I love to roast veggies. I have to admit, I have gotten quite good at it. I no longer cause the smoke alarm to go off in my apartment! But I wonder, are eating roasted vegetables as good for me as they taste. The answer is YES!
Roasted veggies — like crispy brussel sprouts, crunchy cauliflower or caramelized root vegetables — can taste like a guilty pleasure, almost too tasty to really be good for you. But be assured, even though subjecting vegetables to intense heat can alter their nutritional profile and may compromise some nutrients, it can boost others. And don’t forget, they’re still veggies at heart: filling, full of fiber, low in calories and rich in minerals.
Often times, the biggest battle is getting people to eat enough vegetables and so if
roasting vegetables will get your family to eat them then I would encourage you to roast them.
You do want to be careful when roasting vegetables as you want to go easy on the oil, which is high in calories and fat. And you want to keep your oven temperature well below the oil’s smoke point, or the point at which the oil starts to burn (that’s about 410 degrees for extra virgin or unrefined olive oil). And I also learned that if you want to salt your veggies, do so after roasting them; salt can lower the smoke point of oil.
Enjoy!