carrots
rutabaga
parsnips
celery root
potatoes or sweet potatoes
1 - 2 small heads of garlic
yellow or red onions
honey or dark molasses
good, light-tasting olive oil
salt
white pepper
(few sprigs of rosemary and/or thyme)

The amount of vegetables used is up to you. A good balance of flavours is to use about the same amount of sweet-tasting vegetables (carrots, rutabaga and sweet potatoes), sharper, nutty-tasting vegetables (parsnips and celery root) and neutral-tasting vegetables (potatoes).

Peel the vegetables. It is easier to cut large vegetables like rutabaga and celery root first into smaller chunks and slices before peeling them. You can also just thoroughly scrub the potatoes, carrots and parsnips and leave them unpeeled. Detach the garlic cloves from the bulb. You do not need to peel them.

Cut the vegetables in relatively thick, chunky sticks. Place them in an oiled oven pan large enough to hold them in single layer. Drizzle or spray with oil and toss. Sprinkle with salt and white pepper. (Place a few herb sprigs on top, if you like.)

Drizzle honey or molasses generously on top of the vegetables. Note that when roasted in oven, root vegetables turn naturally sweet. Reduce the amount of honey or molasses if you do not like the result to be overly sweet.

Bake the vegetables at 200 - 225 °C for about 40 minutes or until they are tender inside and slightly crisped and browned on top. Turn and stir the vegetables once or twice during baking.

Serve the vegetables with various meat and game dishes, like roasts, grilled steaks, lamb chops etc.

You may also use other vegetables, like turnips, beetroots, yellow or white beets, leeks, kohlrabi or Jerusalem artichokes.

Recipe source: adapted from "Roasted new vegetables" by Nigella Lawson, Toronto Star/At My Table, April/2003, "Joulun makuiset paahdetut juurekset" by Kotimaiset Kasvikset ry, www.finfood.fi, accessed 2003, and "Uunijuurekset", YLE Teksti-TV/Ruokavihjeet, January/2004.