Roasted Winter Vegetables with Herbs

This is a dish I made for Thanksgiving dinner. I shared this photo on Facebook and had a couple requests for the recipe, so here it is. 

(vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, paleo/keto variation)

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: 6 Servings

Calories per serving: 119
Fats/Net Carbs/Protein: 7/7/3 grams

Ingredients

1 large celery root

4 large carrots

16 oz bag Brussels sprouts

½ red onion, sliced

3 tablespoons olive oil

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

1 teaspoon ground black pepper 

½ teaspoon dried thyme

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon dried basil

dash of freshly grated nutmeg

juice of ½ lemon (2 tablespoons)

1 tablespoons chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

1 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme

2 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley 

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Scrub the celery root well, and using a sharp knife, carefully cut the skin off. Chop the celery root into ½” cubes.

Rinse the carrots, peel them, halve them and slice them diagonally into ½" pieces.

Rinse the Brussels sprouts, remove any dark petals, halve them.

Slice the onions into ½" slices.

Parboil the celery, carrots, and Brussels sprouts until just fork tender. (I use the microwave; put the vegetables into a bowl and cover with salted water and cook on high 5 minutes for the celery root and 7 minutes for the carrots and Brussels sprouts)

In a large bowl, toss together the celery roots, carrots, Brussels sprouts and onion with the olive oil, and dried seasonings.

Spread the veggies in a large baking pan and roast for 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, stir well, and roast an additional 10 minutes or until roots are browned and fully cooked.

Place the veggies in a serving bowl and add the lemon juice, fresh herbs, and parsley. Toss everything together and serve.

Variations

·       Do not pre-cook the veggies, just add ¼ cup of water to the pan, and cover the raw vegetables with foil. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven at the beginning then uncover and continue with the recipe as before.  

·       Substitute cauliflower, mushrooms (do not pre-cook these), beets, or winter squash for any of the vegetables above.

·       Substitute any herb combination for the dried herbs (herbs de Provence, Greek herbs, etc.)

·       Substitute any fresh herbs for the fresh herbs (rosemary, savory, basil, oregano, etc.)

·       Add a julienned leafy green vegetable to the garnish like arugula or baby spinach.

For a keto/paleo variation use cauliflower, mushrooms, and Brussels sprouts and substitute ghee for the olive oil.

To Begin

Hi, I'm Randy and I'm overweight. I've been overweight a long time. Other than that, I'm in pretty good health. I work out regularly and I'm active. But it's time for me to shed some serious pounds and the best way I can think of to keep myself accountable it to put my goals up on the Internet for everyone to see.

In the course of doing this, I hope to help other people who are struggling with he same issues and find a community of other people who are working toward similar goals.

I will be working toward a few big goals over the next year, and I'd like to list them here to get things rolling.

1) Get my weight down to 180 pounds or less.
2) Compete in and finish the Austin Iron Man (70.3) on 10/19/2017.
3) Get my waist size down to where it is equal to or less than my inseam.
4) Maintain my weight at 180 pounds or less for one full calendar year.

So those are some pretty big goals for me. Wish me luck.