Roasted Vegetables with Brown Butter Vinaigrette

Roasted Vegetables with Brown Butter Vinaigrette. If this was a book, feel free to judge it by the title. Delicious, naturally gluten free and simple to make, what more could you want?

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Roasted Vegetables with Brown Butter Vinaigrette. Everything about that title is amazing. I love roasted vegetables. I have often made a meal of just roasted vegetables. Now do that, but top it with a vinaigrette. Oh and then add brown butter to that vinaigrette. Yes please! What is brown butter vinaigrette? Besides umami heaven. It is a vinaigrette made with a little olive oil and a little brown butter. I make an incredible vinaigrette, but this one was an even better version of my already amazing dressing. Serve this as a side dish, or a full meal. It would be an incredible addition to any holiday feast, or winter gathering. Would it work in the summer? Absolutely! But use grilled vegetables instead.

It is simple, it is delicious and it is naturally gluten free and vegetarian. I have not experimented making this vegan, but if vegan butter browns I don’t see why it wouldn’t work! Otherwise add a bit of soy sauce and/or some shitake mushrooms to the vegetable mix. This will help get more vegan umami flavor. Feel free to make the vinaigrette in advance and store it in the fridge, or leftovers store in the fridge. The vinaigrette will solidify in the fridge. So just warm it up in the microwave for about 10 seconds before using.

If you choose to make this a meal serve it over pasta, rice or serve with your favorite gluten free (or regular) bread. If you serve it with bread have some dressing on the side to dunk that bread up in there, you will be glad you did! Make sure you serve it with the Thyme for a Pear Gin Fizz cocktail for an even better treat.

Delicious Brown Butter Vinaigrette and Roasted Vegetables Recipe Notes and Substitutions

Vegetables– For this recipe I used cauliflower, cabbage, carrots and cherry tomatoes. These were chosen partly because I really like them roasted. Partly because it is what I had/was in season. Partly because I know they all roast well. Use whatever vegetables you like. I recommend using some base vegetables like cabbage and cauliflower and some sweeter ones like the carrots. Adding sweet vegetables helps balance the flavors and vinaigrette. Originally, I thought to use lentils and mushrooms but it was A LOT of umami, so I swapped in carrots. If making a full meal you can add lentils, chicken or steak, they will all work really well.

Smashed Garlic– Making smashed garlic is SUPER easy. It is essentially a garlic paste. All you do is finely dice the garlic then sprinkle some salt on it. Then using the flat side of a chef’s knife press down on the garlic while dragging the knife along the cutting board. Do this a couple times until a paste forms. This is so important to the vinaigrette! I speak more about this in my Roasted Beet Salad with Honey Vinaigrette recipe.

Brown Butter– Brown butter is so easy to make and adds incredible depth. Essentially it is slowly caramelizing the sugars in butter. It takes the flavor from sweet and creamy to savory and nutty. For a more in-depth look at how to make brown butter check out this post by Simply Recipes. It is so easy to make and makes a world of difference for the finished flavor of this vinaigrette.

Dijon Mustard– I like dijon mustard for this, but honey mustard or stone ground mustard would also work well in this recipe. I wouldn’t recommend using yellow mustard as a substitute.

Lemon– This recipe calls for lemon juice and lemon zest. Lime won’t work quite as well, so stick with lemon for this recipe. If you really don’t have lemon or want to buy lemon you can get away with using all vinegar, it just isn’t quite as good.

Apple Cider Vinegar– This is the best vinegar for this recipe. Partly for the flavor and partly because the slight sweetness connect the food bite with the Thyme for a Pear Gin Fizz. If you do not have or do not want to use Apple Cider Vinegar, you can substitute white wine vinegar, or try red wine vinegar. Balsamic vinegar would be too sweet to fully substitute in this recipe. Distilled vinegar would work in a pinch but is not ideal.

Vegan Option– Try making vegan brown butter, like in this recipe by The Virtual Vegan. Also, substitute the parmesan cheese shavings for Vegan Parmesan or nutritional yeast and some walnuts.

Paleo Option– While not quite as ideal, feel free to used some melted ghee or chicken fat in place of butter for this recipe. It won’t be as good but the ghee or chicken fat will add more umami flavor than just olive oil. You could substitute all olive oil, but some umami really does the trick. Also, substitute the parmesan cheese shavings for Paleo Parmesan.

Suggested Drink Pairing– Thyme for a Pear Gin Fizz, Elderflower, Pear and Thyme Martini, Chardonnay, Pinot Grigio, Pinot Noir, Merlot.