roasted veggies by Deni Mosser

My friend and business webmaster Deni Mosser/Mosser Design sent me this gorgeous photo of her roasted vegetables so I asked her to share what she did.

She bought all 14 fresh and organic veggies from Trader Joe’s.

Red bell peppers
Gold potatoes
Golden Italian (Crimini) mushrooms
Mini pearl grape tomatoes
Organic red onions
Organic celery
Parsley
Broccoli, cauliflower & baby carrots   (in a bag called “Vegetable Medley”)
Yam, butternut squash, Turnip (in a see-thru plastic container called “Fresh Harvest Medley”)

Optional:   whole garlic cloves still in their skin

Before roasting, she lined the pan with aluminum foil,  then seasoned them with olive oil, 3 pinches of fennel seeds, a little dried basil, lemon pepper, and a pinch of sea salt.

Roast for  40-45 minutes at 450 degrees.

Dinner was a huge serving of veggies . . . with a very small serving of TJ’s Pulled Pork in smoky BBQ sauce.
m m m m m  . . . . . . .

Later on for dessert she said, “my bad — sesame honey cashews and dark chocolate covered pretzel  slims.”

She learned  how to make these roasted veggies from Chef Annette at South Bay School of Cooking in Manhattan Beach. It can be seasoned in many different ways, including  little fresh rosemary, lemon juice, pepper , pinch of  oregano and sea salt.     Or with a touch of curry . . .

Monette’s Market, located in Toledo, Ohio is a wonderful shopping experience. I love shopping there because it is not only a good deal, but it very clean, and has a wide variety of products.

I started going to Monette’s last year when I came to college at Toledo. I was turned onto this store by my friend and I fell in love. It is a small marketplace that carries mostly fruits, vegetables, and also has a wonderful deli. I love to shop there because I can get food for an entire week, minus a few essential items, and I will only spend $20.

A typical shopping excursion for me consists of apples, oranges, strawberries, potatoes, field greens, cucumber, tomatoes, onion, green beans, cheese, deli meat, hummus, bread, bagels, salsa and whatever looks good. On average, everything I mentioned above cots about twenty to twenty five dollars. You have to realize everything I just said, and you will too understand it is a very good deal. I just wish there were Monette’s in the Cleveland area when I go home to visit.

Want something healthy, yummy, and quick for breakfast or a mid-day snack?  Make these Fiber Rich Muffins.  They are so moist.  I made these to start my New Year off right and have been eating one muffin for breakfast along with a glass of skim milk and some fruit – it keeps me satisfied until way past noon.  Whole wheat and fiber will do that for you.

The main ingredient in this recipe is Hodgson Mill multi-Grain Hot Cereal.  The ingredients label simply says:  Oats, unprocessed wheat bran, milled flaxseed, soy grits, untoasted wheat term, and cracked whole wheat.

Fiber Rich Muffins Recipe

Yield 12 muffins

• 1 c. Hodgson Mill Multi Grain Hot Cereal
• 1 c. unbleached flour
• 1 T. baking powder
• 1/2 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• 1/2 c. sugar
• 1 c . carrots, shredded
• 1 c. apples, chopped
• 1/2 c. milk (can be skim)
• 2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
• 1/4 c. vegetable oil
• 1 t. vanilla
• 1/2 c. pecans or walnuts, chopped

Preheat Oven to 400 degrees F.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease mufin cups.  Blend together dry ingredients.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended.   Batter will be thick;  spoon into muffin cups.  Bake 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

Personal Note:  I used skim milk and the 4 egg whites.  I also left the skins on the carrots and apples.

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It’s long, and bit technical if you’re new to this topic (and I could have skipped the introduction of Michael Pollan at the start), but this talk about food sustainability by Michael Pollan is interesting. His look at how our food choices are tied into our fossil fuel consumption, pollution, health, food subsidies, and contamination and food recalls (we know about this sad result here at Circle of Food!). It also raises some interesting points about organic foods – and how we’re creating some same problems there around sustainability. I’m looking forward to reading The Omnivore’s Dilemma when I get my own copy. Thanks go to Erin, one of our new Circle of Food bloggers, for telling me about one of her UC Berkeley notables.

Yogurt, that is.

I keep a pretty repetitive eating routine (at least during the week when I’m on a schedule) that involves regular meals and snacks, primarily to keep my blood-sugar from dropping. Mid-morning means a dose of yogurt which has the added benefit of live cultures and, over the years, I’ve tried most of the brands and styles available on the market. I’d pretty much settled on an organic, non-fat vanilla yogurt, bought by the quart and spruced up with dried blueberries, frozen strawberries or all-fruit spread.

Occasionally I’d dally with a really yummy plum-lavender-honey yogurt from another organic line (preferred for its eschewing of artificial sweeteners) but I do like the ability to buy larger quantities and pack my own servings in reusable containers as opposed to single-serving varieties. And then, in February, I was down in Orlando for MegaCon and missing my yogurt routine when I saw a yogurt parfait at a local Starbucks: it was Greek yogurt, honey and granola with pepitas and dried fruit and, oh, it was good. Have you tried it? Greek yogurt in general, I mean, though the Starbucks offering is very good, too.

Compared to most low or no-fat yogurts, non-fat Greek yogurt is thick, the consistency of a rich sour cream with some of the bite of that, as well. One thing I dislike about most low-fat yogurts is the texture, so this was a revelation. Calorie-wise, it’s about 60 per 8 oz serving but I usually stick to 4 oz at a time for my mid-morning snack so, even with the addition of a dollop of honey and a small shake of organic granola, my mid-morning snack is both satisfying and low-cal all in one.

Even though most Greek yogurt is non-fat, there are some 2% versions out there, so watch the label of the brand you buy. Also, unlike other yogurts that come in quart sizes of plain and vanilla, the largest I’ve found locally is plain as a pint. It also tends to be a bit more expensive than even the vanilla organic non-fat that I was buying, but I think the benefits of taste and texture are worth a tiny increase in price.