Last night I returned from the most amazing health and wellness retreat at Rancho La Puerta spa in Tecate, Mexico. It was full of early morning hikes, hot stone massages, warm sun, and, most importantly, phenomenal food. Breakfast and lunch was served buffet style, and lunch on our first day consisted of everything in the picture above. It was full of roasted vegetables in every which way! Spicy potatoes, herbed mushrooms, and sweet and tangy beets filled my plate.

My absolute favorite part of the meal were the balsamic-flavored root vegetable medley which I’ve included a modified recipe for below. The spa’s cookbook had the actual recipe but I simplified it, Lemons and Loafers style.

I cut out many of the spices and some of the more rare vegetables to tone down the recipe to something doable wherever you are, and just as delicious!

This recipe makes enough for a large group so I would suggest cooking for a larger party or saving leftovers. You can serve this with brown rice or quinoa, use it as a side dish for meat or fish, or heat it up again to add to your eggs for breakfast. The ranch served it cold on a salad which is also great if you need something to bring to work for lunch.

Ingredients:
1/4 tspn cayenne pepper
1/4 tspn cinnamon
1 tspn whole dried thyme leaves
salt and pepper to taste

1 parsnip, peeled and cut into large chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into large chunks
3 sweet potatoes cut into large chunks
2 potatoes (I added white potatoes to the recipe but they were not in the original) cut into large chunks
1 medium turnip
4 large shallots, peeled and cut in half
olive oil
1 tblspn balsamic vinegar
1 tspn agave nectar
2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees
Mix all spices in a bowl- you can grind together if you like but this is not necessary
– Place all vegetables on a large baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and about 1 tblspn of the spice mixture
– Toss together to coat the vegetables and then spread them in a single layer on the dish
– Bake for about 45 minutes or until tender
– Remove from oven and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and agave nectar
– Sprinkle garlic on top and stir everything together to coat evenly (the recipe calls for the garlic raw but you may want to sauté it for a few minutes which is what I chose to do!)

And now, one of the many lessons I learned in Mexico: