Pesto-Roasted Vegetables

We all buy that jar of pesto from Costco, right? It is handy for throwing together a meal. All I need is pesto, boiled pasta and maybe some chicken or shrimp if I am feeling fancy. But I admit, half the jar goes bad because I don’t use it quick enough. One solution is when I first open the jar, I scoop half out into a container and freeze it. Another solution is to get serious about ways to use it besides pasta. In comes pesto-roasted vegetables.

Ideal for roasting

Prepared pesto is ideal for roasting. It has everything in one condiment. Olive oil, herbs, seasoning and cheese. And the pine nuts make for perfect color as they toast up. Slather pesto on salmon, chicken or shrimp and roast away. You can also do veggies, like these pesto-roasted vegetables. You don’t have to add more oil, it’s all in the pesto. And you get mega flavor from the basil, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts.

Potatoes

In this recipe, I use potatoes, red onion and red bell peppers. If it was summertime, I would use zucchini and yellow squash. But in the winter, I stick with the basics. You could of course use all potatoes if you want.

Red bell peppers

I go through a lot of red bell peppers. I just love them. They add flavor to everything. I used two red bell peppers with these pesto-roasted vegetables. You could do green bell peppers, but I like the sweetness from the red bells.

Red onion

Again, you could use any other kind of onion, but I like red onions with this. Maybe even some thick-sliced shallots would be good.

Other veggies I would roast up in this dish:

• sweet potatoes
• zucchini
• yellow squash
• wedges of fresh tomatoes
• carrots
• cauliflower
• asparagus

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