I Cooked Dinner!

It was a proper meal and everything. Barring that fact that I filled up on my tasting plate and wine, so I didn't actually eat dinner. I just sort of nibbled. Nevermind that. I cooked damn it.

I think the recipes were good. I'm just not quite fond of them. I made chicken with juniper and wine sauce and roasted root vegetables. The chicken was tasty, but I think it could have been better. The vegetables were good, but not something you could get your kids to eat. If you actually like the taste of the vegetables you're adding, then this recipe really shows them off. If not, you're stuck with junk you don't want to eat and don't know what to do with.

I'm not going to post the chicken recipe yet. I think it has potential to be something more than it is now and would like to try again later. It didn't look much prettier cooking either.

The vegetable recipe is a mangled version of Giada's Roasted Root Vegetables in her Everyday Italian cookbook. I omitted the carrots because, hey, I don't like them. I've never had parsnips before. They... weren't bad in this recipe. A nibble was good though because it's not something I could eat a lot of. They smelled heavenly- like ginger, or maybe licorice, or something that I want in a room spray. Not so much on my plate though since they taste just like they smell. She had a whole seasoning list too, but it was so much like Italian seasoning that I saved time and just dumped that in. I'd like to try it with other vegetables next time, because roasted potatoes are an all-time favorite. Nonetheless, here is what I had last night.

Roasted Root Vegetables- adapted from Everyday Italian

1 bag frozen brussel sprouts

1 large sweet potato

4 medium parsnips

1/3 cup olive oil

1-2 T Italian seasoning

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 4ooF while you prepare vegetables. They all need to be peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces. It suggest chopping the brussel sprouts in half, but I kept them whole. Toss with the olive oil and seasonings. Place on a cookie sheet or in a large casserole dish and bake for roughly 30 minutes or until fork tender, stirring occasionally.