MaryLee's Healthy Food and Easy Cooking - Roasting Vegetables Tips

Hello again,

I thought I would give you a couple of tips for making meal preparation easier and quicker.

When a recipe calls for roasted tomatoes or bell peppers but to use the flesh only, then this is the best way I find to do this.

You want the skins to be left on during the roasting as you want the skins almost charred (blackened) to get the best flavour. But you do not want to use the skins.

Easiest way is to lightly oil the whole tomato or pepper and place in an oven proof pan or roasting pan and place in hot oven about 375 F or 200 C for about 30 – 45 minutes until the skins start turning black.

Then remove from oven and place cooked tomatoes/peppers in a plastic zip lock bag until cool. Keep it sealed so the steam and moisture stays in the bag.

Once cooled, remove the tomato/pepper, you will find the skins just lift off easily. Slice it in half and remove the seeds as you do not really want to eat these and use the flesh as you need in your recipe.

I do this when I am making soups and sauces. It just makes for easier blending and also the skins and seeds can be difficult for some people to digest.

I also cook my butternut squash the same way as above, just makes it easier than trying to peel the skin off prior to cooking. Also it gives vegetables such a great flavour when they are roasted.

When roasting various vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, celery, onion and so on, use a large enough oven tray so the vegetables can be spread out without touching or overlapping each other.

Also start with the ones that will take longer to cook first then add the remaining ones as they continue cooking.

Potatoes and carrots will take longer than say mushrooms, celery, aubergine (egg plants) or courgettes (zucchini squash) to cook. So start with the potatoes and carrots and when they have become slightly softened then add the mushrooms, aubergine and so and continue to cook them until the last vegetable you added is cooked.


Doing it this way all your vegetables will be cooked as you like them. This will stop you having some overcooked, dried out, and to touch to eat, while the others are undercooked.

Always coat the vegetables lightly in oil before roasting and season with chopped herbs for a better flavour.

So give these tips a try next time and you will find it make it so much easier when you are preparing your meals.