Roasted Fall Vegetables with Apples and Cranberries

Thank you for joining Deborah and me for another hopefully inspiring Meatless Monday! Since Thanksgiving is just around the corner I thought I would share my Roasted Fall Vegetables. It makes a delicious side for Thanksgiving as well as a side or main dish any time of year, yes I’ll get to that.

It’s no secret we love our sweet potatoes and Brussels, well my hubby not so much lately because he says S and I burnt him out with our obsession of them. I can’t said he doesn’t have a point because there were weeks I was roasting up over 4 pounds and we were devouring them. I also love my cranberries, yep no secret there either. Put them all on a baking sheet with some apples and roast them and you have one sweet side dish! I could probably just eat this, and my cranberries and be one happy girl at Thanksgiving. Just give me all the veggies and my cranberries!

Speaking of cranberries. I took this picture of a bowl of cranberries at the Pinch Of Yum Workshop I attended last week. With this and things being a little crazy I decided not to post last Friday as I wanted to focus on the workshop. It was so inspiring and so much information. I really hope to up my photography game, which I really laughed at last night with the time change and it being dark at 5pm. More so with making the pictures not only visually appealing but consistent and a reflection of me. This is so hard with the changes the blog has gone through over the years, me just doing it for fun and not caring (but really caring), and trying to figure out if there is a future for it. I know my style, I can see it in everything except my food photos. While my photography skills were basically non existent when I started (I could take photos of everything except food it seemed) and really didn’t put much thought into it the food was fun. You could see the fun in the sprinkles, the wands in a smoothie, the fun artistic yet not over the top food like the girls bear sandwiches, apples that look like turtles, or snail apple and celery snacks. We still have fun foods but they’re usually simple snacks that don’t make it to the blog, more about plating for entertaining, or some I can’t get to photograph well so I just don’t share.

I want to get all the feeling to show in the photos. While you don’t see the dancing around the kitchen, sprinkling ingredients like confetti, all the giggles of the girls, whipped cream smiles, the relaxing on the deck while enjoying coffee and pancakes, and all the faces of the first bites when they try things. Well the good faces not the squinty ones like you just ate a sour lemon. I want others to look at the pictures and smile, or maybe have some of the same feelings I had while making or eating it.

The point of my ramblings is I feel so inspired after the workshop and then headed up with A to my parents house for the weekend and just let it all soak in. I have so many things on my list. Things I want to change about my photos, how I take them, my workflow, and maybe even what I post. I obviously don’t post every snack, meal, and drink we eat. I use to post mostly my smoothies and the kids fun eats, snacks, then things changed a little and I was posting more meals with friends and family asking me for ideas, of course desserts because those are some of my favorites. I try to keep it a mix right now. Things aren’t going to happen over night and I’m ok with that. I have things in progress, photos already taken, recipes already written but hoping to improve things over the coming months and find a direction and path for the future.

Back to this simple yet flavor and nutrition packed dish, there’s not much to say about it other than it’s good and good for you! It’s packed with so many of my favorite fall flavors. While I like the apples with a little bite still to them you can add them at the beginning with all the other veggies for softer apples. It bakes up quick and leftovers are delicious as well so I always make extra, well try to. Also easy to make into a main dish with tweaks. It’s delicious with a big spoonful of hummus, or a drizzle of Maple Tahini, or even with a poached egg or two. Perfect for a quick dinner or breakfast if I make a big pan of these veggies. Or with any protein of choice if desired.

Roasted Fall Vegetables with Apples and Cranberries
Makes about 6-8 servings, more a smaller side dish
2lb Brussels sprouts, halved
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into approx 1″ chunks (about 1.5 lbs)
2 large apples, peeled and sliced (used Honeycrisp, cut into 12 slices, than slices cut in half)
1- 1 1/2c fresh cranberries
1/2c nuts, pecans, walnuts, cashew, or a blend, optional (used a local nut mix from the market, Isadore Nuts Cinnamon Spice blend of pecans, walnuts, cashews)
1 TBSP coconut oil, or coconut oil spray
Seasoning Blend
1 TBSP coconut palm sugar, or can sub brown sugar
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp espresso powder
1/4-1/2 tsp fresh ground nutmeg (about 30 seconds of grinding fresh nutmeg by hand)
1/4 tsp granulated garlic

Preheat oven to 400F. In a small bowl mix together ingredients to make the seasoning blend, set aside. Spray rimmed baking sheet with coconut oil spray. If using coconut oil drizzle a little on the pan and spread to coat the bottom of the pan. Spread brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes on the baking sheet and spray with a little coconut oil spray or drizzle with coconut oil and toss to coat. Sprinkle on the seasoning blend tossing veggies as needed. If you want softer apples you can also sprinkle them on top. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes before tossing and adding apples if you haven’t already and the cranberries. Return to the oven and cook for 20-25 minutes until potatoes and brussels are tender and roasted. Put on a serving platter, top with optional nuts if desired. Enjoy!
Roasted Fall Vegetables with Apples and Cranberries are perfect for #Thanksgiving and #MeatlessMonday! @MeatlessMonday Share on X
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Sharing the Meatless Monday love I’m also linking up with with Running on Happy and The Fit Foodie Mama for Meatless Monday!