Roasted Vegetables With Maple Balsamic Glaze

  Sometimes it’s just that easy.

We bought a roast a few days ago when we were at Costco, and today was the last day on the best before sticker.  Nobody wants to come home after a full work week on Friday to cook a roast beef supper, so I threw the meat into my slow cooker at 6:45 this morning (like I had time for that-but whatever!) with some salt, pepper, grilling spices and the dregs from a bottle of white wine in the fridge.  Yes I know it’s supposed to be red wine with beef, but again, whatever, I was feeling rebellious.  Set the timer for ten hours on low and head out the door.

When I got home after what feels like a lifetime later, the roast was done and resting on the warm setting, but I had nothing to go with it.  I had some veggies getting older as they waited patiently in my fridge and laundry room so I had a quick peek at Pinterest and came up with the following:

• Heat the oven to 350
• Take an assortment of  vegetables, peel if needed, wash, and cut them in chunks.  Today I had four handfuls of mini carrots, two onions, some wilting parsnips, four potatoes, and three beets that I kept separate.
• Toss all of the veggies (not the beets) in a large bowl, and added salt, pepper, marjoram, thyme, and enough oil to coats everything lightly.
• Spreadout the veggies in a single layer between two pans if needed, adding the beets at this point. 
• Put them in the oven and roast for 45 min to an hour until everything is cooked.

Now the magical step

• Take one cup of real maple syrup (not table syrup, the good stuff) and combine it in a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar.
• Heat to boiling in a smal sauce pan, reduce it to simmer and let it reduce until it is delightfully thickened.
• When the veggies are done, drizzle this over the top and serve.

Verdict:

This was delicious, I messed up the glaze and cooked it too long until it was like maple taffy, but I drizzled it quickly over the warm veggies before it set and no one was the wiser.  

Seriously, it was really good, and really easy.  I watched Big Bang Theory on my PVR while they cooked.