It's winter.. everything has gotten drab.. no need for your dinner to remain colorless.. I'm going to show you 3 vibrant roast veggie variations to add to dinner tonight.. that will not only add some visual excitement to your plate, but will wake up your tastebuds with some less used combinations!

For the brussel sprouts I revamped a recipe for "finger licking brussells" posted by meglymoo87 (found here) So i'd like to thank her for the inspiration =)

Step 1: The Variations..

#1 Carrots with honey tangerines and garlic

#2 beets with cara cara oranges (can sub navels) and rosemary

#3 brussel sprouts with garlic, lemon and butter

Step 2: The Staples:

all of these are seasoned with salt and pepper , sauteed for a minute in butter and olive oil, before roasting in a 350 degree oven til done.

Step 3: Mmmmm Butter

get the butterand olive oil started started in a pan, slice your veggies thin (halve your brussel sprouts), mince your garlic.

#1 for the carrots, slice 1/4 inch thin 2 inch pieces (i used tri color carrots, but its not necessary if you only have orange). slice your honey tangerines to 1/4 inch ( no need to remove peel).Toss the carrots in the pan with butter and garlic for 1 minute.. ten transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment.. toss tangerine slice in and spread to single layer.Roast until tender (about 20 minutes)

#2 for the beets. Peel the beets, slice into 1/4 inch rounds, mince the garlic and rosemary. heat butter and garlic and toss in beets until coated (you can alternatively melt the butter and garlic together in a bag and toss in the beet slices). remove from heat and toss in rosemary, spread into single layer with cara car a oranges on parchment lined sheet. Bake until tender (15 mins?) at 350.

#3 for the brussel sprouts: halve the brussel sprouts (this idea was stolen -and modified slightly-from this instructable on sprout .. spread these flat side down in a pan with melted butter and minced garlic. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over the top and sprinkle with salt and pepper.Saute for 2 minutes. transfer to a baking sheet lined with parchment. arrange the sprouts face down and roast at 350 degrees until tender.

Step 4: Before the Bake

these are so colorful.. and

Step 5: They Haven't Lost Much After.

these are all kid friendly recipes.. but they could be made more spicy (to taste!) by adding red pepper flakes or even cayenne! I encourage you to try them as is first .. and modify from there.. they really are tasty..and add visual excitement to otherwise bland winter meals!

Step 6: Shameless Pandering:

Please do vote for me in the contests i entered if you find these intsructables worthy!