The Unexpected Ingredient For Flavor-Packed Roasted Vegetables

True fans know that there's little you can't do with mayonnaise. This stuff's not just a condiment: It's a full-fledged ingredient, a matrix of oil and egg whose unique properties make it useful in the kitchen far beyond its traditional role as a cold sandwich spread. If you're making grilled cheese sandwiches, for instance, you'd be wise to use mayo rather than butter on the outside of it. The oil in the mayo has a higher smoke point, so rather than burn in the pan, your sandwich will toast up to a delectably crunchy, golden-brown exterior. Today we're talking about yet another extension of this same idea: You should be tossing your vegetables in mayo, rather than oil, before oven-roasting them. 

The mayo adheres to the veggies better than oil and helps yield a final product that's tender, crisp, and juicy. Mayo is also a stellar vehicle for applying flavor, holding onto whatever spices or herbs you want to add to it and helping them stick to the food. Don't want to flavor your own mayo? No problem. You can start with store-bought flavored mayo (spicy sriracha mayo, anyone?) for a perfect two-ingredient side dish.

One risk you run with roasting vegetables in a common fat like olive oil is that the oil will burn in the hot oven. Like butter, olive oil has a relatively low smoke point (as low as 325 degrees Fahrenheit). So, if you're tossing, say, broccoli in olive oil and then roasting it at 425 or 450 degrees, you might end up burning the oil; rendering the dish bitter or rancid-tasting. Other oils can work better — like canola or grapeseed — but so can mayo, which has a smoke point around 450 degrees, which means it can stand up to some heat.

So, go ahead and crank the oven to 425 degrees. Cut your roasted veggies — broccoli, carrots, Brussels sprouts, or whatever you've got on hand — into uniform pieces, then dump them into a bowl. Toss with your mayo (store-bought or, if you prefer, easy homemade mayo) using the basic rule of about 1 tablespoon per pound of vegetables, though feel free to add more if the mixture seems dry. Spread the veggies onto a pan, taking care not to crowd them. They'll release steam as they cook, so if the vegetables are too close together they'll become soggy rather than crisp. Roast till fork-tender and golden brown on the outside (20 to 30 minutes). In general, dense root vegetables like winter squash or carrot will need longer, whereas with something less dense — cabbages or peppers — you'll want to check the progress earlier and more often.

That's the basic method, but it's really only the beginning. The ways to modify mayo before tossing it with your veggies are basically limitless. Add a couple dashes of smoked paprika, for instance. Grate some garlic or lemon zest into the mayo with lots of fresh cracked pepper. Dice fresh herbs, like rosemary, and fold those in. Or try some combination of the above. 

Consider, for instance, potatoes roasted in a garlic-rosemary mayo with a dash of smoked paprika. Consider Brussels sprouts prepared the same way. Sublime! But you can also skip the extra prep work here by using a premixed, flavored product like sriracha mayo, harissa mayo, or chipotle mayo (though, to be honest, little is easier to whip together than homemade sriracha mayo). Or enhance the umami notes in your veggies by using rich, beloved Kewpie mayo from Japan.

Mayonnaise doesn't just help flavor infuse roasted vegetables — it can make them more texturally interesting, too. You can achieve both a flavor and a texture boost by folding a handful of Parmesan into your mayonnaise, which will help the cheese adhere to the veggies. Finish it off by sprinkling bread crumbs (regular or panko, either will work) onto the mayo-tossed veggies right before they go into the oven. The mayonnaise will help the coating stick and you'll be left with a delightfully rich dish of tender veggies with a surprising pop of exterior crunch.