My Love Poem to Roasted Summer Vegetables

I believe Elizabeth Barrett Browning put it best when she said…..

“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…”

If I could recite a love poem to a plate of food, I believe it would be to this recipe. I am head over heels, totally smitten, and completely bonkers for these naturally sweet, roasted vegetables.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Dice up 1/2 of a bunch of asparagus into bite-sized pieces, throwing away the bottom inch of the asparagus stems (the bottom ends get rather tough).

Now take the red pepper, core it, seed it, and dice into bite-sized pieces.

Are you falling in love yet?

Now cut the small zucchini into strips then dice the strips into bite-sized pieces.

Take the two fresh ears of corn and cut the kernels off the cobb.

Certainly by now the love bug is heading your way.

Now, place the lovely veggies in a long sheet pan.

Drizzle them with olive oil. Be generous. Take your hands and toss these pretties thoroughly with the oil.

Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of garlic powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and a sprinkling of pepper on the veggies. Toss them again thoroughly.
Look at these glorious colors. Please be sure the veggies are in a single layer on the sheet pan. Very important.

Has Cupid’s bow struck yet? Oh it won’t be long now.

Bake at 400F for 18 minutes.

WARNING: When these are finished roasting, and you take them from the oven, you will WISH you had a Jimmy Durante nose. The smell is fantastic.

Be ready to instantly, and utterly fall in love with the natural sweetness of the roasted red pepper and sweet corn. It’s a miracle of love how sweet these veggies are.

Here are some serving suggestions:

* Serve them immediately as a side dish with fish or any grilled meat.

* Refrigerate and eat them cold. (Yes cold! They are just as delicious cold).

* Wonderful used for a veggie quesadilla. Grill your tortilla with the veggies, black beans, diced jalapenos and Monterey Jack cheese (add grilled chicken if desired).