Boost Your Veggies With A Post

Every good chef knows that to get people to eat their veggies, they need to be seasoned. Whether it's a simple salt, thyme, and paprika rub or a flavorful brine, spices and herbs bring out the natural flavor of each vegetable. Aside from dressing them up, roasting your vegetables enhances their flavor too. The oven caramelizes vegetables, drawing out the sweetness within them. Roasting also adds depth to the texture, transforming raw, hard veggies into tender, savory pieces. Preparing vegetables rarely takes much time or effort, but if you're hung up on how long you should be marinating veggies before roasting, try saving that step until after they're cooked.

Although some spices are activated by the heat, others have their taste diminished, giving you vegetables that are blander than how they were originally. Instead of spending time pre-seasoning them, pour a marinade over them post-roasting. When they're hot, vegetables will take on the flavor of the marinade better. Plus, the taste will be more prominent if you serve them right after tossing them in the marinade.

If you prefer your vegetables on the crunchier side, marinating them after they've been cooked is the best way to go. To get the absolute best flavor possible, brine the vegetables in a saltwater bath as a first step. You can also draw out the excess water by dry brining your veggies with just salt. After a few minutes, pat off the salt, sprinkle your vegetables with olive oil, and place them in the oven. This is a good time to add in your spices and herbs that work well with the heat from the oven, such as turmeric, ginger powder, and nutmeg.

When the veggies are removed, they'll have a great crispiness on the outside and a flavor that's ready to eat. Toss them in the marinade, just as you would toss a salad. This is the time to use the ingredients that don't do as well in the heat, such as lemon or lime juice. Using a base of an acid and a squeeze of honey, add fresh herbs to your marinade and toss your veggies in them.