wanted to take these and kick them up a notch though… so really you could say this series has 4 meals from it, but let’s talk about what really makes these more then just your average side!!

For the series you need a base recipe, and then… we made it in to a ‘roasted vegetable salad’ with a warm bacon vinaigrette. Trust me… these are worth making for your next gathering, Christmas Dinner, or even just as lunch for a friend!

The Roasted Vegetable Base Recipe:

**you will need 3 – 4 cookie sheets for this base**

The Ingredients:

• 6 parsnips
• 2 white turnips
• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 4-5 medium/large carrots
• 2 large medium onions
• 2 medium white potatoes
• Olive oil
• 1-2 tsp of thyme per cookie sheet.
• Salt & Pepper to taste

The How-to:

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Chop all of the vegetables into 1″ sized chunks.
2. On parchment lined sheets, spread the vegetables evenly mixing them amongst the sheets.
3. Drizzle olive oil over all of the vegetables (about 2 tbsp per cookie sheet). Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add the Thyme. Stir around with a wooden spoon making sure all the vegetables are coated in the seasoning & olive oil.
4. Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, flipping once half way through.

That’s the base. You can serve straight as is… or you can serve this…

How amazing does that look? This Warm Bacon Vinaigrette just takes these amazing vegetables and makes it a little fancy. It’s taking a classic, and pushing the flavour up a notch!

The Main Event

The Ingredients:

• 2 cloves garlic
• one small onion
• 1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
• 5 slices of bacon
• 1 1/2 tbsp bacon grease
• salt and pepper
• 3 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 1/2 cup roasted vegetable base, room temperature

The How-To:

1. In a sauce pan add bacon and cook until crispy. Drain grease, reserving 1 1/2 tbsp. DO NOT wipe the pan clean. You want to keep all of the flavours from the crispy bits.
2. Set aside and let cool. Chop into bite sized pieces.
3. Add 1 tbsp grease back to the pan. Add the onions and garlic. Cook until soft (about 3-4 minutes).
4. Add mustard and stir until dissolved. Whisk in olive oil and 1/2 tbsp grease. Whisk until everything is mixed well. Add chopped bacon and salt and pepper.
5. In a large bowl add your room temperature vegetables. Pour warm bacon vinaigrette over, and serve warm.

That’s it, that’s all guys!  Easy and delicious! But that’s not all! No we’re not even close to ending this series yet! Stay tuned because tomorrow you will get a taste of what’s coming next with these amazing roasted vegetables! I hope your saturday is as great as ours will be! We’re heading to a local parade ti enjoy Santa Clause and all things Christmas related… think snow suits & hot chocolate! MMMM can’t wait!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I love that you took the time to read what’s going on in my kitchen and I hope you enjoy these dishes in yours!

Cheers! XO