Roasted vegetables are, without a doubt, a superior way to chow down on your nightly dose of vitamins and fiber. It is easy to jazz up roast veggies with cheese, or even a honey glaze that caramelizes slightly. Plus, it's much easier to throw a sheet of chopped veggies in the oven than it is to make an elaborate stovetop preparation. If you love the crunchy texture and sweet flavors that roast vegetables have to offer, there is one more tip you can use to make them even crispier.
Before you open up your oven and slip in a tray of veggies, grab some cornstarch. You likely already know that cornstarch is used on meat, such as chicken or beef, to give it texture (think of popular Asian dishes like crispy orange chicken). Well, the same technique -- often used alongside marinating or velveting -- also works on vegetables. Before adding oil and seasoning to your veggies, be sure to cut them into equal-sized pieces so that they cook evenly. After seasoning, add around a tablespoon of cornstarch for each pound of vegetables you're cooking. While cook times can vary depending on your oven and your preferred texture, you can just use a fork to check them. You should notice your veggies turn soft on the inside but stay crispy on the outside.
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Cornstarch can make foods crispier by absorbing moisture. When you cook, whether roasting or frying, food tends to lose some of its moisture and can become soggy. You might have heard that it's a good idea to pat foods dry with a paper towel before roasting as this absorbs extra moisture and aids browning and crisping.
When you cook food coated in cornstarch, moisture interacts with the starch and forms granules on the food surface. Cornstarch contains amylose -- a type of starch molecule that creates a crispy layer when fried or roasted. While flour, for example, also contains amylose, cornstarch contains a higher amount: around 25%.
Whether you fancy broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, or even green beans, a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch will make even the pickiest eaters more inclined to indulge. And if you really want to take it one step further on the crunch scale, you could also lather your veggies in mayo instead of oil. This will make dinner a much tastier experience.
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