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The Only Hack You Need to Make Perfectly Roasted Veggies Without Oil

Tehrene Firman

October 10, 2018

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Photo: Stocksy/Helen Rushbrook

There's usually only one go-to method of making super-crispy veggies in the oven: slathering them with olive oil. While the healthy fat offers plenty of health benefits—from helping prevent heart disease to lowering your risk of Alzheimer's—just one tablespoon contains a whopping 120 calories. (Aka drowning your Brussels sprouts in it could quickly match the calorie-count of your favorite pasta dish.) Luckily on the days you want to go oil-free, there's still an easy way you can roast 'em to perfection.

Dana Shultz, the plant-based food blogger behind Minimalist Baker, recently shared her hack to mastering the art of roasting oil-free veggies, and it only adds a few minutes of prep-time to your dinner routine. "Steam your starchy vegetables first until just tender, and then finish roasting them in the oven. And for non-starchy vegetables, throw them straight into the oven with just the seasonings—no steaming necessary," she writes. "They don’t need the extra moisture because they're more tender and have a higher water content in most instances, so steaming would make them soggy."

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While veggies like peppers, zucchini, and beets are totally fine as-is, ones like sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, and Brussels sprouts should be steamed beforehand with a steamer basket for four to six minutes, explains Shultz. After they're slightly tender and can be easily-pierced with a knife, you can throw on some seasonings and pop them in the oven until they're crisped up to your liking. Making dinner has never been easier—or healthier.

Start adding these seven delicious winter vegetables into your meals. Or, find out what "clean eating" looks like around the world.