by Liz Young

When I saw sweet potatoes, butternut squash, fennel, radishes, and dill are on the list this week, I knew right away what I am going to do with those! When the weather turns cool, it is a great reason to turn on the oven and heat up the house while making dinner. If you want to speed this up a bit, I often use Lorraine's trick for cutting butternut squash—turn the oven on to 350 or so, wash the squash well and just stick it whole in the oven for 20 minutes or so, rotating at least once. This softens the skin and the flesh slightly and makes it super easy to peel and cut. Also, if you wish to speed up the sweet potato cooking, wash them well to remove all dirt, then lightly boil them in salted water for 10 minutes or so until they are a little less hard when you poke them with a fork. You don't want them to be too soft because they will fall apart in the oven. This combination goes well on it's own, or mix some finely chopped chard leaves or kale into the roasted mix as soon as it comes out of the oven. A perfect fall side dish to any kind of protein! If opting out of the dill sauce, a few tbsp of chevre sprinkled atop, a  and another light drizzle of olive oil is a nice addition. Also, use the leftovers in a quick breakfast scramble with eggs or inside an omelet. Dill drizzle too, of course!

Roasted Fall Veggies with Dill:

1 butternut squash, seeds removed, peeled and cubed ~ 1 in pieces

2 large or 3 smaller sweet potatoes, (peeled or not-your preference) cubed ~ 1 in pieces

4 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 large or 2 small fennel, fronds removed (can garnish with a few of these at end!), bulb cored and chopped

1 bunch of radishes, cubed

2-3 heaping tbsp chopped fresh dill

4 or 5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Sea Salt

Fresh ground black pepper

1 bunch greens (chard, kale, arugula-whatever you have), chopped (optional)

Dill Yogurt Sauce:

3/4 cup plain yogurt (greek style is good if you like it thicker)

1clove garlic, grated

1 tsp lemon juice

½ tsp lemon zest

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh dill

sea salt

fresh ground pepper

Heat oven to 425. Mix squash, potatoes, radishes, and fennel together in a bowl with a few tbsp of olive oil until well-coated (I like to use a mix of olive oil and sunflower oil), then sprinkle with sea salt (about 2 pinches) and give a good mix again. Spread onto a rimmed baking sheet and roast uncovered for 20 minutes. Pull out of the oven, mix in garlic and the dill, then you might add another drizzle of olive oil if they look a little dry. Roast for another 20 minutes, giving them a stir every now and again or until potatoes and squash are soft and veggies are starting to brown. While the veggies are roasting is a good time to construct the sauce. Whisk well in a bowl grated garlic, yogurt, lemon juice and zest, dill, salt and pepper, then set aside. Once veggies look perfect enough to eat, pull them out of the oven, give them a good mix, add salt and pepper to taste, if needed, then let them cool 5 mins or more, before serving with a drizzle of sauce to complete. Note: If adding chopped greens to this dish, mix them as soon as the veggies come out of the oven, so they wilt slightly with the heat. If using chevre instead of dill sauce, sprinkle on when serving.