There are some dishes that are so simple that they surprise me by their depth of flavor. These marinated and roasted vegetables with jasmine rice, nuts and seeds offer just that element of delight and surprise.
The dish is also vegetarian, keto friendly and gluten free.
Your palate will welcome the bright combination and varying textures of popping cherry tomatoes, tender baby bella mushrooms, crisp zucchini, slightly bitter radishes, Brussels sprouts, sweet asparagus, shallots, garlic and slightly spicy jalapeño.
In fact, I am left trying to identify which ingredient highlights the dish more.
Mike may tell you that the Brussels sprouts and jalapeño are his favorite components, should you ask.
For those of you a little leery of jalapeños and their spice, please know that after they marinate and roast, they lose a lot of heat and become rather smoky. You could certainly use another type of pepper, if you prefer.
After cleaning, trimming and dicing the vegetables into bite sized pieces,
I whisk together a bright and simple marinade of Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, dried Italian herbs, salt and pepper.
I pour the marinade over the vegetables, which I place in a ceramic casserole dish and cover to refrigerate for at least two hours.
In this case, the vegetables are slid right next to some leftover wedding cake (how lucky are We?) from our amazing and beautiful friends’ wedding this past weekend!
We love you Mark and Meredith!
After the vegetables marinate, I spread evenly on a cookie sheet and roast at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. This basically cooks them al dente so they’re still a bit crispy, but deliciously sweet.
After they roast, I toss in a mixture of cashews, pine nuts and pumpkin seeds.
Finally, I toss it all together with steamed brown jasmine rice and fresh grated Parmesan cheese, diced cilantro and Italian parsley, along with any remaining marinade (about 1 TB).
I serve at room temperature alongside toasted pita and hummus.
Speaking of pita, I discovered the most amazing pita bread that is low carb. It is called Joseph’s and they’re based out of Massachusetts. I am beyond excited!
Each pita only contains around 5g of carbs and the flavor and texture are exactly what I look for in pita. Thank you Joseph’s Bakery!
The other thing I really love about this marinated and roasted vegetable dish is that it is delicious the next day served cold as a salad.
Feta cheese and eggplant would be wonderful additions. Honestly, you can be creative and use any combination of vegetables you like!
Either way, you will find this dish to be full of flavor, protein, fiber, texture and heartiness. You won’t even miss the meat on Meatless Monday or any other day of the week.
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