I’ve never been a vegetable person. I have my favorites (ahem… brussels sprouts), but in general they aren’t something that I get excited about. Especially when it comes to vegetable side dishes, where they don’t get to hide behind other flavors. But these maple-glazed root vegetables are another story: they can be enjoyed just as much by the veggie-hater as the veggie-lover. I made these to go along with steak and french fries – at the end of dinner, my plate still had steak and french fries on it, but there were no vegetables left. I was so excited about them that I made them again right away, to bring for lunch the next day. It’s amazing what a little bit of maple syrup can do. (Edit: I was reminded in the comments that I actually do like vegetables – in the summer, when they are in season and have flavor, I can’t get enough. But this time of year? Not so much.)
That’s not to say that these vegetables are super sticky sweet – the syrup really only forms a light glaze that imparts a hint of maple flavor while keeping the vegetables from drying out while they roast. Be sure to use real maple syrup on these, rather than “maple flavored syrup” (like Aunt Jemima and the other popular brands) that have corn syrup as their first ingredient. Real maple syrup has a lot less sugar, and a slightly bitter taste that takes some getting used to on your pancakes, but it a perfect foil to the natural sweetness of the root vegetables and to the peppery flavor of the parsnip and turnip.
You can use whatever winter root vegetables are available or whatever you like. I used sweet potato, carrots, parsnip, and turnip – but feel free to leave any one of those out or add another vegetable of your choice. When I make these again I want to try adding fennel, which I think will be fabulous. I also want to play around with adding some beets (probably not with the carrots and sweet potato though). It’s all about figuring out which vegetables you like best and going with it.
Maple-Glazed Root Vegetables
- 1 small sweet potato, peeled and chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 parsnip, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 turnip, peeled and chopped
- 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
- 1 Tbs butter
- black pepper
Heat oven to 400. Place your vegetables into a small pan (I used a 9-inch cake pan, but a small casserole dish would work just as well). Drizzle with maple syrup and toss gently to combine. Cut the butte into very small pieces and sprinkle over the top. Season with pepper.
Roast the vegetables for 30 minutes or until they can easily be pierces by a fork.
Serves 4.
Approx. 140 calories, 3 grams fat, 3 grams fiber, 1 gram protein
yummy! My parent’s have started adding maple syrup to various dishes – including salad dressing! This dish looks wonderful and is a great inspiration for the Canadian maple syrup I received from a fellow foodie.
I’m a big veggie eater and roasting vegetables is one of my favorite ways to cook them. Try asparagus, if you haven’t already. It’s wonderful tossed with olive oil, kosher salt and pepper and roasted in the oven. I’ve seen family members who wouldn’t touch a stalk of asparagus eat the whole platter! Beautiful picture!
These look healthy and delicious. I love it.
I always have some real maple syrup in the fridge and this looks like a great dish to use it on. I’ll give it a try. Thanks!
This looks like an incredible winter side dish.
I have to try this one. It really sounds a cut above the ordinary. Thanks for sharing.
hehehe…I love the added edit. See you do like veggies. ;-D That’s a good tip on the real maple syrup. This is definitely something I will try as I can’t get enough veggies.
The maple syrup sounds so good with the root veggies! My daughter would like that, she likes the carrots with maple syrup. Oh, and she finally tried Brussels sprouts and liked them (I had to add almonds as a bribe!)
damn girl. that looks great!
I NEVER would have thought of using a maple glaze like that. YUM! And thanks for the note about GENUINE maple syrup… Aunt Jemima and I are friends, and I would never have none
I’ve always loved my veggies, and this looks like a great way to enjoy them!
I love and adore root veggies. They are perfect with sweet glazes like this. Looks delish!!
Roasted vegetables are so delicious as is – I can only imagine that these are over the top. The fact that you made them again, right away has me sold on them.
They look awesome. I love the combination of the root vegetables and their different levels of sweetness.
What a great dish for this, which is also not my favourite vegetable season. I wonder if I could make kale taste better by cooking it like this…
I love maple glazed anything…LOL.
These veggies look great
Interesting photographs. With some more light, these will be awesome.
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Oh, I love roast vegetables. And maple syrup is a close second. So this sounds like a sure winner to me. Yum. Even once when I had the best steak of my life (the Queen’s, no less), the roast veg on the side were still my favourite.