Do you celebrate Meatless Monday?  Do you know how it started?  There are two histories.  The first involves war-time rationing s during both World War I and World War II.  The revitalization of Meatless Monday started with Sid Lerner when he was at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future in 2003.  His history in marketing helped him give new life to a campaign that refocused on the environmental and health impact of high meat consumption.

I am a pescatarian, so I eat meatless most days.  To support Meatless Mondays, I vow to be conscious not to eat fish or seafood on Mondays and to post a delicious vegetarian recipe every Monday!  Now, if you’ve been following me lately, you know that will be a bit of a challenge, as my posts have been slightly irregular…  Here’s to new beginnings!

It’s a chilly fall day.  We’ve seen snow.  And it’s almost dinner time.  Yeah, there’s some leftover soup in the fridge, but I had that for lunch.  I want something equally as comforting, healthy, veggie-centric, and vegetarian.  From the fridge I pulled out some leftover butternut squash, baby carrots, and red and white onions.  From the pantry I grab some pecans.

 

 

From the cupboards I bring together what I need to make a delicious vinaigrette to season the roasted veggies: balsamic vinegar, walnut oil, maple syrup, garlic powder, powdered ginger, cumin, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper.

 

The veggies get chopped, and the pecans are “measured” out (I didn’t really measure, I just piled them up until they looked about right.)

 

And here’s what the final product looks like!

 

Sweet Roasted Fall Veggies

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb. chunked butternut squash
• 1 1/2 cups baby carrots, quartered (I did halves, but they would have cooked more if they were smaller)
• 1/2 onion, chunked (either red or white, whatever you’ve got)
• 1/3 cup pecans
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons walnut oil (or olive oil, whatever you have handy)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/8 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp smoked paprika
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  Spray a casserole pan or a small roasting pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the vinegar, oil, maple syrup, and spices.

3. Dump all the veggies and the pecans in the roasting pan.  Pour the vinaigrette over the veggies and stir gently to coat.

4. Roast for 35 minutes.  Stir the veggies and roast for another 15-20 minutes until the carrots are fork-tender (which means you can easily pierce them with a fork).