Back to the roots – Oven-roasted root vegetables with roquefort sauce and millet

Lately, when I strolled over our local farmers market, I stopped immediately: Beautiful mini beet roots, carrots, parsnips catched my eye – and in my mind they formed some ideal winterdish, oven-roasted with warming spices, together with some kind of grain as side and a flavorful sauce that could hold against the earthy roots, giving the whole dish some more depth.

Although I think most fruits and vegetables benefit from oven-roasting and thereby concentrating flavours, I think this is especially true for root vegetables of all kind.

I finally paired them with a blue cheese sauce, although I also had a spicy horseradish sauce in my mind … and I still think of this as a great alternative.

After browsing through my mind I ended up with millet as a side – a grain that evokes faded childhood memories and that I’m currently rediscovering (probably more recipes upcoming). From the department of GTK (good to know): Millet is the most mineral-rich of all grains. So, not for nothing,  the German word “Hirse” derives from the Indo-Germanic word for nutrition.

When I bought the vegetables as well when I prepared the dish I didn’t have exact measurements in mind. So when it all came together, it turned out to be quite a lot for two eaters and the leftovers made a good lunch the day after.

Oven-roasted root vegetables with roquefort sauce and millet (2-3 p.)

ingredients
about 1 kg mixed mini root vegetables (f.ex. parsnip, beetroot, carrot), 1 teaspoon dried thyme, 1 teaspoon fennel seeds, ½ teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon coriander seeds, ½ teaspoon chili flakes, juice of ½ lemon, 1 tablespoon olive oil, sea salt flakes

2 tablespoons toasted hazelnuts, 70 g roquefort cheese, 50 ml milk, salt, pepper

100 g millet, 200 ml vegetable stock

preparation
Clean vegetables, remove stems. Halfen bigger roots so that all pieces have about the same size. Transfer to a big bowl. Pestle spices and mix with lemon juice and olive oil. Toss marinade over roots and distribute evenly. Transfer to a baking tray or a large baking dish and bake in the preheated oven at 200° C for 25-30 minutes. Turn over at the middle of baking time. Remove from oven and salt with sea salt flakes.
While the vegetable is in the oven, rinse millet. Add to a saucepan together with vegetable stock. Cover with lid and cook over low heat for 10 minutes. Turn heat off and allow to swell for another 15 minutes.
Meanwhile heat milk in a small saucepan, add roquefort cheese in small cubes and melt over low heat. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Roughly chop hazelnuts.
Serve mixed roots together with millet, drizzle with sauce and sprinkle with roasted nuts.