Its January and we are all thinking about eating healthy. Everyone of course accept my mother who surprisingly seems to be eating boxes of cookies, cake, chocolate, pie, brownies, and muffins without any recourse. Your right--just returned from a trip to see my family. I survived their attempts to fatten me up and have jumped back into my attempts for finding delightful foods this January that taste good and are good for you.Over Christmas P and I enjoyed lunch at Mark & Spencers. Next time you find yourself in London, enjoy a bite to eat at their lunch counter that reminds me of the pictures Norman Rockwell painted of past lives. The English have an amazing ability to evoke memories of the past while serving you in the present. They have found a subtle agreement between our attempts to change and hold on to memories.
Yes--about that super food salad...
We enjoyed lunch and I was delightfully inspired to retreat to the other side of the pond and cook up something similar: Super Food Salad
2cp butternut squash
3 beets
1.5 cp broccoli or brocollini
.5 cp of tomatoes
enough lettuce to cover your plate
2 tbls olive oil
1 tps salt
about 1 tbls poppy seeds
Turn the oven on to 400 and peel the squash. Cut into small peices. Attempt to AVOID cutting yourself (I need to be more careful). Place squash into glass dish and lightly toss with olive oil and salt. Roast for about 30 minutes or until cooked. (no longer firm)
While the squash is cooking, take beets and wash them. Poke holes with a fork about 5 times around the fruit (careful...beet juice is used to color things for a reason...) Wrap up each beet in tin foil and place in the oven with the squash. Beets will take about 60 minutes to cook. When you remove the squash, turn the oven down to 350.
As you cook the squash and beets prepare the rest of the salad. First cut up the tomatoes into small pieces or use cherry tomatoes, which make life really easy, and cut them in half. Set aside.
Cut up broccoli and place on a baking sheet covered with tin foil. Set aside until squash and beets are finished cooking. Then spray broccoli lightly with olive oil and place the baking sheet under the broiler for about 5 minutes until the tops start to brown. WATCH the broccoli to make certain you have control over your broiler...which will crisp things quickly.
Place everything you just cooked into a bowl and mix well without squishing the squash. Toss the "salad" with poppy seeds. Salt to taste. If mix seems to dry, add a little olive oil or put some on the dinner table so your guests can doctor it to their taste.
Plate up a bed of lettuce and place the salad on top. Enjoy!
And why is this SUPER?
Poppy Seeds have: "Thiamin, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc and Copper, and a very good source of Calcium and Manganese."
Butternut Squash: "very low in Saturated Fat, Cholesterol and Sodium. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Calcium and Magnesium, and a very good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Potassium and Manganese."
Broccoli: "this food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Protein, Thiamin, Pantothenic Acid, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium and Phosphorus, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Vitamin K, Riboflavin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Potassium and Manganese."
Tomatoes: "This food is low in Sodium, and very low in Saturated Fat and Cholesterol. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Thiamin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Magnesium, Phosphorus and Copper, and a very good source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Potassium and Manganese."
Finally, this recipie should feed about 4 servings at:
157 calories
8 g fat
20g carbohydrates
4.9g sugars
4.8g protein
100% Vitamin A
60% Vitamin C
9% Calcium
9% iron
WOW! That is super!
