Roasted root vegetables are simply wonderful as a side dish, and the leftovers are dandy for chopping up smaller and adding to salad or using in a grain or noodle bowl, if you are into those. Add some meat to the roasting pan, and you end up with a sheet pan dinner.
Start by roasting the vegetables first at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes, then adding kielbasa for 10 or 15 minutes. Then you have dinner in a half hour — plus chopping but minus fussing time.
All the usual vegetable suspects — carrots, potatoes, quartered onion, and if you like them, diced butternut or sliced delicata — tossed in a mix of oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper are joined by sliced kielbasa plus some shredded cabbage also tossed in the dressing.
If you want a shortcut, you can use your favorite bottled vinaigrette with the vegetables.
These days, there are lots of choices of kielbasa, pork, beef, and turkey in miscellaneous combinations. We had a vigorous discussion here at our house about what would be better, kielbasa left whole or sliced. One theory was that whole kielbasa would be juicier, while sliced kielbasa might be crispy. Turns out that it made no difference for the amount of time that it was roasted.
And you could always leave out the kielbasa to have a vegetarian dinner.
The directions below are a no-recipe recipe, organized on a per-person basis.
You’ll end up with a great, joyous mess to pile on your plate. Add a green salad to round it out, and don’t forget dessert.
Kielbasa and Vegetables Sheet Pan Dinner
Serves one
1 medium potato, cut into chunks, or 3-4 small potatoes per person
1 carrot per person, thickly sliced
½ onion, cut in half
Other hard vegetables cut in chunks, such as winter squash, cauliflower or parsnips
1 cup green cabbage, coarsely shredded
1/3 ring of kielbasa per person, sliced diagonally
2 tablespoons vinaigrette, or a generous dribble of olive oil and a sprinkle of rice or balsamic vinegar
Salt and Pepper
Heat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Toss the hard vegetables with the vinaigrette and arrange them on a sheet pan.
Roast for 20 minutes or until you can pierce the potatoes with a fork.
Toss the shredded cabbage with vinaigrette and add it with the kielbasa to the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast for another 10 minutes.
Serve with mustard or ketchup if desired.
