Marinated Mixed Vegetables (GF & Vegan)

The other day, I made a “clean out the fridge” meal by marinating my remaining vegetables with the intent to roast later on. After a full day of marinating in good olive oil, fresh herbs, & lemon, I pulled them out to finish preparing dinner, but my partner tasted them & said “Babe, these are good as is!” I gave him a slightly snarled confused face, tried one for myself, and said, “Oh, they are!” Happy accident & I’ll be making these from now on. The marinated mushrooms were my personal favorite, so I might add more next time depending on what I have on hand. My grandma used to make marinated vegetables & I almost forgot how good they are. The mix of different marinated vegetable textures with the chilled temperature coming out of the refrigerator is surprisingly satisfying. Below are the loose guidelines…

Ingredients:

-1 cup extra virgin olive oil

-3 cloves garlic, minced

-1 tbsp. nutritional yeast (I like Bragg’s)

-2 tbsp. fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

-1 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped

-1 tbsp. dried oregano (feel free to use fresh if you can find it)

-Zest of 1 lemon

-Juice of 1/2 large lemon (about 2 tbsp.)

-1 1/2 tsp. salt

-Fresh cracked pepper

-2 whole portobello mushrooms, stemmed & sliced thickly

-6-10 shiitake mushrooms, stemmed & sliced thickly

-2 zucchini, sliced diagonally into thick pieces (at least 1/4” thick)

-1/2 large red onion, sliced thickly

-1 head Romanesco or cauliflower, stems & leaves removed (which you can save for a separate salad if you wish) & broken down into bite sized pieces

-3 bell peppers, seeds removed & cut into bite sized pieces (here I used purple bell peppers)

Directions:

-In a medium bowl, mix together the olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, parsley, thyme, oregano, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, & pepper as the marinade. Set aside for now.

-In a large bowl, or perhaps two depending on their size, add your chopped vegetables (mushrooms, zucchini, onion, Romanesco, & peppers) & cover with the marinade that you just made. Toss with your hands to make sure that all of the veggies are evenly coated. Feel free to drizzle a bit more olive oil over them if needed.

-Let marinade in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours or overnight.

-Transfer to a plate & enjoy!

This grouping of vegetables was simply what I had on hand, so play around by adding in what you have. Tomatoes, yellow squash, or additional mushroom varieties would also be great. After the vegetables have been marinating, feel free to throw these on the grill or roast in the oven as well.

For your health,

Lily