Tag: roasted vegetable

Easy 4-Ingredient Honey-Glazed Carrots

This week I’m giving some major face time to a vegetable that’s most known for sitting it out in the sidelines. In the band, but never the star of the show. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. If you haven’t guessed (as if the name doesn’t give it away), I am referring to carrots! We always have carrots in our house. I like to toss them into my mixed green salads, chop them up for dipping, or even throw them into my egg casseroles and soups. This time, though, I made them their very own side dish.

As simple as it seems, I have tried many times to perfect glazed carrots and they never seemed to come out how I wanted. They were either too dry, too greasy, or too tough despite cooking for 30+ minutes. After some experimenting, I finally have the right combination of sweetness, not too greasy or “wet” and the perfect amount of cooked through without being mushy! Just a side note, the latter will always depend on how evenly you quarter the carrots and the overall thickness of the carrots.

EasyHoneyGlazedCarrotsPrep

Here’s my secret to the BEST tasting carrots – choose organic. There are so many other reasons to choose organic (over conventionally-farmed) produce but in the case of these guys, the natural sugars are much more distinguishable and pleasing on the palate. You can taste this difference the most when they’re raw of course, but I’m convinced this translates to cooked carrots also.

EasyHoneyGlazedCarrotsSliced

My motto in the kitchen is dirty up as little as possible while being as efficient as possible. Therefore, for recipes like this one that are pretty simple I do not always measure exact teaspoons each time. Every 3rd or 4th time I cook (NOT bake) for myself I will test my “eyeballing” skills and they’re usually spot on. If you’re not comfortable with eyeballing our your measurements for items such as olive oil and honey yet then no sweat. Simply place your carrots in a large bowl and measure out oil and honey, stirring for an even coat before placing onto nonstick baking surface.
Now, let’s get cooking!
What You Need
Whole, organic carrots
Organic Extra virgin olive oil (I like this brand!)

Easy 4-Ingredient Honey-Glazed Carrots

EasyHoneyGlazedCarrots

Ingredients
  • 1 pound carrots, rinsed and quartered
  • 2 TB EVOO
  • 1 TB honey
  • Pinch sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Prep carrots by giving them a good rinse, using a vegetable brush if you have one. No peeling necessary! Chop the tops off and quarter into even slices the best you can. Place slices in a pile on your cookie sheet or baking dish.
3. Pour olive oil over top of carrot pile and very carefully mix them together. Use your hands to get carrots evenly coated, which will ensure they glaze up perfectly. Spread carrots in a single layer across cooking surface.
4. Drizzle honey in a sweeping motion across carrots. Use a spoon to stir carrots, if necessary.
5. Place carrots in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. Check at halftime and stir/flip carrots if it looks like some are roasting at a faster rate than others.
6. Serve warm with your favorite entree. Enjoy.
Ideas for Leftovers: These go surprisingly well with breakfast the next day.

 

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Orange-Roasted Cornish Hens with Veggies

Today, I’m bringing you a wonderful recipe for roasted chicken in the oven that will warm your whole house. This recipe also happens to make some of the best parsnips I’ve ever tasted. The secret is in the caramelized orange 😉 Aside from tasting amazing, this is a one pan meal which means there’s minimal cleanup and everything cooks at the same time so less work! Following the recipe quantities as shown below will yield two full dinners and extra veggies to have another night

RECIPE:

  • 2 pasture-raised Cornish hens  *
  • 4-6 cloves garlic, whole
  • Handful of fresh thyme
  • 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
  • 1 orange, quartered
  • 4-5 carrots, whole or halved
  • 3 parsnips, quartered
  • 3/4 pound petite medley potatoes, each pierced with fork or cut in half
  • Ghee and olive oil (optional)
  • Bird Spices: onion powder, dried rosemary, dried parsley, sea S&P (Amount of spices will vary depending on how large your hens are and whether you use the same recipe for a full-size chicken.)
  • Veggie spice:  1 TB garlic powder and Sea S&P to taste
  • Meat thermometer

Preheat oven to 375. Pan hens dry with paper towel and remove any innards if they came inside the cavity. Stuff each hen with half the amount of garlic, rosemary and thyme listed above. “Seal” each bird cavity shut with an orange quarter like shown before tying off the legs with kitchen twine. Use the back of a spoon or your hands to cover birds liberally with room temperate ghee and add bird spices listed above. Place hens in the tray breast-side down and roast for about 10 minutes while you get the parsnips, carrots and potatoes ready to add to the same pan.

Prep your veggies while the birds are in the oven getting a jump start on cooking. The vegetables will only take about 20-25 minutes to roast so we only want to add them at the end of the cooking process. Toss in olive oil or melted ghee and add to the pan before seasoning with the spices. Place the 2 remaining orange quarters in the corners of the your pan.

Cook for about 25-/+ minutes until birds reach an internal of 160 degrees when meat thermometer is placed in breast. If the veggies start to look done before the chicken then cover with foil or remove them from the pan. Once all is cooked, use tongs to squeeze your caramelized orange quarters over all the veggies and the birds to get the orange flavor. You can also do the same with the orange in the hens when they’re served. Enjoy!

