Roasted Carrots, Onions, & Beets

A yummy veggie side dish when beets are in season.

Ingredients:

4-6 large carrots, peeled and sliced thin
4-6 beets, peeled and sliced thin
1 large white or yellow onion,sliced thin
2-3 T olive oil
1 T minced garlic
1 T sage
Salt and pepper (to taste - can add more after roasting if needed)

Preheat oven to 425. Mix everything together and spread on a cookie sheet. Roast in preheated oven about 20 minutes or until veggies are fork tender.

Mini Chocolate Tarts

If you  like chocolate, these are for you. Idea came from here.


Crust:

1 1/4 c almonds
1/2 c unsweetened shredded coconut
pinch of salt
2 T maple syrup
2 T coconut oil, melted

Preheat oven to 375. In food processor, process almonds to a fine meal (not almond butter). Add coconut and salt and process for a few seconds, then add maple syrup and coconut oil and process until combined in  sticky clumps (add more coconut oil and maple syrup if needed). Spoon crust into greased mini-muffin tin, pressing down. Crust should fill each hole about 1/3-1/2 of the way up. Bake for 10 min, or until golden brown. Let cool.

Filling:

1/2 can full fat coconut milk
1 c dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla

In a saucepan, bring the coconut milk to a boil. Pour chocolate chips in a separate bowl and pour boiling milk over. Let it sit for a minute, then whisk together. Add vanilla and continue stirring until smooth. Spoon filling on top of mini-crusts in muffin tin.

Topping:

1/4 c chopped nuts (my favorites are macadamia nuts and pistachios, but almonds and walnuts are delicious too)
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

Toast nuts and coconut on stove-top. Sprinkle on top of filling. Refrigerate mini-tarts until solid, and pop out just before serving. You can freeze them too.

Butternut Squash Soup

This is the first vegetable soup all four of my boys loved and devoured. It's going on this blog for sure. Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 small or half a large onion
1-2 tsp minced garlic
1 T chili powder
Salt and pepper
4 cups chicken stock
1 can white beans
1 small to medium butternut squash, cooked and cut into chunks

Directions:

Sauté onions and garlic in a pot. When onions are nice and cooked through, add some salt, pepper, the chili powder, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil and add beans and squash. Simmer for a few minutes (longer is probably better). Before serving, blend with an immersion blender or regular blender. Add more salt and pepper to taste. We love eating this with blue corn chips.