roasted vegetable goodness

Fall. Autumn. It always creeps up on me before I'm ready. The days are still sunny and warm, I'll think, but then notice I'm closing the bedroom window a little more at night. The scent of neighbors' wood fires slips in with the chill. And the most noticeable change- it's dusk at 6PM, dark at 7.
At this point in the season I've been spoiled by constantly having so much incredible produce available, everything fresh and perfect. All of a sudden I notice there're no more peaches, but lots of apples, pears, squash and parsnips. No reason to feel deprived just yet, just a slight shifting of gears. I got bit by the roasting bug a few days ago, and I haven't stopped yet. It just feels right to turn the oven on right now.
For me the key to feeling satisfied and not either starving or recently gorged on something less than healthy is to keep lots of little containers of precooked foods in the fridge ready to snack on. This technique fits the bill perfectly; roast a whole mess of veggies up for dinner and then have plenty left over for lunches and snacks.
The other aspect to this that works well is how flexible the prep time is. You can work any time during the day chopping the vegetables (or many times, if you are being constantly interrupted by kiddos) and its all good. Once they're in the oven they're as good as done.
Pretty much any hearty vegetable tastes good roasted but the real stars of the oven are the root veggies. Their natural sugars caramelize beautifully and their flavors concentrate into something delectable, almost meaty. Their textures have a toothsome soft density.
For this particular evening I chose to roast beets, carrots, celeriac, and delicata squash (my favorite). Wash and peel everything, and chop up into nice chunks. Toss with oil and salt in a bowl (I like walnut or coconut oil.) Spread one layer deep on cookie sheets and bake in a 425 degree oven until slightly crisped, and soft throughout.
I tossed my roasted veggies with sauteed extra firm tofu and served it all atop fresh hot brown rice. Hearty, delicious, healthy. A great way to get ready for the colder weather.

The next day, I had plenty of leftovers to snack on and eat for lunch. I love to chop up a hardboiled egg, add it to the mix, and toss with a little olive oil and seasoned rice vinegar.
Other great veggies to roast are cauliflower, parsnip, radish, fennel, kale, potatoes, leeks, and brussels sprouts.

High hopes

Wow. My first post. Of course, this was supposed to happen about a month and a half ago, on my birthday, August 24th. That way I could have a nice, crisp, concise year of meditating on what consists of balance in life and food. Unfortunately the circumstances that make me want to seek more balance make it even harder to actually seem to find the time to do things like start blogs. A 3 year old, a 4 month old, and an attempt to keep working as a freelance photographer at least part of the time seem to somehow take up all of my time. I feel like I am at constant war with time, that I have to ride time like a wave, paying attention and thinking ahead so that
the minutes, hours, days don't come crashing down on me and leave me far behind.

Another casualty of my war with time is my energy and fitness level. I can't really remember the last time I wasn't at least a little tired, and each time I actually manage to do any exercise or go for a walk it seems to get cancelled out by the fact that it's at least a week before I manage to do it again. I keep thinking of how I might build time into my day on a regular basis to complete my much needed physical exercise and I haven't figured it out yet. Couple that with my body's ravenousness due to nursing, an already highly tuned appreciation of good eats, and a tendency to self-medicate with chocolate and you've got a weighty problem. Actually, a weight problem.

I feel like the only way I am going to get a handle on these two twin issues (food/movement) is to engage them head-on. I love food and cooking, and when done in a conscious way they actually help to restore my sanity, health and balance. I have to have lots of good and healthy things on hand to eat so that I don't eat lots of bad things. I love the way I feel when I manage to get regular exercise, the exhilaration and sense of intention in my life, and I absolutely have to find a way to build them into my life again. Since I don't know exactly how I am going to do this yet, a period of trial, error, and examination is called for. Hence this blog. Hopefully by having a commitment to record keeping and reflection in this way I will make some progress.


Sure, I hope (and I need) to lose some weight on this journey. I hope to get healthy again. Just as much I hope to regain a sense that I am living my life again instead of feeling that my life is living me, a series of obligations, however delightfully punctuated by bright moments of joy in my family. I hope for boundless stores of energy, rushes of excited creativity. Most of all I hope for an expanded ability to appreciate the great fortune and abundance I have in my life.