But Seriously, Roasted Root Veggies

This post is simply to provide evidence of my obsession with root vegetables and also to show the world just how beautiful these humble vegetables really are. They spend their lives hidden under dirt and forgotten by many, but when scrubbed clean and given a little attention, they shine brighter than any other vegetable. For this root vegetable medley, I used turnips (my first time!), beets, golden potatoes, red onion, garlic, thyme, and rosemary. Simply. Amazing. Next time I post, I swear it will be something new. Although I can't promise it will not include some roots.

Feast your eyes (so punny) on these photos:

Look at the color on dem beets!

They look even BETTER up close.

Served with a fried egg. Breakfast perfection

Roasted Root Vegetables

Confession: I am addicted to root vegetables. I can't get enough of them. I have always loved carrots, potatoes, and onions but I recently discovered that I adore beets. They have the most gorgeous color EVER and they dye your hands a lovely shade of red purple. And they are ridiculously tasty. Although the weather is bright and sunny right now, the weather forecast is predicting that the week is going to be wet and cold. What better time to make bright and colorful roasted root vegetables than when the weather is dreary and grey?! I know, you can't think of a better time either.

Roasted Root Vegetables

Ingredients:

- 3 beets (reserve greens for Sauteed Beet Greens, recipe below)
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 red onion
- 4 carrots
- 6 gloves of garlic
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Fresh thyme, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Peel the beets and carrots.
3. Cut all the vegetables into cubes. Try to keep the size of the cubes uniform.
4. Toss all the vegetables, along with the garlic cloves, with some olive oil, salt, and pepper.
5. Roast the vegetables for 25-30 minutes. Add the thyme. Stir and put back into the oven for about 15 minutes or until tender and slightly browned.

Warning: The following thought may not make sense unless you happen to have a weird mind like mine. Once I peeled the beets, they reminded me of little gnome hats. So naturally, I imagined an entire beet gnome conversation between them. It was really funny in my mind.

I swear all these potatoes are okay....some of them just got a little beet juice on 'em.

Carrots are a bright and beautiful vegetable. I don't think they ever have a bad day.

So. Beautiful. 

I don't think any combination of foods is as simply gorgeous as this.

Time for the close-up. Flawless.

Sauteed Beet Greens

Ingredients:

- Beet greens from 3 or so beets
- Olive oil
- 2 cloves of garlic
- Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes
- Juice from half of a lemon

Directions:

1. Thoroughly clean the beet greens. Separate the stems from the leaves. Chop the stems and tear the leaves into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat olive oil in large pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes. Stir for 30-60 seconds.
3. Add the beet stems. Cook for 2-3 minutes.
4. Add in the leaves, cooking until wilted and tender.
5. Season with salt and pepper. Finish with lemon juice.
6. Serve with a little parmesan cheese. I ate this over some cous cous, but it would also work with quinoa or even pasta or brown rice. Pine nuts would add a tasty crunch to this dish.

Is It Possible to Overdose on Veggies?!

For the last two weeks, I have been OBSESSED with eating salads. Salad for lunch, salad for dinner, salad ALL the time. And when I wasn't eaten salad, I was eating some other form of vegetables. Sautéed spinach, edamame, green beans, etc. I think you get the point - I love my veggies. But today, I took my veggie obsession to the next level.

http://instagr.amveggiejuiceawesomeness
The Greens n' Ginger from SB Juice Ranch. 3-4 pounds of juiced veggies. HEAVEN. I am already planning my next trip there. http://juiceranch.com/

For dinner, I couldn't bear to leave my veggies behind, so I decided to throw together a delicious pot of delicious soup. I based this soup loosely on this recipe (http://www.birdandcleaver.com/2013/01/spicy-black-bean-quinoa-soup.html) but adjusted it a little bit according to what I had in my cabinet and to add more veggie goodness to it. So my recipe looks like this....

You Will Need:

- 3 stalks of celery, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 6 cups vegetable stock
- 1 tsp. cumin
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tsp. oregano
- 2 tablespoons salsa verde
- 1 can of black beans, drained
- 1 - 2 cups cooked rice (I used a wild rice variety from TJ's)
- 1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half
- 1 jalapeno, diced
- cilantro, for garnish [you can also add sour cream, yogurt, avocado, etc.]

