Clean and chop your vegetables. Generally, I prefer to leave the skin on for the following reasons: skin tastes nice and gets crispy; there’s a lot of nutrition in the skin; peeling is slow! Just be sure to wash the vegetables thoroughly.
Chop vegetables. It’s up to you how you want to chop your vegetables. Many are nice roasted whole—they will be crispy and salty on the outside and bursting with fluffy, starchy goodness inside. The general rule is that the smaller you chop things, the faster they cook, so try to keep everything about the same size so nothing cooks faster than anything else.
Dump your vegetables into a roasting pan. Drizzle everything with olive oil or melted butter—about 2 tablespoons per medium-sized roasting pan. Season generously with salt and pepper and add any other extras from the list at right. Use your hands to coat the vegetables thoroughly with the oil and spices.
Pop the pan into the oven for one hour or longer, but check on the vegetables after 45 minutes. Test them by poking them with a knife. If it meets no resistance, they’re finished; if not, let them cook longer. Don’t worry: it’s not much of a problem if you overcook them. Unlike vegetables overcooked through boiling or steaming, overcooked roasted vegetables may dry out a bit, but still retain their shape and flavor.
After you pull the vegetables out of the oven, push them around with a spatula to free them from the pan.
Instructions for toast:
Melt 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a small pan on medium heat.
Place the two slices of bread in the pan and let them cook for about 2 minutes, then lift them with a spatula to check whether they’re golden brown underneath. When they are, flip ’em over.
Add the rest of the butter to the pan to make sure the second side of the toast becomes just as golden as the first.
Sprinkle the top of the bread with salt and pepper.
Once the second side is golden, set the bread on a plate and add vegetables when they are ready.
