Also, I'll have to admit, I have been eating pretty poorly. Well, veggie burger at Culver's and lots of pasta sort of poorly.
My father-in-law participates in a CSA (if you don't know about it, check it out here, then check with your local farmers to participate in one, it's fantastic!), which means every week he sends some extra veggies my way since he can't possibly eat that many in a week!
We recently have been getting quite a few carrots, potatoes, a couple beets, lettuce, and maybe some spices. I just wish they'd leave the greens on the beets, because they really help make this recipe. Sadly, my poor beets lost their greens, so I had to do without. The greens are packed with a lot of great nutrients, and they taste so good!
I used a couple potatoes, beets, carrots, onion, and parsnips...since it's what I had. I chose to peel the beets and one potato...why one potato? I don't know, I'm strange. I also found out, I hate parsnips.
The great thing about this, it doesn't need to be perfect. You want everything relatively the same thickness so they cook evenly, but you just slice and lay them on a pan. Usually you'd see lots of green, no tinfoil, but since I didn't have greens, I had to use tinfoil instead. I think the greens are the best part, they absorb a lot of juices and flavors and I can't explain it, you'll just have to try it sometime.
Then add some seasonings. I drizzled with olive oil then sprinkles Oregano, Basil, Garlic, Salt, Pepper and Thyme. You can add whatever you like.
Then I decided to add a little balsamic vinegar. I had never tried that on roasted veggies before, and it was pretty delicious!
Put in the oven at 350 and bake for an hour to an hour and a half. You want the beets and carrots to be soft. Then take it out and enjoy!
Roasted Veggies and Greens
1 or 2 bunches of beets with good looking greens (I usually buy extra greens too since I love them so much. I like a fairly thick layer across the bottom, then you don't need to use tinfoil!)
2 onions
4-6 carrots
olive oil
spices
*Feel free to use any extra root veggies you want, like I added parsnips
Cut off the greens, wash them, lay them across the bottom of a pan. Try to make it as even across as possible.
Scrub and peel beets, onions and carrots. If you added extra veggies that need to be prepped, be sure to do that too.
Drizzle olive oil on top, however much you want.
You can also add balsamic vinegar. I'd recommend trying it!
Add your spices, they can include, but are not limited to:
freshly cracked salt and/or pepper
lemon juice
garlic (cloves or chopped)
basil
rosemary
tarragon
lavender
marjoram
thyme
parsley
Then bake at 350 degrees for 1 - 1.5 hours. Beets and carrots should be soft.
A note my doctor included on the handout he gave (I got this recipe at a cooking class he did):
The greens, by the way, are the most nutritious part of your whole meal since they have amazing antioxidant potential and they have one of the highest pheuolic phytonutrients of any vegetable. The beets, onions and carrots will caramelize with the olive oil while baking. There are lots of colors in this dish, so no protein source needs to be added. Your body will hook up all the amino acids in your digestive system and make protein. The beets have a unique phytonutrient called betalain. This promotes liver function and protects from environmental chemicals in a big way. Combine that with the vitamin A found in carrots, the blood sugar balancing effect of the olive oil and onions, as well as its incredible ability to reduce inflammation, you're not just eating food, you're consuming medicine.
When you factor that in, you're eating a pretty amazing meal.
You can add chicken, steak or fish with it, but like he said, it's not necessary.
Incase you're curious, my doctor is Dr. Adrien DenBoer, to see his website click here.
Happy Monday!
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