Why is My health coach writing about a recipe for roasted veggies?  They are so easy to make.

Vegetables should be making up the majority of your food (volume wise) and therefore it’s worth going over how to make them taste astasty as possible.  While the most of your calories will come from fat(healthy/ natural/ saturated fat), majority of your food should be veggies.  My favorite way to make veggies is to roast them.

Client; “Is that because you are concerned about the denaturalization of the vegetables and want to preserve all the phytonutrient, minerals and vitamins?”

Health Coach; “Umm yeah… ok really I just like cooking my veggies this way because it’s easy and they taste delicious.”

Is it coincidence that my veggies taste better and have more nutritional power then steamed veggies with no fat?  No, it’s not a coincidence.  Taste buds evolved to let you know when something is good for you, therefore if your “healthy” diet leaves you unsatisfied/ tastes like crap then chances are it’s because it is crap.

It could be that you just don’t know how to cook, or that your taste buds are used to eating a fast food diet and don’t know what real food tastes like.  My experiences as a health coach are pretty regular, someone comes to me not knowing how to cook or eat real food and then a few days after cutting out processed foods and excessive amounts of sugar their taste buds change.  It’s funny because so many people I work with confess to me that they never used to eat, enjoy or make vegetables and now they love making and eating them.

It is for that reason, I am sharing my super simple roasted veggies recipe.  Experiment with different veggies and different spices as you see fit (for a twist roast your veggies with fennel seed).  The health coach in me likes people experimenting on their own for a bunch of reasons.  The foodie/cook in me likes the idea that you are having fun experimenting with your own food.

Try these roasted Veggies with my simple Aioli recipe,… you can thank me later 😉

 

Ingredients

  • Bacon fat is my go to but Coconut Oil works great too
  • Equal parts
    • Carrots
    • Asparagus
    • Parsnips
    • Fennel
    • Beets
    • Cauliflower
  • Salt, Sea(Preferable large crystals)
  • Pepper, Oregano or other spice
  • *if you don’t have fresh fennel use fennel seeds, same amount as pepper.
  • Optional flavor profiles
    •   (salt, pepper, apple cider vinegar, sage leaves)
    •   (salt, pepper, juiced orange, thyme)
    •   (Salt, pepper, oregano, marjoram, red wine vinegar)
    •   (salt, pepper, rosemary, balsamic vinegar)

The Process

  1.   Prepare all vegetables by washing and peeling all root vegetables.
  2.   Now get creative on how you would like to cut your veggies.  Keep in mind that the veggies should be about the same size for connivence of eating, cut in to different shapes for aesthetic purposes and sizes should vary due to density of the vegetable.  Basically cut denser veggies slightly smaller so they cook the same amount of time as lighter ones.
  3.   Preheat oven to 400° F
  4.   Heat bacon fat/ coconut oil in pan enough soften fat to lightly coat veggies.  When the fat is liquid, add mixed veggies and toss in oil.  Season with salt, pepper and any extra herbs.
  5.   On a cookie sheet (possible 2 or 3 depending on the amount of vegetables).  space out vegetables so air can circulate through them.
  6.   Roast for 30- 40 minutes

If you try this out let me know what you think in the comments, and defiantly try the garlic lemon aioli with this.  Your friends/ family/ body/ taste buds will thank you for it.

 

Your Friendly Neighborhood Health Coach,

Jerry