This past weekend my friend visited from Michigan and we spent a great time brunching on some of the finest foods in Rogers Park and the Chicago area. During the short two day weekend, we went to Uncommon Ground and Beatrix. At Uncommon Ground, I had the amazing smoked maple Gunthorp Farms chicken hash. It came in a hot skillet with two fried eggs on top of the most tender chicken I have tasted all year, roasted sweet potatoes, butternut squash and red potatoes. It was a dream come true. The runny egg yolk flooded over the potatoes so sweetly.
At Beatrix on Sunday I decided to go with the eggs your way with added roasted salmon. Although the portion seemed ridiculously small, the salmon was a perfect compliment to my scrambled eggs and filled me up just enough where I wasn’t in a complete food coma. I couldn’t resist buying a power greens juice either. It was predominately green featuring kale, romaine, celery, pineapple and mint. I love when green juices have a different fruit rather than apple because then it has a lighter taste and adds a fruity flavor without imploding your day with a sugar rush.
When I got home after Beatrix, I really had no intention of cooking anything. To tell you the truth, I was conflicted whether or not to call a food delivery service (GrubHub or Postmates) and order some soup when lunch came around. Then I figured, an opportunity to MAKE lunch is an opportunity for A. a good blog post and B. a dang good lunch that I know I’ll enjoy and C. will cost me $0.
This is when I thought of what is in my fridge and what I could work with. Although quite simple, this only took me about 45 minutes to make and nothing is better than roasted vegetables in the fall. Especially when my all time favorite vegetable is involved… sweet potatoes!
- 1.5-2 tbsp coconut oil (I used lemon ginger from Ziggy Marley Organics)
- 1 bag of brussel sprouts
- 1 small sweet potato
- 2 cups of kale
- ⅓ block of tempeh
- 1 tbsp hemp seeds (Ziggy Marley Organics - Caribbean Crunch flavor)
- 1 tbsp hummus (Whole Foods brand)
- 2 tsp 21 seasoning Salute (Trader Joe's spice)
- Preheat your oven to 425º and cut your sweet potatoes into thin wedges and then strips. Cut the ends off of your brussel sprouts.
- Coat brussels in 1 tbsp or so of coconut oil (depends how many brussels you have, so eyeball) on one pan. Sweet potato wedges and tempeh on another pan/tray. Douse in 21 Seasoning Salute after, if not on hand, salt and pepper work.
- Put in oven for 15-20 minutes and check. Take out and rotate/flip the tempeh strips for another 5 minutes.
Within a span of 15-20 minutes, you have roasted vegetables at your fingertips and look how perfect and toasty they turn out! It’s a miracle. My roommate and I swear by 21 Seasonings Salute by Trader Joe’s. It goes perfect on vegetables, fish, meat, sandwiches, dips… literally anything. If you don’t have a jar or have never heard of it, head over to TJ’s and grab it asap. It contains black pepper, basil, oregano, thyme, carrot, orange peel and a list of other wonderful ingredients that make your kitchen smell like you should be on the Food Network.
The scent of my coconut oil from Ziggy Marley Organics was a bit strong due to the lemon and ginger but it tasted amazing and gave my salad more flavor. And of course I added hemp seeds once I threw everything on the plate. Having hemp seeds on a salad for the first time, I was a bit thrown off. I thought they wouldn’t be that noticeable of a taste but you definitely can taste the crunch. It tastes similar to having small nuts on a salad so it wasn’t bad. Hemp seeds are a great source of easily digestible proteins and Omega fatty acids so adding them PLUS the tempeh can give you more protein than just a pile of roasted veggies on some kale.
And of course, (not pictured) when I threw a glob of hummus on and tossed it through all of the kale, a dash of himalayan pink sea salt and pepper, it was quite the dreamy salad. Just enough to get me through and keep me satisfied.
The ingredients are not that expensive and coconut oil and hemp seeds can be found for quite cheap online.
Now get to roasting those veggies!
-Addie
Ana says
Literally stopping by the grocery store on my way home from shopping to get some brussels to make somethin like this.. yumma. Thanks for the food inspo Adeline
Addie Martanovic says
Aw you make me so happy 🙂 I love brussels!