*You can also try this recipe on a full-sized bird by bumping the temp up to 425, doubling the bird spices and giving it longer to cook through. I would estimate an 1 to 1.5 hours but using a meat thermometer is the best way to gauge when your meat is fully cooked.

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2-Way Butternut Squash: Chili + Brownies

My #1 favorite thing about fall is roasted everything. Roasted veggies and roasted chicken are my fave and they just *taste* better coming out of the oven on a cool, autumn day, am I right? I’m currently digging all recipes with roasted squash – pie pumpkins, acorn squash, spaghetti squash and butternut squash.

Butternut squash has a subtle sweetness and great texture to compliment a hearty soup, plus you get an extra nutrient punch. This squash is so versatile that I’m also finding it’s  a great pumpkin substitute when I don’t have any pumpkin puree on hand. This post shows you how toput your squash to work and create two yummy recipes all at once. If you prefer or already have squash on hand, you can use frozen butternut squash or canned puree and skip to the recipes further down on the page.

RoastButternutSquash

How To Roast: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cut length wise with a sharp knife and scoop out the inside membrane, seeds and all. Place the two halves open-side down on a cookie sheet. Roast for 30 minutes, and then flip carefully using a set of tongs. Check in 10 minutes increments from here. The squash is well roasted when the inside can be pierced or lightly mashed with a fork. Let cool on the pan before scooping out the golden squashy goodness.

If you’re not ready to make any dishes with your roasted butternut squash then you have two options. Option 1: Once cool, you can use a knife to make a checkerboard pattern within the inside of the squash. Be careful not to cut the skin, if possible. Use a big spoon to scoop the cubes into a freezer friendly ziplock bag. Option 2: Use a spoon to scoop squash out and place in a blender. Puree on high until it reaches a smooth consistency, much like canned puree. Freeze in a baggy until ready to use.

Butternut Red Pepper Mushroom Chili

BSRPMChili Pinterest.png

Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 TB olive oil or ghee

4 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped

1.25lb ground elk (or meat of choice), I like 85%

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 red pepper, diced

8 oz sliced mushrooms

14 oz can or 2 cups fresh diced tomatoes (with juice)

1 TB canned tomato paste *

3 cups bone broth to water mixture (I use 1 cup homemade bone broth + 2 cups water works well with the 15% fat ground meat)

2 cups cubed or pureed butternut squash

Spices:

3 TB chili powder

2 tsp ground paprika

1 tsp dried oregano

1.5 tsp ground cumin

4 sprigs fresh thyme

1 tsp garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1.       Coat a deep stew pot with 1-2 TB olive oil or ghee and heat on medium-high.

2.       Add chopped onion and garlic to sauté until softened.

3.       Add ground burger and cook for about 10 minutes or until browned.

4.       Add sliced red peppers and mushrooms to pot. Stir until softened.

5.       Add 1 cup of desired broth/water mixture and stir in 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.

6.       Add seasoning, tomatoes, butternut squash and remaining broth/water mixture. Give it a good stir to mix and cover with lid to raise to a boil.

7.       Once at a boil, lower to medium heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Remove thyme sprigs before serving.

So now, your main course is simmering and you are ready to prepare some desert! You can either continue onto your baking excursion or save the remaining butternut squash for another day. Roasted squash will keep in an airtight container in the fridge for about 3 days before you want to decide to use it or freeze it. Try this recipe for Butternut Squash Protein Brownies below.

These brownies have no refined flours or sugars, only good-for-you ingredients. As always with protein, I recommend using a high quality protein powder because it is easy to find ones with a lot of junky ingredients. My favorite brand of protein powder to bake with is Tone It Up from Target (also sold as Perfect Fit) because it doesn’t make a recipe fall flat like a lot of other powders I’ve experienced.

Butternut Squash Protein Brownies

Making this Recipe Soon? I’ve linked most of the ingredients below to help you stock your pantry!

Wet Ingredients

3/4 cup butternut squash puree (if you’re using homemade roasted butternut squash then I recommend using a blender or food processor to achieve proper consistency)

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients

3 TB coconut flour

1/4 cup chocolate protein powder

1/2 cup fine ground almond flour

1/3 cup raw cacao powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions

1.       Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and prep your 8×8 baking dish with coconut oil.

2.       In a small bowl, mix together all the dry ingredients except for the chocolate chips.

3.       In a larger mixing bowl, mix wet ingredients.

4.       Gradually add dry ingredients to the wet bowl until well incorporated.

5.       Carefully fold the dark chocolate chips into the batter.

6.       Pour batter into the baking dish. Give it a few shakes and shimmies to release any air bubbles and slide into the oven for 23-25 minutes.

7.       Topping (Optional):  1 TB melted coconut butter/coconut manna, 2 TB almond butter and a couple extra tablespoons dark chocolate chips. Before you pull the brownies from the oven, go ahead and use a small dish to microwave melt your coconut butter and almond butter. You can do them separately or mix them together, but be sure to slowly heat up the coconut butter as it does burn fairly easily. Once your brownies are ready then use a spoon to drizzle your coconut and nut butter. Finish off with either cacao nibs or more dark chocolate chips.

BSBrownies

Leave me a comment below if you give either of these recipes a whirl! I’m happy to hear how they turned out 🙂

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