A Big Bowl of Micronutrients

that tastes good//is called what it is (v, veg, gf, df option)

I’m not calling these catchy names, I’m calling them what they are.

Bowls of micro (and macro) nutrients.

When you need something easy and vegetable forward.

When you want something that tastes good and is going to be easy to prep and helps out your eyesight, or whatever.

When I have not done a great job getting micronutrients into my body due to driving back and forth between Denver and Kalamazoo or if I had an over-indulgent spree and my guts need a reprieve, or if I just really want vegetables (I really do love vegetables) this is the easiest and most versatile way to approach these needs.

Step One: Pick 2-4 combo of cruciferous vegetables, greens, or something else (say, bell peppers, tomatoes, or eggplant)

Step Two: Pick 1 or 2 starches (beans? potatoes? both?)

Step Three: Roast said vegetables and starch(es)

Step Four: Decide whether or not you’d like to add a grain

Step Five: Apply some kind of sauce

If you haven’t familiarized yourself with food//and I encourage you to reference this post that breaks down the versatility of the Veggie Forward Bowls. The important thing here, especially if you want some shelf-life to your leftovers re: I want to have lunches for the week, it is important to spend a little upfront time deciding what vegetables should be roasted together and which ones should go on their own because of cook time. Small sacrifices//big picture.

Almost all the vegetables I use as examples here can roast all together (for the most part) without having to do upfront math about what should go into the oven when. That being said, and as always, do what you gotta do.

• These are suggestions and a starting point, do what you like.

• I suggest choosing 1 or 2 options from “starch” suggestions but if you want to do 3 and skip a grain, go for it! If you want to add no beans or root vegetables but serve it over additional greens and farro, I love that for you. Need to appease the carnivore in your home? Add a grilled protein of your choice on top. Now it’s a Big Bowl of Micronutrients with added protein.

Roasted Vegetable Bowl with Sweet Potatoes + Creamy Miso Dressing

2 small-ish heads broccoli, trimmed into bite sized pieces (use the stalk! The stalk is the best part!)

12-ish oz brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved

2 sweet potatoes, whatever variation you like, peeled and cubed into bite sized pieces

A couple large handfuls of sturdy greens such as kale

Olive oil- think about 2 Tbsp olive oil per pound of veggies, k? I don’t know how many people you’re feeding, whether or not you want leftovers, how many leftovers, if you’ll use some of the roasted veggies for something else etc

salt

pepper

Preheat your oven to 425

Line two sheet pans with parchments paper

Toss the veggies and potatoes in the amount of olive oil suggested above (about 2 Tbsp per pound of veg) as you want them liberally coated.

Sprinkle liberally with salt.

Add the b sprouts and broccoli to one pan and the potatoes to another. DO NOT crowd the pans. If you need to get an additional pan out to avoid crowding, please do. We want our veggies to be roasted, not steamed, and if they’re sweating all over each other that is exactly what they’re doing. I am King of Steamy but not in this context.

Roast each for about 25 minutes, flipping all the veg at the halfway mark. I like my vegetables to still have some bite but I hate an undercooked potato. Maybe the spouts and broccoli come out at the 20 minute mark and the potatoes go for another 5-10. Taste your food.

Either way, when there is 5-10 minutes left or so of baking time, add the greens to either pan, another light drizzle of olive oil and salt, until the greens have proper wilted and the ends begun to curl and crisp.

Voila.

Creamy Miso Ginger Dressing (sauce? condiment?)

1 Tbsp peanut (or whatever) butter

2 Tbsp white miso paste, dissolved into 2 Tbsp hot water

2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp honey

A thumb-sized piece of ginger, grated (keep your ginger in the freezer and then use a microplane while it’s still frozen and unpeeled)

1/4 clove of garlic, grated (literally just a few passes over the microplane and into the bowl of sauce. The garlic is raw and you don’t need much)

Pour the sauce on your bowl! Add some mint and//or cilantro and roasted peanuts to garnish! Add some chile oil if you’re like me.