Happy Spring! The beginning of a new year and new seasons tend to inspire change. When the seasons change, it feels like a good time to review resolutions, set a new goal, and make healthier choices. Changes in season can inspire change in other aspects of life.
As a registered dietitian, I talk with my clients about goal setting, healthy change, and barriers to maintaining healthy changes. The main barriers to healthy eating are time, budget, lack of confidence in cooking ability, and food preferences. I work with kids, so you can read food preferences as "picky eating."
Roasting vegetables is a quick, easy way to prepare vegetables. Roasting is a cooking method that uses dry heat to cook food. It brings out a caramelized flavor through the Maillard reaction, which is a chemical reaction between amino acids and reducing sugars (reducing sugars include all monosaccharides, including sucrose, glucose, fructose, and galactose, and some disaccharides, oligosaccharides, and polysaccharides). Roasting at high temps, above 340* F, caramelizes sugar naturally found in foods. Roasting at a high temperature brings out a caramelized, nutty quality in vegetables that is super tasty.
One of my favorite roasted vegetables is asparagus. Asparagus is in season in the US from February to June. Eating vegetables in season is a great way to save money. Produce is cheaper when it's in season.
If you or someone in your family has strong food preferences, try including them in the cooking process. This is a great beginner cook recipe or recipe to try with kids. You can break the asparagus with your hands, so you don't have to use a knife. Or, kids can help you toss vegetables with oil and seasoning. It's a great hands-on activity.
Here's my recipe for roasted asparagus. I use the term 'recipe' loosely because this is such a quick and easy preparation. Give it a try!
Ingredients
1 bunch asparagus, rinsed and dried
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Tools
Spatula
Cutting board
Chef's knife
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400* F.
Rinse asparagus and pat dry. Break off the end of a few asparagus. This will give you a guide of where to cut your asparagus. Slice the bottoms of the asparagus off and discard The top of the asparagus is tender, but the bottom of the asparagus can be tough and fibrous.
Place asparagus on the half sheet pan. Drizzle olive oil. Sprinkle salt and garlic powder. Toss asparagus to coat.
Place in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the vegetables are fork tender. The cooking time of asparagus varies based on the diameter of the asparagus. I've purchased asparagus that's as thick as a pencil and other asparagus is as thin as a chopstick. So, the cooking time will vary as the size of the asparagus varies.
Have you ever tried roasted vegetables? If not, I hope you try this recipe. Let me know what you think.
For more tips, encouragement, and recipes for a healthy lifestyle, you can follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and Twitter. Tag me if you make any recipes!
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