Lemon-Garlic Roasted Vegetables {for Roasted Vegetable Bisque}

Whew. That’s a long name. Basically, making lemon-garlic roasted vegetables is a way to preserve vegetables from the end of the harvest in the freezer now to make a wonderful soup in the winter. And since the soup is mostly vegetables, it’s a great way to get a variety of veggies in those dark winter months. The flavor? It is soooo good: garlic, a little lemon, and the veggies. Ever since I found the basis of this recipe years ago in the Oregonian, I make it every year.

The only thing to remember with this recipe is to cut the vegetables up fairly small, so they roast evenly. It’s easiest to do one vegetable at a time, layering the vegetables in the pan after adding the garlic. The vegetables you can use are pretty flexible, depending on what’s available from the garden, but I always use chopped zucchini, peppers (ripe ones only – bitter green peppers will make the soup bitter), carrots, and onions – and never tomatoes, because that would turn it into a tomato bisque. I don’t have anything against tomato bisque, it’s just not what we’re going for here.

Chop whatever herbs you’ve got growing in the garden. This is a mixture of basil, thyme, chives and parsley. Grate the zest of one lemon right over the pan, then juice the lemon and add the juice to the pan plus three tablespoons of olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper.

Roast at 450 degrees. Doesn’t this looks good? You could eat it now, of course, but it would spoil the treat you’ll get in the depths of winter when you make the bisque. For now, place 3 cups in each freezer bag (you’ll get 1-2 bags from each recipe), label it and put it in the freezer.

You’ll be glad you did.

[recipe]

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Vegetables {and Bisque}

• 2-3 medium zucchini and/or summer squash
• 2 sweet bell peppers (orange, red, or yellow)
• 2 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 c. mixed fresh herbs (such as basil, rosemary,thyme, chives, and parsley)
• Zest and juice of one lemon
• 3 tbl. olive oil
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4-1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. Chop all the vegetables to similar sizes and place in a large roasting pan.
3. Add the herbs, lemon zest and juice, olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to mix.
4. Roast for 20-25 minutes or until vegetables are lightly brown and very tender.
5. Let cool and then pack into freezer bags in 3-cup portions, label and freeze.

Makes 4-5 cups.

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Vegetable Bisque

• 3 c. Lemon-Garlic Roasted Vegetables
• 4 c. vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 c. peeled and diced potato
• 1-1/2 c. milk or half-and-half
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Combine the vegetables, broth and potato in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until the potato is very tender (about 15 minutes).
2. Use an immersion blender to puree right in pot, or let cool slightly and puree in batches in a blender. With puree in pot, stir in enough milk to reach desired consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Makes 4-6 servings[/recipe]

-Jami