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Roasted Root Vegetables with Brown Butter + Spiced Almonds

Roasted Root Vegetables with Brown Butter + Spiced Almonds

Create Cooking Challenge 2018 grand-prize winner Kiya Schnorr shares her recipe for roasted carrots, butternut squash and sweet potatoes with nutty browned butter and sweet-and-spicy almonds. Note from Kiya: Since developing this recipe and filming the video to go with it, I have discovered that I prefer not to stir my vegetables at any time during roasting. I feel that leaving the vegetables undisturbed yields better caramelization overall. When roasting two or more sheets of vegetables, I do recommend rotating and swapping the pan’s positions halfway through cooking.

Recipe Ingredients

  • - Serves 6
  • Roasted vegetables:
  • - 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
  • - 1/2 lb carrots, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
  • - 1 small butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-2 inch pieces
  • - 2-3 tbsp olive oil
  • - ½ tsp salt
  • - ½ tsp garam masala (or sub for a mixture of cinnamon, nutmeg, and black pepper)
  • - 1 ½ tbsp brown sugar
  • Almond topping:
  • - 3 tbsp unsalted butter
  • - 1.5 tbsp sugar
  • - ½ tsp salt
  • - ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
  • - ½ tsp olive oil 1 tsp honey
  • - 1 tsp water
  • - 1 cup toasted chopped almonds
  • - 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Recipe Instructions

- Preheat the oven at 425°F for 10 minutes with the oven racks in the lowest and center positions. Divide the vegetables between two large rimmed baking sheets, and toss with the oil, salt, garam masala, and brown sugar. Arrange in a single, even layer with half an inch between pieces

- After 15 minutes of roasting, remove the sheets and stir the vegetables. Redistribute the pieces evenly and swap the baking sheets’ positions in the oven. Continue to roast for 15 minutes more, or until the vegetables are caramelized along the edges and tender in the center.

- While the vegetables roast, brown the butter: Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat, and cook until slightly golden brown with a nutty aroma. Set aside. To make the almond topping, whisk together the sugar, salt, and cayenne pepper in a medium bowl. Heat the oil, honey, and water in a large, non-stick pan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the almonds and toss, then transfer the almonds to the bowl with the sugar mixture and toss to coat.

- To serve, drizzle the veggies with the browned butter and lemon juice, and top with spiced almonds.