Roasted Root Veggies and Fish

It has been one hell of a week! Lots of time spent in the office - 7am meetings, 9pm meetings, and everything in between. On top of all that, I decided to get a second job for the holidays at Macy's. That's right, a big fat twenty percent discount is MINE!

I was thankful this past week even with the crazy schedule to be able to eat delicious leftovers....I cannot stress enough how much in love I am with reheated Kale and Chard Panade with a poached egg on top. Seriously, it's divine. But the panade is long gone so it's time for a new recipe.

I found the recipe for Roasted Root Veggies and Fish in the awesome (and free) magazine Real Food, which you can pick up at Lund's and Byerly's stores in the Twin Cities. The magazine is fabulous - edited by Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, who is hands down the BEST local food writer (or even just writer). I first became a fan of her weekly restaurant reviews in City Pages, then followed her to Minnesota Monthly. She has taken the Real Food magazine to a new level and it's amazing that you can get it for free when it's packed full of great recipes, photos, and articles.

Anyways, I changed this recipe a bit based on my tastes and budget (omitting the potato, substituting salmon for the halibut). The hardest thing (and it's not hard at all) is cutting all the root vegetables into a 1/4 inch dice. Then you let your oven do the rest of the work! Here's a pic of the veggies pre-roasting.

And, once again I'm fortunate to be on the receiving end of a very generous friend with extra fresh and local produce. Sarah showed me the most carrots I've ever seen in one place in my life (all in her fridge), which is why she gave me some orange and yellow carrots, turnips, and onion from her winter CSA share. All of those made it into this dish! The end result is colorful, healthy, and very delicious!

Roasted Root Veggies and Fish (adapted from Real Food magazine)

4 roma tomatoes, diced

1 large parsnip, peeled and diced

3 large carrots, peeled and diced (I used a mix of orange and yellow)

1 medium turnip, peeled and diced

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 garlic clove, diced

olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme

4 boneless/skinless fish filets (halibut, salmon, mahi mahi, or any mild flavored fish)

lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Put all the diced veggies on a sheet pan, add a healthy drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and thyme (I used dried instead of fresh). Roast for 35 minutes or until the veggies are soft.

Season the fish with olive oil, salt, pepper, and more thyme. Clear a spot in the middle of the pan for the fish and spoon some of the veggies on top. Crank up the oven to 450 degrees and roast the fish and veggies for 15 minutes or until fish is done.

Finish with a squirt of fresh lemon juice and serve immediately.