Roasting

Looking for a quick, easy, and enticing way to incorporate more vegetables into your life? Roasting may very well be just the solution you need. Not only does the blast of high heat cook vegetables to fork-tender in next to no time, but it also magically caramelizes the edges, making each bite slightly sweet and all the more enticing.

Little more than a bit of prep work and roughly 20-30 minutes of cook time separates your meal from the addition of a brightly colored, mouth-watering, and rather healthy side. And while methods vary slightly from vegetable to vegetable, follow these general guidelines:

1. Preheat the oven: Aside from tomatoes and other delicate produce, which shine when slow-roasted at a lower temperature (try 200°F), most vegetables benefit from a blast of high heat, as it promotes browning and caramelization; generally, 400-450°F is a good place to start.
2. Prep the vegetables: Usually this just means a quick scrub with a vegetable brush and a rough chop (1-inch cubes is pretty standard), but some produce like Winter squash requires a bit of peeling and even the removal of seeds but is still very easy to prep. For oddballs like brussels sprouts, trim off the woody stems, peel away any dried-out and tough outer leaves and halve the tiny cabbages so that they have a flat surface to rest on (flat surfaces allow the most pan contact and browning). Smaller root vegetables like carrots can be left whole (just trim off excess carrot tops).

Keep reading for the rest of the quick and easy procedure.

Living in a small, city apartment, I've learned that I can go without a lot in the appliance department while still managing to create delicious food. The oven, however, is not one of those things; in the modern kitchen, it's the king.

Two cooking methods — roasting and baking — are nearly synonymous with the concept of the oven itself, yet they are seemingly identical techniques. They both take place in the oven; they both use dry heat. So what's the difference? Keep reading to learn the difference between roasting and baking.

It wasn't until recently that I started to feel comfortable cooking large roasts. In particular, I'd always been intimidated by roasting legs of lamb, until I learned that with high-quality meat, minimal preparation is all you need for a result that's truly impressive.

Any roast requires significant cooking time, so this may not technically be a fast recipe, but it most certainly is an easy one. I prepped my massive leg of lamb in just five minutes. Garlic cloves buried into the meat, a bed of rosemary, salt, and pepper, and a bit of red wine in the pan, and things were good to go.

Timing and internal temperature are everything when it comes to this type of cooking. There is the "slow and steady" school of thought, which recommends low temperatures and long cooking times, but frankly, I just don't have patience for that most of the time. I start my roasts at a high temperature for about 25 minutes or so and then lower the temperature to finish the cooking process. One huge factor in cooking time is whether or not your leg of lamb has a bone. A bone-in roast will take more time, and you're looking for a slightly higher temperature on your meat thermometer to determine if it's done. Those factors aside, it makes a more impressive table presentation.

For the recipe, keep reading.

If one of your culinary resolutions this year has been to get more acquainted with basic skills in the kitchen, we've got the lowdown on a number of essential cooking techniques that are important to know. One of our favorite cooking methods is roasting. When done correctly, the technique truly coaxes more flavor out of foods — and employing the help of the oven is a surefire way to keep your hearth warm during the colder months as well.

Oven-roasting involves little more than dry heat, and is ideal for just about any type of whole food, from large cuts of meat and whole fish to fruits, vegetables, and seeds. Find out more — including how to roast any fruit or vegetable — when you keep reading.

The next time you crave roast chicken but don't have time to bake an entire bird, select bone-in chicken breast halves instead. This juicy cut cooks in half the time, about 30 minutes. For a super flavorful preparation, follow this recipe which stuffs the chicken skin with a goat cheese mixture. The ingredient list calls for dried herbs, however, if you've got fresh mint and thyme on hand, why not use them? A combination of red and green grapes makes for a colorful and juicy sauce. It's a simple, effortless meal that's absolutely scrumptious, so consider it for an impromptu Friday night dinner party. Read the technique after the break.

For a lighter take on the classic meat and potatoes pairing, get rid of the beef and select a leaner protein like tilapia. The meal is just as hearty, but more fit-friendly. Since the potatoes require more time to cook than the fish, roast them first and add the fish later. This technique could also be used for boneless skinless chicken breasts. Serve with a chilled full-bodied white or a nice, light red. Make it for your family this weekend! Here's the recipe.