Just the veggies. MMMMMM. 

The How-To:

1. Heat a little olive oil in a large pot. Add the celery, carrots, and onion and cook until slightly tender. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

2. Add all the other ingredients. Simmer until all of the ingredients are warm. I simmered mine a little longer to incorporate more of the flavor into the rice. [Side note: I will cook the rice in veggie broth next time to add more flavor to the rice.]

3. Garnish with cilantro and any other desired toppings! I added a little more heat to mine by adding sriracha to mine because the jalapenos I purchased were NOT spicy enough.

In conclusion, I have yet to overdose from vegetables. I will keep you updated.

Soooouuuup there it is!! [Thank you Chelsea for that zinger!] Also, I wish I could have taken this picture under natural light so you could see all the yumminess. Perhaps I will retake it. HA. That involves work.

Still not the best picture, but I am digging this one more :D

Chilling with the Chili

After one of the most boring Saturdays EVER, I decided I needed to bring a little fun into my Sunday.To accomplish this goal, I decided to invite over two of my good friends, Brendon and Davey, and cook them some vegetarian chili. A few hours after inviting them over, they showed up at my door in full ugly Christmas regalia...and I could not have been more excited. Granted, they looked a little insane and they were wearing women's clothes from Kmart, but it is the thought that counts (?). To continue with the holiday theme, we played a game of Risk. Well, actually, Risk has nothing to do with the holidays...unless your holidays involve a lot of yelling, luck, and crazy strategies. So really, nothing to do with the holidays, but fun nonetheless.

ANYWAYS, the chili was awesome. Wanna make it? Of course you do. Because you love chili. And you love me. DUH.

Super Duper Awesome Veggie Chili

Gather:
4 stalks of celery
2 carrots
1 yellow onion
5 gloves minced garlic
2 jalapenos
2 bell peppers
1 teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon crushed red chili pepper flakes
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 1/2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup veggie broth
1 - 1/2 cup brewed coffee
3 cans of beans (I used 2 cans of black beans and 1 can of kidney beans)

Preparation:

1. Heat some oil in a medium - large pot. Add the celery, carrots, and onion, chopped. Stir for about 1 minute and add the garlic. Add the bell peppers. (My bell peppers were frozen so I just cooked them until they were thawed and cooked through). Cook all of the ingredients until cooked thoroughly. Add the spices and cook for another 30 - 60 seconds to incorporate the flavors.

Mierpoix

2. Add the tomatoes, broth, and coffee. Simmer for about 20 minutes.

3. Add the beans and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

4. Serve with your favorite toppings - cheese, avocado, sour cream, etc.

This + cornbread = HAPPINESS.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

Fall weather has FINALLY arrived in Santa Barbara! Of course, fall weather here is not quite the fall weather that most of the nation knows. Fall here is marked by a little bit of wind and temperatures below 65 degrees or so. Even though this is not quite as chilly as the 40 degrees in my old city of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, I still like to believe that it qualifies as soup weather. I don't think there is anything better than sitting on the couch with a warm bowl of soup and a good book or something good on the TV.

Cheddar Broccoli Soup

- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 - 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 head of broccoli
- 1 carrot
- 6 cups vegetable broth
- Salt & pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground mustard
- 2 cups milk
- 6 oz sharp cheddar, shredded

1. Heat some olive oil in a large pot and add the onion, cooking until soft. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds.
2. I really wasn't in the mood to chop up all the veggies, so I chose to toss them into the food process and chop them up pretty small. Then I threw them into the pot and stirred them around for about 5 minutes to soften them up.
3.  Add the vegetable broth and seasonings. Simmer for 10-15 minutes to incorporate the flavors.
4. Add the milk. Simmer for another 3-5 minutes and then add the cheese and stir.
5. Eat! I ate mine with some crusty french bread and artichoke - the leaves make excellant spoons!

