I hate to admit it, but I was getting into a rut, ordering the same take out food, from the same Thai restaurant everyday. The only reason I didn’t get fat was because I was only having time to eat one meal a day. But just because I wasn’t fat doesn’t mean I was healthy. A person can still be skinny, by eating processed meats, fatty dairy, and simple carbs, if the calories consumed don’t exceed far from their BMR. Â However, being skinny does not equal to healthy, with a diet that consists of daily Thai take out. With a diet like that, one will have a high body fat percentage, high LDL cholesterol- clogged arteries, an unhealthy heart.
But thankfully I am an athlete. Being a runner saved me from the health risks. But I still needed to find a way to get out of these bad eating habits, because they were making me feel bad about myself. Â Yes, I was so busy at work, that finding time to plan meals began to seem nonexistent, so I decided to make meal planning a priority.
In the beginning of January 2012, I, along with everyone else in America made a New Years Resolution. But this time, I was not going to be typical. I wanted to choose a challenge that I could be creative with. So I decided my New Years Resolution would be to try a new exotic food once a week. This was actually a really fun and easy resolution to stick to. It forced me to explore Whole Foods, MOM’s Organic Market, the local Farmer’s Markets, and Trader Joe’s, in search for a new and different flavor.
Most of the time, I bought a unique piece of produce, beets being on the top of the list. However, I also tried Almond Milk, different types of tea, grains such as quinoa, beans such as lentils, and many more. I cooked with organic pumpkin for the first time. Sometimes I picked up a piece of produce and pondered what it was, but most of the time I was familiar with the food, but never stepped out of my comfort zone, to purchase it and try to cook with it. Trust, me I have read all of the books, watched all of the documentaries, and although I learned a lot from them, what I really needed were recipes. So I started following tons of vegan and food blogs to get ideas.
Boy, what a difference a year can make. Now I can’t remember the last time I had Thai take out. And when I do have any sort of heavy unhealthy food like that, I regret it and feel sick. My stomach just can’t tolerate it. By having that New Years Resolution, I am now planning more meals, cooking more, eating clean healthy whole foods.
So now to the point of this blog post…
Although, everyone now is probably just finishing up with their Thanksgiving leftovers and starting to shift into the Christmas/Hanukkah spirit. I wanted to share with you the dishes I cooked this Thanksgiving.
I cooked a side dish of Roasted Root Vegetables.
I didn’t use a recipe. I just kind of made it up along the way.
Ingredients
- purple beets
- golden beets
- shallots
- garlic
- carrots
- turnip
- olive oil
- sea salt
- pepper
- rosemary
- sage
Directions
- Preheat oven for 350-400
- Wash the beats and cut the ends off.
- Peal the skin off. Some people cook the beets with the skin on. It is okay to eat the skins.
- Wrap each beet in foil with olive oil and salt.
- Place each foiled beet on a baking sheet or cupcake pan.
- Place beets in oven – cook until beets are soft and sweet, about 1 hour 45 minutes.
turnip and foil.
- Cook Turnips the same way as beets.
- Wash and peel carrots.
- Cut off ends
- Place carrots in a glass baking pan with olive oil, garlic, shallots, rosemary, sage, salt, pepper.
- Cover with foil.
- Place in oven.
- Cook for 1 hour.
- Unfold beets and turnip from foil.
- Cut beets and turnip into small chunks
- Combine with carrots and other vegetables.
Greens
- Wash the greens from the beet tops
- Place greens in a stove top skillet with olive oil.
- Let greens wilt.
- Add balsamic vinegar.
- Combine with other root vegetables.
Final Result
This was a pretty healthy and delicious, side dish! Not to hard to prepare. I highly recommend you try it!
© 2012  sweatdaily