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Roasted vegetables are a simple and versatile dish. Using a mixture of different vegetables will give a good balance of tastes and textures.

Prepare butternut squash by chopping off any tough skin. Scrub or peel root vegetables like parsnips. You can also use other vegetables such as carrots, celeriac or sweet potatoes.

Vegetables roast at different speeds so cut to the right size to make sure they all cook evenly. Soft vegetables like aubergines cook faster so cut these up larger. Hard vegetables like parsnips take longer to cook so chop up finer.

Place them in a single layer in a roasting dish. Add some robust herbs such as thyme or rosemary with a few pinches of salt and pepper to taste.

A few cloves of garlic, left whole in their skins, can be roasted with the vegetables to give them flavour. You can also use them to make a sweet roasted garlic paste to spread on toast or add to dressings.

Pour on a glug of vegetable or olive oil and use your hands to make sure that the vegetables are completely coated.

Root vegetables will cook in 40-50 minutes in a fairly hot oven – 180-200C, or 350-400F.

Soft vegetables like peppers, aubergines, onions and tomatoes roasted at higher temperatures will have lovely charred edges.