Rosemary Roasted Roots with a Balsamic & Maple Drizzle

Ok, I'll admit now that I've not really got into the summer thing this year.  I know it's a great time to eat salads and fresh tasting foods, the perfect season for cool cocktails - all to be enjoyed on your patio/balcony/local park.

Summer has been weird here in England.  It got off to a rocky start and with intermittent showers between the sun so it's been hard to get into the swing of the season.  Of course it doesn't help that I'm not much of a summer girl to begin with!

I'm one of those lucky people who can wander around a supermarket with an empty tummy without grabbing everything in sight - I like to have a good think about what I actually want to eat so can easily spend a lot of time perusing the aisles until something catches my eye and triggers that "yes!  That is my dinner!" moment...which is what happened today when I spotted some beetroot.  It can be a summer-y veg if you use it in coleslaw but has that lovely earthy flavour you want to team with parsnips and carrots and eat all Autumn long.
This is such a simple recipe but has so many flavours bursting through that it's my big raspberry in the direction of summer!  The roasted roots can sit next to your Sunday roast or, as I did, be the healthy main attraction.

Preheat your oven to 185C (fan oven).

Slice the potatoes and beets into large bite sized pieces and the carrots and parsnips into long pieces. Slice the beet in half if it's a smaller beetroot, quarters if it's larger.  I like to leave the skin on everything because I think it tastes better but feel free to peel everything bar the garlic - skin-less garlic will roast too quickly and end up crispy and bitter.

Space the veg evenly on a baking tray (foil lined if you hate washing up greasy pans!), drizzle generously with olive oil and add a good pinch of pepper.  I used the Santa Maria "5 pepper" grinder which adds a little more flavour than just black pepper.

Roast for 30 minutes then toss and add the sprig of rosemary.

After 40 minutes drizzle the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup on top of the nearly-there veg.

60 minutes into roasting and it's time to crumble the feta (cubes of halloumi work a treat as well!).  If you want to keep this vegan then skip the feta.  Back into the oven for 5-10 minutes.  You want to make sure that the veg are soft and the balsamic and maple have reduced into a lovely sticky glaze.

The salty feta balances out the sweetness of the veg and the maple syrup, the balsamic vinegar finishes the dish off with a tang.