Last night, I honestly had the best roasted veggies of my life. At a bar. Which bar, you ask?
Cassie, Jillian and I went out for dinner at The Smith, a casual bar and restaurant in the East Village that serves up New American food. Jillian and I went there for a meal freshman year and have loved it ever since!
As soon as we sat, we were given a loaf of baguette, that tasted slightly of honey.
Since the menu wasn't too veg-friendly and I wasn't starving for dinner after snacking away all afternoon, I decided to make a meal out of a few sides. Cassie liked the idea as well, so we started off by sharing the crudites with basil aioli.
Green beans, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, radishes, raw leeks and a hard-boiled egg with creamy sauce for dippin'.
And as my entree, I ordered sides of the roasted brussels sprouts and maple roasted acorn squash.
Oh. My. Gosh. The brussels sprouts were amazing- I've never been so excited about a vegetable. They had crispy skins but were moist on the inside, and were perfectly seasoned with salt and pepper. Undoubtedly cooked in plenty of oil, they still didn't taste greasy of feel heavy. I devoured them.
The squash was also fabulous- smothered in sweet maple and butter and roasted to perfection. It was such a rich vegetable- I think they would have been fine just roasting them in maple! Definitely still a winner though. It tasted more like dessert than anything!
Speaking of dessert, the three of us shared the "Big Chocolate" sundae for a little something sweet.
Chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate cake and chocolate chunks. Good, but nothing extraordinary- the chunks were a nice surprise, while overall the ice cream-to-cake ratio was way off. We're such picky dessert eaters :)
In any case, the veggies completely made the meal. Crisp crudites and perfect roasting at a bar? Whoda thunk?
What are the best veggies you've ever had?
PS- You have until 9 tomorrow to enter my cookie giveaway!