A Fall Favorite

Fall is all about grilled cheeses, soup, leaves, coffee (does it get much better than a Pumpkin Spice Latte?!), and lazy days cuddled up with a good book. I love fall for all of these reasons. In Santa Barbara however, the fall months are not exactly fall-like most of the time. Today it was a blazing ninety degrees...not exactly the crisp fall weather one expects and craves in October. Because real fall days are few and far between, I jump on every one of them and try to do all the cliched things I can possibly think of. So when the temperature hit a somewhat cool and fall-like 60 degrees last week, I took the chance to make a delicious grilled cheese and heat up some tomato soup. I made one of my all-time FAVORITE grilled cheeses - enjoy :) [The pictures do not do the sandwich justice, unfortunately. I really need to get some better lighting in my kitchen. Just trust me on this one and try it!]

Gruyere and Apple Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

- Ciabatta bread

- Olive oil

- Garlic clove

-Red onion

- Salt

- Pepper 

- Gruyere cheese, sliced

- Apple, thinly sliced (I used a Granny Smith)

- Cinnamon

How to:

1. Start by roasting some red onion. Thinly slice some red onion - 1-3 slices per sandwich should be sufficient. Toss the onion with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper and broil, flipping once the onions are starting to crisp up on the first side. When the onions are crispy on the second side, remove them from the oven.

2. Slice the ciabatta bread in half. Drizzle the cut side with a little olive oil. Take a garlic clove and cut the top off. Rub the bottom portion on the ciabatta bread. Place the slices on a cookie sheet on the middle shelf and broil until they are golden brown.

3. Place the slices of apple on the bread and top with a little sprinkle of cinnamon. Layer the gruyere on top of the apples and top off with the red onion. Stack the top of the ciabatta onto the sandwich and stick 'em in the oven at about 350 until the cheese is melted! YUM!

Pizza for Breakfast

This weekend, I needed a hearty, hangover curing breakfast. So off to the store I went in search of the perfect thing to make. As I meandered the aisles, I finally settled on pizza. Pizza with eggs. I am completely convinced that both of these things, along with asparagus, have some sort of magical hangover curing ability. And maybe they do because after I devoured a couple of slices (I probably could have ate the whole thing if I hadn't invited a couple of friends over), I felt pretty damn good. Or it may have been the mimosa that I drank along with the pizza. Or the fact that, unlike my usual Saturday/Sunday situation, the pizza was NOT leftover from the night before. In any case, I have found a way to indulge in two of my favorite things at the same time.

You will need:

- 1 pizza crust (for the sake of convenience I just picked up a Boboli crust)
- Some pizza sauce (I had some leftover canned spaghetti sauce that I spiced up with some fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary)
- 1/2 a potato, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 3-5 stalks of asparagus, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 1/2 - 3/4 cup of grated Gruyere cheese
- 4 eggs
- A healthy sprinkling of Parmesan cheese

Now, let's make this:

1. Preheat your oven to 425.
2. Heat up some olive or vegetable oil. Put the potatoes in the oil and WALK AWAY. This is the hardest part, but seriously, leave them alone for a bit. You want them to be nice and crispy. Come back in 5-8 minutes and if they are crispy, flip and repeat. If they aren't quite ready yet, let them sit for a minute or two longer and then flip. Once the potatoes are almost done, sprinkle them with a little salt and pepper and maybe a little garlic powder.
3. Heat up a little more oil and saute the asparagus. My asparagus was pretty thin so it only took about 4 minutes to cook.
4. Spread some sauce on your pizza crust and then sprinkle on the Gruyere. Top with the asparagus and potato. I then pulled out the middle rack in my oven and put the pizza on it BEFORE putting on the eggs so I didn't have to worry about moving the pizza from the counter to the oven and potentially losing an egg. Crack the eggs and place on the pizza. Be careful from placing them too near the edge as they will spread. You can also use a spoon to make a little bit of a well for each egg. Last, but not least, top the pizza with some Parmesan.
5. Bake for 6-8 minutes or until the egg whites are set and the cheese is bubbly.
6. Cure your hangover blues. Or just have a nice breakfast/brunch/brinner.

I just ate dinner...but I am hungry again. Drool.