Ratatouille and My Promise to You

February 8, 2017 by Zucchini Runner in Main Dish | 2 Comments

My promise to you: I will keep showing up. Every Wednesday I will keep sharing a recipe that is made with healthy, whole ingredients. Every Thursday, I will keep sharing my fitness update and tidbits.

I also promise to you, I will keep it real — within reason.

There is the real, sailor-swearing version of me that I try NOT to be on a daily basis. (Which may be more interesting to some, and completely off-putting to others.) Then there is the adult, matured, evolved version of me that I desperately fight to be each day. So I will promise to give you the latter; the REAL version of myself which I TRY to be every day. Being positive, making healthy food choices and choosing to stay active are all CHOICES I make daily. Some days, I wake up and the old, negative side of me wants to rule the day. Will it benefit you if I share that side of me? I certainly don’t think so; because energy spreads like wildfire.

If I post in a negative way, when I am having a bad and negative day – that just feeds the negativity which may already be brewing inside of you, because maybe you didn’t have a great start to the day. There is already enough negativity circling the globe right now, and I REFUSE to add to it. I may feel like I’m swimming upstream sometimes, but that’s ok. I’m very much an “everything is gray” person — typically able to see both sides to every story — and therefore I am equipped to swim upstream. Does it get old and tiresome? You bet. But when it comes to spreading positivity versus negativity, that is ONE thing I know for certain. POSITIVITY is paramount.

So I promise you that I will keep showing up, and I will remain REAL and positive. That is my vow to you, and the vow I’m making to myself.

Now, onto today’s recipe!! This is not ratatouille as most people may know it, but it is a “coarse stew”, which is how ratatouille originated. (Thanks Wikipedia!) It’s a great way to smash in a bunch of veggies all in one sitting and get nice and full.

Ingredients*

1 purple onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 large carrots, chopped
1 large turnip, chopped
1 large rutabaga, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup cabbage, chopped
1-16 oz. bag frozen cauliflower (just toss them in whole, as is)
2 zucchini, chopped
1 yellow squash, chopped
1-8 oz. package baby portobello mushrooms, chopped
2 cups frozen peas (just toss them in last, as is)
1-26 oz. package of Pomi Chopped tomatoes
1 TBSP Italian seasoning (mine is a combo of thyme, garlic, marjoram, onion, rosemary, oregano, basil, savory and sage – huge time saver)
1/4 tsp. Real salt

*NOTE: You can use any combo of your favorite veggies, this is what we had on hand and felt like eating. We were also trying to use up some veggies from the fridge that were about to go bad (turnip, rutabaga, cabbage).

Instructions

In a large stock pot, add about 2 TBSP. of water and turn heat to medium. Once the water starts to get little bubbles, you can add your chopped onion. Cook for a couple minutes until they become aromatic. Add the minced garlic and stir.
For the remaining veggies, chop and cook as you move along down the list of veggie ingredients. So while the onions are cooking, chop the carrots. Once those are chopped, add them to the pot and stir. Continue in this manner chopping, adding to the stock pot, stirring and chopping until you get to the frozen peas – just dump those in as is. Basically, you add the veggies that take the longest to cook, first – essentially all the root veggies – so they have the longest amount of exposure to the heat and cook time.
Once all the veggies are in the pot, you can add the chopped tomatoes, Italian seasoning and salt. Stir well to combine, cover and let simmer, stirring occasionally for about 20 minutes. You can add 1/2 cup of water, if you want it to cook a little faster and provide a little more steam action!
When the root veggies are fork tender, it’s ready to serve!

Serves 2 people, large portions as a complete dinner for 2 days. We had this for dinner Monday night and last night; it was fantastic reheated on the stovetop! You can also add a dash of Cholula or your favorite hot sauce, or even add a teaspoon of coconut or olive oil to your individual serving, to add some healthy fat. (You don’t want to add it when cooking, because oils break down in an unhealthy way when heated above certain temps. They are best added last, just before serving.)

I also wanted to take a minute to direct you to my Shopping List Sunday posts which have been shared on both Instagram and Facebook the past 3 weeks.

Give them a peek if you haven’t already, and comment on any one of them if you’d like for me to keep doing them. Remember, I want to be providing value to readers, but I don’t know if it is valuable, unless you engage and let me know. Thanks!

