Sometimes I’d use roasted vegetables as crudités (I know, I know, they’re not raw), dipping a variety of them into a simple yogurt or ricotta dip. That deep, ultra-savory flavor is a nice break from the mediocre vegetable platters at parties across the world.
I also started to use leftover roasted vegetables as salads. Charred broccoli is absolutely incredible when it’s tossed with a citrus-y vinaigrette, some toasted nuts, and some chopped herbs. Hell, basically any vegetable is. Toss them with pesto or a creamy nuoc cham dressing. You can also use them to top some lightly dressed greens or shaved raw vegetables for some contrast. It’s all great.
And potatoes? Oh, man. Roasted potato salad kicks the crap out of boiled potato salad. Those little crispy bits, along with the garlic or herbs or shallots you roasted them with, provides enough flavor and texture to change some seriously concrete beliefs.
You can eat cold roasted vegetables in so many ways. It’s all about looking at them as a more flavorful, textured version of their original ingredient, not a finished side. Once you start thinking like that, anything’s possible. I’m actually way too excited about this, as I’m writing it. I hope that, one day, the leftover roasted carrots in your fridge will get you there too.
