In America, it can be pretty tough to get creative with vegetables.  I can find myself eating salad and broccoli over and over again.  But the truth is, there are SO many wonderful veggies out there to explore and add to your palate.  It is not only more fun to add variety when trying to eat healthy, it can also make you more successful to have more ideas to work with so you don’t feel like you eat the same 2 or 3 things all the time.  That can get boring!  Most of all, it is important to your gut and overall health to get a good variety of different fruits and veggies.  Eating the same foods over and over can actually increase the likelihood you will develop a food intolerance or full out allergy to that food.

I personally find it really difficult to get beets into my diet because for one, they are just not my favorite, and for two I have never known how to prepare them in a way that they actually taste good.  This recipe is a great way to sneak them in!  Beets are incredibly powerful for your health, and few vegetables can contend with their benefits.  They have nutrients that support with phase 2 liver detoxification, which is a problem for many people today due to the many toxins we are exposed to day in and day out.  Signs your liver is struggling can include skin issues of all kinds, brain fog, joint pain, fatigue and hormone imbalances. On top of assisting with the liver and detoxification, adding beets into your diet can help with high blood pressure, inflammation (which is at the root of all major diseases), energy and they even have powerful anti-cancer properties!

This roasted root veggies recipe is a super simple way to get a variety of veggies in your life!  And it happens to be pretty yummy too!  This recipe is great for those eating an anti-inflammatory diet or autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet.

Recipe

Prep Time: 15 min.

Cooking Time: 30 min,

Total Time: 45 min.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp organic avocado oil

2 large organic carrots

1 medium purple onion

2 organic parsnips

1 medium organic sweet potato

2 small or 1 large organic beet

a handful of chopped parsley (fresh)

1 tsp pink Himalayan salt

1/2 tsp organic garlic powder

1/2 tsp organic thyme

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Grease the bottom of  a 9 X 13″ glass baking dish with 1 Tbsp of the avocado oil.

Cut all the veggies into 1/4″ chunks or strips. Place all the veggie pieces into the glass baking dish. Drizzle 1 Tbsp avocado oil over the top of the veggies and toss to coat.  Then sprinkle evenly with the salt, garlic, thyme and fresh parsley.

Bake uncovered for 15 min, then stir to make sure the veggies get cooked evenly, and cook another 15 min.  Serve, and enjoy!

I chose these vegetables but you could easily sub any of the ingredients with other root vegetables like red potatoes, purple potatoes, fresh garlic bulbs, etc.  I personally chose to avoid using fresh garlic because I just got my food sensitivity panel back and learned that garlic is not necessarily my friend.