Oven-Roasted Vegetables

🥦 As a dietitian, part of my role (along with reminding you to eat your vegetables) is to help you find practical ways to make vegetables enjoyable.

Today I am here to hopefully inspire you to try oven-roasting veggies! 😍

We all know how good they are for our health– all those vitamins, minerals, phytochemicals, antioxidants and of course the fiber.

With so much controversy in nutrition, one thing just about all the experts agree on is that vegetables are awesome for us!

🍅🥕🍠🥦🍄🧅🌶🍆🧄

But most of us really struggle to eat enough.  Even when we know we should eat them and we want to eat them– it can be tough to make it happen. 

If your goal is to increase your vegetables but you’re stuck, ask yourself why:

😝 Do you think you don’t like veggies?

🌟 Taste buds can change over time. And different cooking methods and seasonings can make a major difference in taste and texture. It’s a fact that you can learn to like vegetables!

😣 Do you believe veggies are too much work?

💓 There are just too many health benefits to eating them to not make the effort. Effort-based rewards (like making food) are keys to happiness and achieving a sense of accomplishment & satisfaction in life!

🥱 Are you bored with the same old veggies you always make?

👩‍🍳 Search for new recipes or watch cooking shows for inspiration. Pick a new vegetable to try at the store or at a farm stand. Get creative and out of your comfort zone!

😏 Or this one that makes me smile: “They go bad in the fridge before I eat them.” 

🤣 That is only because you let them sit there instead of cooking and eating them! Buy less and shop more often to avoid this. Utilize frozen veggies too. Check your fridge daily to see what needs to be eaten soon and plan your meals around those vegetables.

➡️ Whatever your reason, it is a limiting belief.

Limiting beliefs are thoughts you believe to be absolutely true– only they are not– instead, they hold you back from success!

If you want to get more nutrient-rich vegetables into your life, let me suggest one of my favorite super-easy and delicious ways to cook vegetables…

OVEN-ROASTED!

🤭 Guess what? You really can’t mess up oven-roasted vegetables.

Here’s how I do it:

• Pre-heat oven to 425F.
• Wash and chop up whatever veggies I have.
• Toss the veggies with olive oil (2 T?  I don’t measure) and salt, garlic powder or any seasoning.
• Spread evenly on parchment lined baking sheet.
• Bake for 30-40 minutes or until tender.

A few more reasons to try it if you’re still not convinced:

• Perfect opportunity to put on music and chop away any worries of the day. 🎵
• Warms up the house. 🔥
• Fills your home with comforting, mouth-watering aromas. 👃
• Makes a nutritious and simple meal paired with a protein like seafood, chicken, pork, eggs, tofu or beef. 🍽 Be sure to add in some more carbs if you need ’em.
• Packed full of a wide range of nutrients for energy and disease prevention. ✨
• Great way to increase fiber intake and promote good digestion and gut health. 💗
• Fills your belly for not a lot of calories which can support weight loss goals. 👍
• Leftovers for several days of lunches and dinners. Cook once; eat 2 or 3 times. ⌚

Not sure which ones to try?  Pick one, two or the whole list!:

• Onions 🧅
• Garlic 🧄
• Red, Yellow, Orange or Green Peppers 🌶
• Zucchini 🥒
• Mushrooms 🍄
• Broccoli 🥦
• Cauliflower 🤍
• Brussels Sprouts 💚
• Asparagus 🌿
• Tomato 🍅
• Butternut Squash (any winter squash) 🎃
• Eggplant 🍆
• Carrots 🥕
• Sweet Potato 🍠
• Green Beans 💚

Hopefully all this talk about roasting vegetables inspired you. 😄 

If it even sparked one person to try something new or reminded someone of how easy and tasty roasted vegetables can be, then this dietitian is happy! 😊