Meatless Monday: Oven Roasted Root Veggies w/ Spelt Berries

There’s something delicious about fall vegetables. I’m not sure if it’s the distinct flavors or the bright and varied colors, but cooking with fall vegetables, particularly root vegetables, is enjoyable and usually very easy.

As part of our CSA bag, which sadly is coming to an end soon!, we have been receiving lots of root veggies as of late. Last week in particular we receive beets, potatoes, kohlrabi, and carrots, among other things. I decided instead of making my usual go-to beets and potatoes recipes, I would opt for something new for my family to try. What I ended up with was a delicious roasted root vegetable dish. I paired it with spelt berries and voila — an amazing, easy dinner that everyone in the family loved — even my two year old! I should note that the veggies in this dish are easily swapped out for others. If you don’t have kohlrabi on hand, but you do have sweet potatoes, feel free to use those instead. The possibilities really are endless with this dish.

Oven Roasted Root Veggies w/ Spelt Berries*

Ingredients

1 C spelt berries, rinsed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
1 red onion, cut into 1″ chunks
3 cloves garlic, thin sliced
1 bunch of beets, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces
1/2 head of cauliflower, torn into 1″ pieces
1 head of kohlrabi, peeled and cut into 1″ pieces
salt and pepper to taste

Directions

First, make the spelt berries. Rinse dried spelt berries and place in a small saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil. Let simmer, covered, for 1 1/2 hours, or until soft and chewy. Drain and return to the saucepan until ready to serve.

Preheat oven to 425˚F. Brush a 9×13 glass baking dish with some of the oil. Toss all the veggies in a large bowl. Drizzle remaining oil on the veggies to coat, and season with salt and pepper. Toss all ingredients until veggies are coated.

Spread the veggie mixture in the 9×13 pan. Bake uncovered for 45 minutes to an hour, stirring once or twice throughout roasting, until evenly roasted and starting to brown.