Simple Goodness of Roasted Squash and Cauliflower

I like to roast broccoli by putting the crowns down on the glass and pouring on the evoo. Roast at 350 for 45 minutes and your crowns will come out slightly burned, but oh so delicious!!!

Whenever I roast whole cauliflower, I like to hit it with smoked and sweet paprika, and a little salt and black pepper, topped with olive oil. I never thought that cauliflower could be so moreish cooked this way, give it a try and surprise yourself if you've never done it before!

Instead of baking vegetables, I like to stir fry them. Baking removes water from the vegetables, stir-frying with oil keeps water within vegetables. Broccoli and cauliflower are great tasting with crunchiness when stir fried.
Squash is good when baked, but I find squash just as good when steamed with spices and the water is retained.

I cut up butternut squash and toss with olive oil, grape seed or coconut oil and toss with curry powder and cumin then roast. It's my husband's favorite way to have squash.

Almost all kids (adults too) love mashed potatoes, but that is so much starch in one dish. Instead, I make them with a ratio of 1/3 potato and 2/3 carrot. I do use dairy (in moderation) so for this I do add in some cream and butter when mashing (not whip... I like mine to be lumpy, no pulverized, hehe), vegans can use either coconut or almond milk and coconut oil as a substitute. Start cooking the carrots first since they take longer. I season only with sea salt and pepper.

For winter squash, I like to cut in half, seed, then put butter and honey in the well and bake at 350 with about 1/2 inch of water in the pan until done. The water in the pan will provide some steaming to keep the squash from drying out or burning on the bottom while baking. Vegans can sub with raw cane sugar and coconut oil. I find using honey (raw, unfiltered) to be a healthier option than sugar, but everyone needs to decide for themselves what they want to use. I do not add any salt or pepper to this, but if you want a salty/sweet result, then by all means... sprinkle a little sea salt on there.

Thank you Dr Ben. I enjoy your recipes - thanks for sharing.
I am a believer in the goodness of butter so this recipe's secret is the addition of butter.
In a heavy frying pan, cover the bottom with wedges of cabbage. Prepare any other veggies (carrots, parsnip, cauliflower, etc) and sprinkle over the cabbage. Put a few tablespoons of water (so it steams, rather than boils) and place several dots of butter on the top of the veggies. Use a tight fitting lid and cook until cabbage is tender. Check to ensure the water does not boil away completely as each pan requires a different amount of water. This is a fast way to serve many different veggies while saving on dirtying several pots. This is my supper whenever I do a vegetable cleans. I hope you enjoy it. The butter makes the difference.

That looks like a better way than I usually make veggies, either stir frying or in a stew. I'm going to try it. Thanks

Roasting root and other vegetables brings out incredible flavors that you cannot get with stir-frying or steaming. They get so beautifully caramelized and flavorful that salt is seldom necessary. I roast combinations of carrots, turnips, fennel bulbs, sweet potatoes or russet potatoes, sweet white or red onions, a head or two of garlic, cauliflower, and brussels sprouts. After they are oven ready, I drizzle them with extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle on dried or fresh herbs, which could be fines herbes, herbes de Provence, Greek oregano, thyme, sage, rosemary, or savory and fresh ground black or white pepper. Sometimes I roast sweet potatoes slices with just extra-virgin olive oil and cinnamon--they become so sweet that they are like dessert.

This looks yummy, I'll try it thanks.

I do something similar with cauliflower, and onion, and sometime potato and or parsnip. Cut it up, place it in a pan, add a little olive oil, add lots of powered turmeric, a pinch of cayenne pepper, a pinch of paprika, sea salt and black pepper to taste. Bake in the oven. You can also brown in a pan first if you want a richer flavor. The whole family loves it. If you have any leftover which is rare, you can create a bisque with some cream. Add a few frozen peas at the end, for color and sweetness if you like. Really Delicious.

Add some garlic cloves to red onions and cauliflower, Sprinkle with ground pepper, paprika and turmeric,then rub/splash on some evoo. Add sweet potato to squash/pumpkin and sprinkle with mixed herbs or sprigs of rosemary and/or thyme

YUMMY, right up my alley as I am a whole food ethical vegan.
However, I do not eat onions or garlic. I like adding
sweet potatoes or regular potato, carrot, rutabaga,and indian spices.

I love this website and this recipe. My family and I love vegetables, they do fill you up and don't leave you bogged down as the article points out. However in my quest for good health and slight obsession with eating vegetables and greens I find myself rather depleted after all my efforts and good intentions. I have been "healthy" eating and doing daily green smoothies together with some intermittent fasting and my reward has been light menstrual flow (though still regular) and infertility. Women in their thirties, like me, are constantly bombarded with diet, detox and plant based recipes as some kind of miracle cure for illness and excess weight and the ideal diet for maintaining good health. I'm no longer convinced, at least this is only half the story. If you look to traditional Chinese Medicine dietary therapy or the nutrition advice of the Weston Price Foundation, nutritive and building foods were prized by traditional people above all (though they maintained a whole foods diet in general). From this perspective seafood, fish eggs, organ meat, bone broths and fermented quality dairy formed the backbone of longevity diets with high fertility rates. Certainly those foods seems to build blood and fertility in a woman's body more than greens powders, green smoothies and vegetables. My advice now to women like me, of a child bearing age, is to partially ignore society's obsession with detoxing foods and plant based diets and fasting. Unless the health guru speaking to you can guarantee you maintain fertility, I would ignore them. Focus on varied and tasty whole foods diet, eating three times a day and consider the benefit of including nutritive heavier foods several times a week if you want to maintain fertility. Seek out nutritive blood building herbs from a good herbalist. Consider that a lot of the food and dietary advice being given out to women is from slim women and youtube stars who don't have children or don't want children, or men, so you have no idea if copying them will leave you depleted and infertile as a result. Ask yourself what is good health to you before you follow a diet strictly, or you may end up slim and infertile, vitamins can't fix this easily.