These vegetable stacks with parmesan, rosemary and sea salt are pretty simple to make, but taste so fantastic. I think they look great, too, and would make a nice presentation on a plate if you are having dinner guests over. The key to making these cook evenly is to slice them the same width. One of my best investments I’ve made is in a vegetable slicer called a Norpro Mandoline Slicer.


Some days it is so hard to turn on the news. Whether it’s tornadoes in Oklahoma, bombings in Boston, or a gunman in Sandyhook, these events have a way of putting life in perspective. My heart and prayers go out to everyone devastated by such horrific events. I listened to two videos this week that summed up perspective, how we view others, how we view ourselves, how to live life. If you have a few moments please take a listen. I know you won’t be disappointed. The first one is called This is Water. It is a video of excerpts from a commencement speech given to college grads by David Foster Wallace back in 2005. This intriguing video challenged me to see beyond myself and gain a new perspective into other people’s lives. Everybody has a story and we often assume we know their story. Like the woman whose child is screaming in the grocery store. We assume she doesn’t know how to discipline or that she’s simply an out of touch parent. But perhaps her story is that she has been up every night with a husband going through chemo and she’s so very exhausted she can’t even begin to know how to help her child who is screaming because he simply misses his mommy’s attention. This is Water will help you look at the world through different eyes. The second video in many ways did the same. Perhaps you have seen this one floating around the internet, but just a fair warning, you may need a tissue box to get through this one. It is a fair bit longer than the first, but I encourage you to watch it. There are very few times when I feel so moved as to want to pass on videos, especially over my blog, but this video, What He Left Behind is Wondtacular is so worth watching, I couldn’t help myself. Next time something bums you out, even in the smallest way, remember what was said in these videos and try to keep it all in perspective.

So how do I go from that last paragraph and turn to cooking? And I bet you’re thinking, “What? She gave me the link to that video and now she wants me to cook veggies?” Really, my only connection may be with the This is Water video, because you might have to go to a store to pick up some ingredients. And when you do, I hope you think differently on the woman in front of you with the screaming kids and take a second thought on what her story may be.
Evenly sliced veggies with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, and parmesan in a ziploc baggie.

Evenly sliced veggies with olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, rosemary, and parmesan in a ziploc baggie. 

You can layer the veggies in any order you like, but I prefer to put a layer of Yukon potatoes down, then onions.

Root vegetables
Place onion rings on top of potatoes and sprinkle sea salt and pepper on top.

The zucchini and red tomatoes add color to this dish, so I try to evenly disperse the two throughout the stack.

layered root vegetables
The next layer to this yummy stack is sliced zucchini on top of the sweet onion.

 

Because the tomatoes are a soft fruit, I cut them twice as thick as the rest of the veggies. I usually slice these by hand.

Evenly stack alternating veggies and spear them with a skewer to hold them together during the baking process.
Evenly stack alternating veggies and spear them with a skewer to hold them together during the baking process.

Bake them in the oven for one to one and a half hours or until the layers are soft in the middle and crisp on the edges.

stacked tomato & potato side dish
Layers of veggies baking up to a delicious crisp-edged delight!

 

Vegetable side dish
Stacked vegetables of potato, tomato, sweet onion, and zucchini with flecks of rosemary lingering off the edges.

 

vegetable side dish
A mouth-watering stack of vegetables with parmesan, rosemary and sea salt. Great as a side dish to any meal!

 

2 lg Yukon Gold potatoes

1 sweet onion

2 med zucchini

2 firm ripe tomatoes

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary-chopped (or 2 tsp slightly crushed dried rosemary)

1 tsp coarsely ground sea salt

1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 cup olive oil

bamboo  skewers (soaked in water)

Slice potatoes, onions and zucchini evenly with a Mandorine slicer. The zucchini needs to be sliced length-wise. Then cut each slice of the zucchini in half. Place the potatoes and zucchini (not the onion) into a ziplock bag and add olive oil, salt, pepper, and parmesan cheese. Shake the bag vigorously until all veggies are evenly coated. Slice tomatoes a quarter-inch thick. Prepare the stacks by adding layers of potato, onion, zucchini, and tomato, then repeat. I often add an extra sprinkling of salt & pepper throughout the slices. Place a soaked bamboo skewer down the center and break off the top of the skewer so only an inch or so remains above the top of the stack. Place stacks on parchment paper covered cookie sheet or a cookie sheet with non-stick spray. Place in a preheated 350 degree oven for 1 to 1 1/2 hours or until slices are soft on the inside and crispy on the edges. Serve as a side for your favorite entrée, or as a stand-alone vegetarian meal. If you like this dish, you may also like to try my caramelized root vegetables with arugula & gorgonzola.

This recipe was also shared on myculturedpalate, thisgalcooks, realfoodforager, simplysugarandglutenfree, wellfedhomestead, Deliciousobsessions, glutenfreehomemaker, hartkeisonlinevegetarianmammaChef-in-Training

9 comments on “Vegetable Stack with Parmesan, Rosemary & Sea Salt”

  1. I am loving these! They look and sound yummy!! Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂

    Cindy from vegetarianmamma.com

  2. Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog
    and wished to say that I’ve really enjoyed browsing your blog posts.
    In any case I will be subscribing to your feed and I
    hope you write again soon!

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