I’m open to other suggestions as well. Feel free to email me or comment below with other suggestions.

Shopping List Sunday Posts

Jan. 21st – Week 1

Jan. 28th – Week 2

Feb. 5th – Week 3

Feb. 11th – Coming up!

Spaghetti Dinner with Veggies

January 18, 2017 by Zucchini Runner in Food, Main Dish | 5 Comments

Our favorite homemade spaghetti dinner, is made entirely of non-processed plants! No grains, no flours – just all things straight from the ground! We have found a delicious homemade marinara sauce too (why mess with a classic?), which really sets this spaghetti dinner apart. I have come a LONG way from my college days of buying boxed noodles and a jar of Prego sauce. If you make this for your family, they will not miss the pasta – I promise.

I’ve used spaghetti squash in place of noodles in past posts before, like the Lentil Balls with Spaghetti Squash recipe. And in all honesty, we use spaghetti squash as our noodles more than we use traditional noodles, so to us it is a no brainer. But I’m trying to get better at sharing the every day recipes with everyone.

To me, spaghetti squash “noodles” (ssoodles?) taste SO much better than pasta. They have more flavor and I can sit down with an entire plate of spaghetti squash, eat the entire thing and be hungry 2 hours later. And just to drive that point home, here is a little nutritional comparison between spaghetti squash and organic, gluten-free spaghetti noodles. Note the serving size; as I couldn’t find a perfect quantity comparison, but I’m guessing a whole pound of spaghetti squash is a LOT. (And, a pound is 16 oz. so if anything these stats are weighted in favor of the gluten-free noodles, and it still doesn’t help them!)

Data pulled from My Fitness Pal.

Hopefully I’ve convinced you to at least give the plant noodles a try!

Tonight’s dinner will be spaghetti squash noodles topped with homemade marinara, served with a side of steamed green veggies.

Marinara

First, the sauce. This is key, and can be made ahead of time and frozen, as it makes a TON. Head on over to Wellness Mama for the original recipe. But below is our slight spin on it:

Ingredients

3 boxes of Pomi brand tomatoes (2 boxes of chopped, 1 box of strained – this is our way of saving time on the ‘fresh tomato’ version)
¼ c. olive oil
2 medium onions, diced
8 cloves of fresh garlic, finely minced
⅓ cup fresh basil leaves, finely chopped
½ tsp. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried oregano
2 bay leaves (remove when done)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1 tsp. Real salt
1 carrot (1/2 should be grated and added to sauce, the other half should be added at the end of cooking and then removed)
8 oz. package of baby portobello mushrooms (this is our addition, also adds 8g of protein)

Instructions (We follow Wellness Mama’s instructions exactly.)

Pour the olive oil into a large stockpot over medium heat.
Add diced onions, garlic and grated carrots.
Saute for 6-8 minutes or until onions are translucent and tender.
Add tomatoes, chopped basil leaves, oregano, thyme bay leaves, parsley and salt.
Simmer on low heat for 2 hours or until cooked down and starting to darken.
Add carrot piece and mushrooms for the last 30 minutes. (The carrot helps to absorb acidity.)
Remove bay leaves and piece of carrot.
Use fresh or store in the fridge up to 1 week. Or freeze for up to 6 months.

Spaghetti Squash Noodles

In the last 45 minutes of cooking the marinara, cut spaghetti squash in half and scrape out the seeds. Fill a baking pan with 1/4 inch water, place spaghetti squash cut side down over water. Bake in oven uncovered at 375° for 30 minutes or until a fork easily pokes through the outer skin.

Once the squash is done, remove from oven and scrape out squash insides using a fork. (See previous recipe for more detailed instructions and a couple photos.) You will need to hold the squash with an oven mit as it will be HOT. At this time, you can season the squash with a bit of salt and pepper if you’d like. Top with your finished marinara and enjoy!

Steamed Veggies
We start these once we know the squash is done, it stays warm for a long time on it’s own if you leave it face down in the pan. Combine the following in a steamer pot, or a stock pot with a little water on the bottom:

2 c. frozen peas
2 c. frozen green beans
2 stalks fresh bok choy
1 medium sweet onion, chopped

Steam for 7-10 minutes or until bright green and heated through. The onions should be translucent too. Top with a little liquid aminos and serve as a side with your spaghetti with marinara.

Main Dish