Every fall I am more inspired to cook healthy meals for my family because I crave heavy comfort food! During the summer months I just don't enjoy spending that much time in the kitchen, I love being outside enjoying the outdoors and eating simple! When the weather blows its cool air through the trees is when I get excited to prepare and experiment with different entrees and of course baked goods! This fall is no different. One of my favorite meals to cook that is very simple, easy and good for you, is Roasted Vegetables with Protein. Having adapted an Eat Clean Lifestyle over a year ago now, I am always looking for recipes that include the eating clean principles. I tend to eat more fruit than vegetables throughout my day, so this particular meal helps me increase my vegetable intake in such a flavorful way! I usually cook it on Sunday or Monday and we have it for left overs all week long!
The beauty of this dish is you can tweak it to your favorite root vegetables, you don't necessarily have to follow my ingredient list exactly. Here is what you will need to start:
- 1 orange pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 spagetti squash
- 2 sweet potatoes
- 1 large sweet onion
- 1 zucchini
- 1yellow squash
- 1 can Garbanzo Beans or Chickpeas (protein)
- 1 can of diced spicy or roasted red pepper tomatoes
- 1 can of corn or 1 ear of corn
- a drizzle of olive oil (approx. 1/4 c.)
- Optional: 3/4 c. of grated parmesan & mozzarella cheese
Other root vegetable options that you can add:
Beets, parsnips, leeks, whole garlic cloves and carrots.
To begin, set your oven to 350 degree, then start by peeling the sweet potatoes and chopping them into chunks.
Layer sweet potatoes on the bottom of your roasting dish. Save some for the middle layer. If your family doesn't like sweet potatoes, you can always replace them with Yukon Gold potatoes. Remember though sweet potatoes are higher in fiber and have a lower glycemic index.
From here you can choose how you layer your veggies! Make sure you use half of the onion in the middle and the other on top to insure the onion is flavoring the whole dish! Chop, dump and pour! Its quick and easy! If you don't like Garbanzo beans, you could always top this dish with grilled chicken at the end!
Now drizzle about a cup of olive oil over the top of the dish before topping it off with a can of fire roasted tomatoes! If you like your veggies a bit spicier, you could use 2 cans and pour one in the middle! As you can see your dish will fill up fast! If you want it a bit more juicer, you can add a 1/2 cup of water to the dish as well.
Last you will want to cut your spaghetti squash in half.
Putting each half skin side down in about a 1/2" inch of water in a casserole dish.
Putting each half skin side down in about a 1/2" inch of water in a casserole dish.
Now put both your dishes side by side in your oven and cook for about an hour! Depending on how soft or crunchy you like your veggies will depend on your cooking time. I do like mine a bit more firm than smooshy, so an hour seems pretty good!
Your house will be filled with an amazing flavorful fall smell of roasted veggies! At this point I pull the lid off of the veggies and I sprinkle a mixture of parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top! I love cheese and although this is not necessarily following a strict "eat clean" program my family loves the cheese too! Once you have the amount of cheese you want on top, then broil until golden brown!
Once the spaghetti squash is cooled enough to touch, begin by scraping out the inside with a large fork creating the spaghetti as your base for veggies!
Layer your plate with the spaghetti squash and top it with the roasted veggies! I love to sprinkle my dish with crushed red pepper for more of a kick! Really, I should've called this is a low carb veggie spaghetti! If your family turns their nose up at the spaghetti squash, you can switch it out for any type of pasta, but then of course its not low carb!
Enjoy!
