Air Fryer Roasted Vegetables

I looooove roasted veggies of all kinds! I just randomly was thinking about them today – I know, a weird thing to just ponder over, roasted veggies…lol.. but was thinking that I’d really like to try something new. You know, try vegetables or mixtures I’d not tried before. In the past, like a lot of americans, I hadn’t had a wide array of vegetables. At least here in the southeast/bible belt, most people aren’t “adventurous” with food, but that’s starting to change a bit with people my age (think millennial-ish age)….we can’t afford homes with skyrocketing property values and stagnating wages, so we just spend our money on foods, and since we can’t afford big traveling as much, we travel via new foods from all over LOL. Or, at least, I do!
Here, people basically normally just eat broccoli, green beans, some few winter squashes (sparingly), potatoes/sweet potatoes/yams, zucchini/yellow squash, onion, rarely brussels sprouts or cabbage, corn, tomatoes, sometimes cauliflower, carrots, and that’s about the bulk of any vegetables usually consumed here by average families. Speaking of making turnips, parsnips, rutabegas, etc will earn you strange and confused looks. It can be exceedingly difficult at times to even find anything other that the “regular” stuff I listed when you go to the grocery store. I went to 3 grocery stores once trying to find turnips for a stew – finally, I found a grocery store that stocked them, though they were hidden in a corner, and they only had 2 pitiful little ones.

People are missing out! I, long ago, assumed (incorrectly!) that they must not be that good if people weren’t eating them. How wrong I was! Part of any negative reputation is simply due to them being prepared poorly. So many vegetables, especially root vegetables, can be just blah or bad if you boil or steam them into oblivion then don’t really season them properly or at all. Any vegetable can be made to taste awful! But properly roasting and seasoning these vegetables can bring out amazing new tastes and an almost creamy inner texture with a nice mild crispy outside. Even with veggies you know – ever roasted broccoli? Even just a tiny bit of fresh lemon juice with some bright seasonings, along with fresh black pepper, and a quick, high-temp roasting can make it seem like a brand new experience, a new vegetable.

Anyway, I really digress….my original point was that I came across your recipe of sorts when googling randomly about trying some new vegetables (which I intended to roast) or trying a new twist on it. I also have a chayote squash I want to use – it’s a mexican squash of sorts and I HIGHLY recommend roasting it!! Look up how to cut it up properly. But it is amazing when roasted and seasoned, especially with onion…. it brings out a nice, mild sweetness but is very healthy with good fiber but lower carb and all. Anyway, I have never had roasted beets (I’ve never had beets AT ALL), or rutabaga. I’ve only had turnips in a stew. I’ve had parsnips but only a time or two, a long time ago. Looking at your initial recipe, I’ve never even had pomegranate seeds, but they look beautiful – the pictures of your finished dish with the pecans are absolutely stunning. I feel like I absolutely must try to recreate it! Then, after having it as you prepared it, modifying it with other vegetables that I have not tried yet or have not had in a long while.

Also, a few months ago, I started really perusing the spice sections at my local chain grocery stores and, particularly, walmart (I know, shudder, lol)….they are beginning to stock MANY more packets of amazing mixtures that can make it sooooo easy to season vegetables, stews, all kinds of one-pot/pan dishes. I bought all the varieties they had available of this brand called “Urban Accents”. I am very picky about my spices and seasonings. I am a spice queen, with shelf after shelf of bottles of spices and spice mixtures – from fennel seeds to sweet hungarian paprika to aleppo pepper to specific things like Rogan Josh seasoning. These are the first actual vegetable spice mixtures that I recall ever having that I felt were perfect as is, that I could dump in the packet and not need to add or change ANYTHING. I got soooo many complements when I used them on regular simple roasted brussels, carrots, potatoes, and onions at Thanksgiving. They ended up being the star of the side dishes LOL. I believe that time, it was the Manchego and Roasted Garlic flavored ones. I loooove the balsamic and roasted onion one but it stays sold out, lol. They have a number of flavors, plus packets for certain dishes (like baja shrimp, fish tacos, etc). But yeah….those veggies seasoning packets are the bomb and make it SOOOO easy.

Anyway, looong comment, sorry. So, the short version, I’m gonna absolutely try to make what is in your beautiful pics, then I’m going to try some new-to-me/never had roasted veggies (turnips, beets, rutabaga, anything else I can find lol). I can’t wait!! Roasting has got to be my absolute favorite way to prepare and try many kinds of veggies. It caramelizes a lot of veggies and brings out new flavors and sweetness you didn’t know was in there!