Although roasting vegetables in olive oil yields delicious and healthy results, there are several reasons why you should consider keeping the oil in your pantry the next time you're roasting veggies. According to chef Nick Balla of San Francisco restaurants Duna and Smokebread, dry-roasting vegetables is a technique that’s far superior to roasting veggies in oil.

When you roast vegetables in oil, their water content eventually becomes steam that can react with the oil and spatter everywhere; however, dry-roasting your veggies can effectively eliminate that risk. Moreover, the dry-roasting technique efficiently brightens the earthy flavor of the vegetables, which olive oil tends to mute.

Dry roasting also helps the vegetables absorb healthy fat and flavor, so Balla eventually adds olive oil and seasoning after they're roasted. If you want to eliminate excess calories or try something new, avoid oil altogether or use other flavorful alternatives — like cooking wine, vanilla extract, lemon juice, soy sauce, and Worcestershire sauce — for roasting your veggies.