Rainbow Roasted Veggies
In all honesty, this is what most of my dinners (and lunch leftovers) look like: A big plate of roasted veggies. Different ones every week, but generally with some basics:
Avocado oil (or coconut oil)
Mirepoix (Onion, carrot*, celery)
*Carrots (organic heirloom ones with all the colors)
S&P
Garlic
Zucchini
Summer squash
Yellow or orange bell pepper
Red bell pepper
Red onion
You could also use:
Eggplant
Artichoke
Mushrooms
Asparagus
Potatoes
Cherry tomatoes
Put oven to 400, place a piece of parchment on a sheet pan, and start chopping. Chop the garlic first, since it takes 5 min for its healthy benefits to sprout once chopped (before heat). Once everything is chopped, just throw on the pan, cover with your favorite herbs and spices. (a good salt in itself is just fine). Bake until desired char.
Have a chopping party:
I get all my veggies together, wash and prep them, put on some music (or movie or podcast) and chop. I get everything down to a similar size, and throw them all in some tupperware for the fridge to grab a handful every time I cook anything. I end up having to do this once or twice a week, and that makes up majority of our prep and cooking all week. From there, I can bake or sautée anything in 10 min.
Main tips:
Go for the rainbow. Try out a different veggie every week. Below are a list of a bunch of veggies in most grocery stores, listed by color.
And remember, leafy greens are a separate category from harder green veggies. You want to get both of this in your day, if not in this dish. Leafy greens are like magic to your cells (go for the bitter ones too: mustard, collard, asparagus along with your spinach and kale). You can always massage your leafies in some salt for a couple min (give as a job to someone else while youre cooking), and throw them in the roasting pan for a little to break them down a little. Massaging chopped cabbage only a couple minutes with salt alone really breaks it down nicely to an almost saukraut, and if you leave that in a ball jar a few weeks, you have real sauerkraut!
Don’t forget to add some herbs! Try a new one every week: dill, parsely, mint, chives, basil, cilantro. Cut them up so fine that picky eaters cant even taste or pick them out.
Get a little fancy: add some goat cheese, pine nuts (or any nuts and seeds!), pesto, home made aioli, hummus or roasted tomato salsa (some listed on my site, or grab from the store).
Some colors:
Red Fruits & Vegetables:
Guava
Pink Grapefruit
Red Peppers
Tomatoes
Watermelon
Orange Fruits & Vegetables:
Apricots
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Mango
Oranges
Papaya
Pumpkin
Sweet Potatoes
Tangerines
Winter Squash
Yellow and Green Fruits & Vegetables:
Artichoke
Corn
Lettuce
Summer Squash
Wax beans
Arugula
Chard
Collards
Mustard Greens
Turnip Greens
Green Vegetables:
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cauliflower
Green Leafies
Kale
Cabbage
swiss chard
Dandelion greens
Carrot Greens
Blue and Purple/Deep Red Fruits & Vegetables:
Blackberries
Blueberries
Eggplant
Plums
Cranberries
Grapes
Radishes (red)
Raspberries
Strawberries
