Cooking...not one of my fave things to do!

I used to cook. I used to enjoy finding a recipe and making something new. Exploring foods from different cultures.

I still enjoy trying something new and trying foods from different cultures.

I don't have time to cook. I don't really enjoy it --- it's a time suck. You cook, you have a mess and then it's gone.

I suppose if there were more than two of us I might feel differently. Well, probably not. But cooking for just two, especially two who eat so differently, is a waste. Unless I'm making something often, cooking a lot, the ingredients I buy are going to go to waste.

I travel with my job (art shows), I travel for family things (often), so it's hit or miss when I'm home. My microwave gets a good workout.

Today is the exception. I have been eating a lot of oven-roasted veggies at my parents. They are good, but I like them cooked a bit more. I like crunchy. I like spices.

So, yesterday on the way home from my parents I stopped to pick up a bag of mixed broccoli and cauliflower with the idea I would roast them. Turns out that everyone else in the world must have decided they wanted to do the same as every single bag, all sizes, had vanished.

Being the focused person I am I went back over to the loose stuff...and found that I could buy a whole organic head of cauliflower, a bag of organic baby mixed color carrots, an onion, and broccoli heads for roughly the same price as the bag of broccoli and cauliflower.

Today I am roasting veggies. I ended up with four full cookie sheets of them. But they are soooo good! I am stuffed as I have to try each batch. Of course.

My "recipe":

1 large sweet onion, sliced into thin wedges that separate when mixed.
1 large head of cauliflower, cut up into small florets and pieces
About the same amount of broccoli heads, cut up into small florets and pieces
1 bag of mixed baby carrots cut up

I mixed them all with olive oil (just dumped a bunch so no measurements, although some of the recipes I saw said about 1/3 cup). I added salt and tossed.

Half of them simply had salt and olive oil.

I cooked that batch at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, turning once halfway through.

For the second half I added a zesty spice blend from Kroger and minced garlic. I also bumped the oven temp to 450 degrees so they'd get crispier faster. I like those brown edges. I still turned them over halfway through.

I like them both ways. I like them hot and I like them cold. I also like adding some balsamic vinegar over them in small batches. Now you know how I managed to write three blog posts today! I had plenty of writing time. Cooking is a time-suck.