A couple of months ago, I hosted a winter wellness challenge for my group at work, and one of the small daily wellness challenges was to eat the colors of the rainbow throughout our meals and snacks of the day. Patrice brought in fun fruit skewers to help everyone out, but I prepped these vegetables from the night before to make sure I’d get my colors in.

Colorful Roasted Winter Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 pound carrots
• 1/2 pound turnips
• 1 bunch radishes
• 1 pound Brussels sprouts
• Half of a yellow onion
• 1/2 cup
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Zest of one orange
• Spices to taste: rosemary, thyme, crushed red pepper, ground pepper

Directions

1. Wash all vegetables.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
3. Peel and slice the carrots and the turnips, then set aside.
4. Cut the radishes into small cubes, then set aside.
5. Cut the stalks off the Brussels sprouts, and then cut in half. Make sure to take off loose leaves.
6. Peel and dice the onion (should equal about half of a cup).
7. Place all vegetables in a large bowl, and then mix in the extra virgin olive oil with rosemary, thyme, ground pepper, orange zest, crushed red pepper, and minced garlic.
8. Place vegetable and spice mixture in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes or until tender.

Sometimes I forget about the beauty of having a simple vegetable side dish with dinner. I liked the veggies in this dish because they provided a very dynamic flavor for winter, and I liked looking beyond the more traditional bell pepper, mushroom, onion, and broccoli type of vegetable dish. Each vegetable just contributed a unique flavor to the overall taste. Tim and I enjoyed these veggies with roasted chicken, but I think they would be nice served with pork or mixed with whole grains as well.

Enjoy!

–Let’s chat–
What are your go to vegetables to include in a side dish? Do you prefer summer or winter vegetables? What winter vegetable is your favorite? Do you try to eat the colors of the rainbow every day?

Don’t forget my giveaway for two free pairs of the New Balance 980s is open until Friday!