Tuesday 25 February 2014

Rocket & Roses Slow Roasted Veggie Sauce (Oil free)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Beth Hart ~ Boom Boom Bang Bang Album

What do you do when you have a broken fridge and a kitchen filled with it's perishable contents? You get busy and try and cook off as many as you can...until you remember you have no fridge to store the cooked dishes afterwards! Argghhh! Nightmare. lol. 

Yesterday was a very trying day but today has been much better. I still have the lurgy I'd picked up but I am dealing...I have a small temporary fridge thanks to my sister and her hubby so some of the veggies etc are keeping cool but overall today has been a lot better. I've had the company of my niece for the day which is never a chore and the extra company of my lovely pal Ann who brought a rather fluffy Archie with her to visit. He loves his stays at the Doggie Hotel with Ann and Caz but I am rather relieved he did look a little pleased to see me. I was also amazed that I was able to see his large chocolate drop eyes thanks to the cunning skills of the Doggie Whisper aka Ann..who had managed to convince him after his bath to let her near him with a pair of scissors. He is just at the end of his winter scruff...next month he gets his first 'strip' of the year and he will be back to spivvy and smart...although everyone seems to love his shaggy, scruffy Westie look. lol. 

Last night after a heck of a day I sat at my temporary desk/dining table barely able to keep my eyes open and realised I hadn't eaten. To be honest food was the last thing I wanted to ever see again...*cue drama queen sigh*..lol. I walked into my chaotic kitchen and switched my oven on to heat up..grabbed a baking dish and a random selection of the perishable veggies and a chopping board and knife and sat at my desk...and got chopping. Then the creative edge kicked in and this sauce was the end results. Sometimes it's that easy, eh? 

This sauce isn't rich at all despite the ingredients and it's so very tasty with the delicate flavours of the roasted veggies, chopped tomatoes and herbs. I made a choice not to use any oil in it and it worked very well. I ate some with brown rice last night for my evening meal and today I enjoyed it with pasta. I think it would work great as a filling for a baked potato too...an all rounder sauce. If you have time to let it roast away in the oven then I recommend you try it...it's simply delish.

Rocket & Roses Slow Roasted Veggie Sauce...
 

Rocket & Roses Slow Roasted Veggie Sauce (Oil Free)
(Original recipe from the Rocket & Roses Vegan Kitchen)

1 medium aubergine, small dice
1 large courgette, small dice
2 small red onions, quartered and thinly sliced
10 Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved 
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 long sweet red pepper, small dice
1 small head of broccoli, cut into tiny florets
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 heaped tsp dried oregano
1 large handful of fresh basil, sliced into ribbons
handful of small basil leaves to garnish

Preheat the oven to 350'F/180'C/GM4 and make ready a shallow baking dish.

Place the chopped aubergine, courgette, onion, sprouts, garlic and basil ribbons. Using your hands, mix them up well. In a jug add the chopped tomatoes and the dried oregano and stir well to evenly distribute the herb. Pour it over the veggie mix and stir once more to evenly coat the veggies. Place the broccoli florets stalks down into the top of the veggies.

Cover with tin foil and place in the oven for 1 hour. At this point remove the foil and gently stir the veggie mix. Re-cover with the foil and roast for a further 20 minutes until all veggies are cooked down. Serve with pasta, brown rice or as a baked potato filling....

Enjoy!

~Red~