Roast Vegetables

Roast vegetables are a great option on Atkins and go well with many meat or fish dishes. For instance you can have them with roast duck, lamb or beef. Just put your meat in the oven and add the vegetables about 40 minutes before the end (or less depending on the type of vegetables you choose).

In step two of this recipe, we cook the vegetables in a pan with butter – they brown more using this method but it is completely optional so feel free to skip if you are short on time. It is also a good recipe to double up the ingredients so you can save cooking the following night.

Ingredients – 6 servings:

Carrot, parsnip, celeriac and turnip

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 6 carrots
• 2 parsnips
• 1 small celeriac
• 1 turnip
• Thyme and Rosemary

Carbs: 20g approx per serving
Phase: Suitable from phase 3 onwards

Preparation Instructions

1. Chop all vegetables to an equal size
2. Heat butter in a large saucepan and then place vegetables in the hot oil and heat until golden brown (optional)
3. Place vegetables in a roasting tin and add herbs.
4. Drizzle over a little more olive oil.
5. Cook in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 40 minutes

Chopped vegetables in tray

While this recipe is for phase 3 onwards and is relatively high in carbs, the following table shows the vegetables suitable in each phase that you can roast and their carb counts. The trick with roasting vegetables is to roast vegetables together that take about the same length of time and to cut them the same size. For instance root vegetables like celeriac, turnip and carrot or soft vegetables like courgette and peppers. You could also cook broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts together or have asparagus and green beans. So if you wish to mix them, either cook them in separate trays or add the ones that take less time nearer to the end. This article on How to Roast any Vegetable gives some great tips as well as the cooking times for different vegetables. Trying out different combinations and roasting new vegetables will add lots of interesting variation to your meals.

For more ideas check out the UK Atkins meal-planner – just enter Roast Vegetables and Phase 1 for instance to get lots of recipes for roast veg dishes suitable for Induction. Here are some we’ve picked that you will easily find ingredients for in any Irish supermarket or veg shop. They are all suitable for Phase One except the last one, which is from Phase Two on:

• Lemon Thyme Tenderloin with Roasted Vegetables This recipe has roast squash, red and yellow peppers. This recipe takes just 20 minutes to prepare enough for 8 people and is suitable for all phases of Atkins. It has just 4.9g of carbs per serving.
• Chicken with Roasted Vegetables. Just 6.9g of carbs in this dish which features roast aubergine, red pepper, courgette and plum tomatoes. It is suitable for all phases.
• Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower. This dish which would be perfect with fish and has just 2.5g carbs and takes only 10 minutes to prepare. It is suitable for all phases.
• Balsamic Sprouts with Bacon Roasting Brussels sprouts gives a completely different taste. This recipe takes only 5 minutes to prepare and is suitable for all phases. 3.6g carbs per serving.
• Roasted Turnips with Parmesan This one just takes 5 minutes to prepare too and has only 6g carbs per serving. Suitable for all phases.
• Lamb Steak with Roasted Vegetables This recipe suitable from phase 2 on, has 8.6g carbs and includes roast red onion, mushrooms, leek and red & green peppers