Sneaky Additions

I love getting creative in the kitchen. Finding ways of making a recipe more "me", finding ways to make a recipe more usable, and finding ways of making a recipe more nutritious. One of the ways I do that is with adding roasted fruits and veggies to most of my baked items. Roasting the fruits and veggies keeps them from browning, makes them easier to puree, and increases their natural flavors. I usually use apples, pears, carrots, sweet potatoes, squash and zucchini.

First I clean the fruit/veggie with soap and water. Sweet potatoes get just a scrub because I discard the skin when its done. For apples and pears, I slice them in half and remove the core and stem. Carrots get peeled and the ends cut off. Squash and zucchini just get the ends cut off.

I usually try and bake quite a few at a time, to save time later and not waste my hot oven. First, preheat the oven. Sweet potatoes usually get cooked at 400F for 45-60 minutes. The rest of the veggies and fruits are usually roasted at 350F for about 30 min.

Next I either use a silicone baking mat or line a jelly roll pan with foil. Cleaning up after roasted veggies/fruits can be a pain. For apples and pears, place them on the pan cut side up. I usually wrap carrots up in a foil packet, to keep them from direct heat and so they can steam as well as cook with their juices. Squash and sweet potatoes are just placed on the pan.

How do you know when they are done? Sweet potatoes will give and feel more squishy when they are cooked all the way through. Try and select ones that are of similar size and shape to ensure they get done at the same time. Pears and apples will smell really sweet, and the flesh will get bubbly and kind of foamy. Squash and zucchini will get soft.

Once the veggies and fruit are done cooking I let them sit out on the counter to cool. If I'm using them that day, I will puree them as soon as they are mostly cool. Squash, zucchini, apples and pears get pureed with the skin on. Sweet potatoes need to be peeled, but once they are cooked the skin should come off fairly easily. I reserve the liquid from the carrots and add it while they are pureeing.

What do you do with them now? The options are endless! You can make amazing, cheap, and healthy applesauce, pear sauce, sweet potato mash or a combination of it all - generally the apple flavor is the strongest. Often I serve a side of sweet potato/apple/carrot mash with breakfast or lunch, or for part of R's snack. He likes it both cold from the fridge and slightly warmed in the microwave. I frequently make a mixture of whatever has just been roasted, and then add at least a cup, sometimes a cup and a half to a batter; muffin batter, waffle batter, bread batter. This will make the baked item more moist, so you will probably have to increase your cooking time.

Happy roasting!