This week’s bl…

This week’s blog got me thinking about when I was a child. As children we are often taught that if we eat all of our veggies we can have dessert. Our food is often used as a bargaining tool, and even used as a threat. For any of you Pink Floyd fans out there, you certainly know the part of the song, Another Brick in the Wall, in which they say, “if you don’t eat your meat, you can’t have any pudding.” Pudding meaning the English slang for dessert. Well this sentiment really speaks to me. It really says that we as an all consuming society aren’t placing value on things that we should be giving our attention to. So we are often raised to believe our veggies are some sort of punishment instead of nourishment for our bodies and minds. Food that will not only nourish and enrich us, but will also satiate us. My theory is simply that we must change our attitudes about food, especially when teaching them to our children. This starts with having an open mind to trying new things and migrates into an active awareness of the things we put into our bodies.

I get a lot of questions about how to make vegetables taste good and my answer is always very simple. Vegetables do taste good, and all we need are a few simple tools to enhance their flavor and mainly the knowledge to not over cook them. I really think most people over cook their food and just learning some basic skills can and will improve your meals, I promise. So here is another vegetarian dish, actually it’s a vegan dish as well that is simple and very basic, but also very tasty. Give it a try!

I made this for myself for dinner tonight….delicious

 

Caramelized Balsamic Onion, Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

1 small white onion, sliced (or 1/2 large white onion)
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced about 1/2 thick
1 sweet potato, peeled and sliced 1/2 inch thick
5 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves pulled from the stems
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1 TBS honey
1 c. water, vegetable or chicken stock
2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 c. cooking oil (vegetable, canola)
salt and pepper to taste

Place a large saute pan over medium heat, add oil, enough to cover the bottom of the pan (may need to add more later). Once oil is hot, about 1 minute, add onion and let sit for about a minute. Give them a stir and let sit and caramelize over medium heat until the turn a nice golden brown (not burnt), about 3-4 minutes. Next add the carrots and sweet potato. Cook for about a minute and add balsamic vinegar, dijon mustard, honey, thyme and water (or stock). Stir together, cover the pan and let the vegetables cook in the liquid until fork tender, about 5-6 minutes. Remove the lid, add about a 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp ground black pepper. Taste and serve.