Celebration Dinner

For celebration dinners, we almost always have a vegetarian roast from Trader Joe’s. The store only sells the roasts around Thanksgiving, so I buy 2–3 and freeze them. We generally try to avoid processed food, so these roasts are saved for special occasions.

I thawed the roast overnight in the refrigerator. A few hours before we planned to eat, I cut up yellow potatoes, sweet potatoes, and carrots. I parboiled these for about 15 minutes, while preparing the rest of the meal. I heated the oven to 350 degrees.

Tonight, I cut up celery, onions, leeks, and grapes. I put them in the bottom of a deep roasting dish, and placed the thawed roast on top.

I mixed smoked paprika with olive oil and brushed it on the roast. I also halved some brussels sprouts and mixed them with maple syrup and olive oil.

When the vegetable were done, I drained them and placed them around the roast. I gave everything another basting with the paprika/olive oil. (I added a handful of halved cherry tomatoes later in the cooking process). I covered the dish with foil and let it bake for an hour. (I put the brussels sprouts on a baking sheet cut side down and then into the oven after about 45 minutes).

I took off the foil, and basted everything one more time with the paprika/olive oil, and left the foil off, returning the roast to the oven for about 15 more minutes to let it brown a bit. The sprouts should be ready about the same time.

We eat the leftovers for the next few days….