When asked to reveal my favorite book, Roget’s Thesaurus, I sometimes cringe thinking about the sibling who sits beside it on my bookshelf. A dictionary.

Although incredibly useful—and a resource I use with more frequency than breaths in a day, I often find them dry and uninspiring.

For instance, read the definition for roast as described by Webster-Merriam.

: to cook by exposing to dry heat (as in an oven or before a fire) or by surrounding with hot embers, sand, or stones

: to dry and parch by exposure to heat

: to heat to excess

Truly lackluster if you’re hoping to sell it for dinner fare.

When I see or hear the word roast, it conjures images of food that has caramelized, transformed to a state of sticky sweetness, browned to the point where crisp skins are blistered and have released complex flavors and aromas. I’d deflate if the aim was to “dry and parch” something.

Being winter, according to the calendar and not the weather, it’s time to hunker down with chunks of roasting meat and beefy stews—unless you’re in charge of feeding a vegetarian. So to be fair, I offer up those same flavors and scents to appease the whole family and not displease the one who cannot eat anything that once had a face.

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Roasted Root Vegetables with a side of Forbidden Black Rice

Ingredients

1 red onion, cut into 8 segments

2 small beets, peeled and cut into quarters

4 carrots, peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces

4 parsnips, peeled and cut into 3 inch pieces

1 turnip, peeled and cut into 2 inch chunks

1 celery root, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

1 rutabaga, peeled and cut into 1 1/2 inch chunks

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced into 2 inch chunks

A few glugs of olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 tsp Thyme

½ cup walnuts

2 ounces feta cheese