Oven Baked Rice and Vegetables

1. This recipe is best made with white long grain rice because it's less sticky than short and medium grain. Basmati and jasmine will also work - same cook time. Risotto and paella rice are not suitable. Brown rice will take about 1 hr 10 minutes in the oven. So bake covered in foil for 40 minutes, then spread over vegetables and bake for a further 30 minutes.

2. OTHER VEGETABLES: You can use any vegetables that you want for this recipe that are suitable for roasting, but you'll need to cut them to size so they roast in 30 minutes. Or you could add them with the carrots at the beginning of the recipe, in which case they need to be able to hold up to a full 50 minutes baking time.

When choosing veggies, bear in mind that there is only so much surface area and only those veggies on the top will get charred like traditional roasted veggies. That is why I choose to cook the carrots in the rice and to push most of the corn under - they are tasty even without being browned from the roasting.

For vegetables that cook quickly like asparagus and green beans, toss them on top for the last 15 minutes of bake time (otherwise they'll be a soggy mess).

3. If you would like to lower the sodium in this, use low sodium broth and reduce the salt to 1/2 tsp and increase the garlic powder and thyme by 1/2 tsp each.

4. YOGHURT SAUCE: The roasted veg are juicy and the rice is seasoned so I don't need a sauce with this. However, if serving the next day, the rice does tend to be drier so a sauce is nice. I normally just use a mix of yoghurt + lemon + olive oil.