An easy recipe for oven roasted crusiferous vegetables and sweet peppers.
There’s smoked bacon and an easy to prepare homemade white cheddar cheese sauce.
Cheese sauce is like a warm blanket of creamy goodness that adds a tangy flavor to anything you drizzle it over.
Kitchens Tips – Making A Good Cheese Sauce
Keep the heat on medium-low, just hot enough to melt the ingredients but not so hot as to cook the cheese and cause it to separate.
Grate the cheese rather than using cubes or slices. As this will help the cheese to melt more quickly and evenly.
Make sure the milk and cheese have been warmed to room temperature. Putting these ingredients in still cold from the refrigerator can cause the sauce to clump.
Add milk and cheese a bit at a time rather than all at once. Stirring after each addition.
Be sure to stir constantly to keep the temperature of the sauce even.
Make the cheese sauce as close to serving time as possible so it won’t have to sit on a warm stove, where it may get overcooked or develop a film on the surface.
More Kitchen Tips
Roasted Vegetables Bacon & Sweet Peppers with White Cheddar Cheese Sauce
The following serves 2-3 plates. Double for 6-8 plate servings.
This recipe also calls for nutmeg. Nutmeg adds a nice, warm touch.
You can use the powdered spice, though fresh is much better. As fresh grated contains the flavor oils that are among the quickest of all spices to evaporate.
If using fresh nutmeg, use sparingly. As you do not want to over power the sauce or roasted vegetables.
A grating of nutmeg literally means one stroke on a grater of microplane.
The addition of nutmeg is optional. You can use other spices like red pepper flakes or smoked paprika.
1 pound of vegetables (about 3 1/2 cups) = 1 cup each asparagus, sliced – Brussels sprouts, trimmed quartered – broccoli, chopped
1 cup mini-sweet peppers, seeded, chopped
6-8 strips smoked bacon, fried
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon all purpose flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup or 4 ounces white sharp cheddar, shredded
¼ teaspoon black pepper more to taste
¼ teaspoon Himalayan salt more to taste
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg, optional
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place the prepared vegetables (with out peppers) in a large bowl with salt, pepper and 1 tablespoon oil. Mix until combined.
Line a baking pan with aluminum foil. Add vegetables and spread out evenly.
Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, turning halfway during cooking.
Chop sweet peppers and toss with a little olive oil. Place peppers into a cast iron skillet even over bottom of pan. Set aside.
While the vegetables are roasting, fry bacon just until crisp. Remove from pan and place cooked bacon on a plate with a paper towel. Set aside.
Melt butter in a medium sized sauce pan over low heat.
Whisk in the flour. Cook and stir until smooth and bubbly, about 2 minutes.
Gradually whisk in the milk. Stir in the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
Increase the heat to medium high to bring the sauce to a low boil. When the mixture starts bubbling, remove from heat.
Stir in the cheddar cheese until melted.
When vegetables are done remove from oven and add to a large serving bowl.
Turn oven off and turn on broiler to high. Place sweet peppers under broiler for 5-6 minutes.
Cut bacon up and add to vegetables. When peppers are done remove from broiler and add to vegetables.
Spoon on cheddar cheese sauce a little at a time, mixing in with each addition until you have the consistency you desire of sauce to roasted vegetable mix.
Add an additional serving bowl of cheese sauce to your dinner table for those who may want more.
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