Hi friends! This week I went outside of my comfort zone again. To add a little context, I struggle with eating certain types of food because of textures. I am a big texture person when it comes to clothing materials, certain towels, blankets, foods and drinks, and the feeling of anything really dry. When it comes to food, I loathe the texture of most vegetables. So I tend to only eat carrots, peas, corn, and cucumbers. Sometimes, cooked peas can be “iffy” too. Anyways, the nutritional benefits of vegetables are really enticing and I have been wanting to find ways to include more vegetables into my diet. Coincidentally, the algorithm on my TikTok “for you” page has been full of roasted vegetables!
This week was a little different than the others because instead of following a recipe to the tee, I didn’t use a recipe at all! I used a combination of tips from family, TikTok videos, and what I’ve learned over the past two months to do this on my own. Is the whole point to use online sources to facilitate my learning? Yes. Did I do that this week? In short, not exactly… But I had a really busy week and I was proud of myself for taking the time to do this at all.
When deciding which vegetables to use, I wanted at least half of them to be ones that I know I like and half of them to be new so I could expand my vegetable options. I also wanted to choose some that were high in fibre because I heard that fibre is really good for digestive health and preventing digestive health problems later in life. After I came up with my target nutrient, I realized that I don’t actually know what vegetables have a lot of fibre. So, I went to Google and searched up “vegetables with a lot of fibre” (shocker, I know). One of the first sites that came up was Zoe.com. I was impressed! Not only did it have a list of vegetables high in fibre, it had a lot of interesting information about the importance of fibre, and benefits of a high-fibre diet. It also contained how much fibre each vegetable contains and tips on how to cook each one.
After reading through the website, I chose carrots, cucumbers, green beans, broccoli, and zucchini. I also decided to put some onion and potatoes in. A family friend suggested using garlic salt, olive oil, and Montreal steak spice for the vegetables. What I ended up doing was washing, peeling and cutting up the vegetables, onion, and potatoes before putting them in a bowl and coating them in a small amount of extra-virgin olive oil. Then, I added garlic salt, pepper, a garlic and herb seasoning, and chopped baby dill. I spread them out on a cookie sheet, and put them in the oven at 350 degrees. After 30 minutes, I took them out and flipped them. After 30 more minutes, I took them out and the vegetables were cooked, and I assumed the potatoes were cooked too.
I am not sure if I over or undercooked the potatoes but they were not right. Too firm, but not in a crunchy kind of raw way. So I don’t exactly know what went wrong. Would that have happened if I followed a recipe? Probably not, but that’s okay. The vegetables were good! I will say, I am still not a big green bean or zucchini fan, but I liked the broccoli so I will count that as a win! That might make me sound like I have the palette of a toddler, if not worse (I do), but I really enjoyed trying this out! I also cooked lemon garlic-herb chicken breasts and they were fantastic! I didn’t use a recipe for that either, I just thought “hey these flavours and spices might go together nicely!” and they did!
Again, this might seem silly to people, but cooking anything without a recipe is a big step for me. I am 19 years old and until now, I have hated cooking. Even though this week had some downfalls, like the potatoes and some of the vegetables being not for me, I realized that I am a lot more confident in the kitchen than I was a few weeks ago. I am understanding what seasonings I like and don’t like. I also have a much better understanding of how to cook meat. And the biggest win of all for me is that this week I realized that I am actually enjoying the cooking!
I’m not sure if I have any suggestions or recipes to offer this week, but I hope everyone is taking the time to practice self care as we head into the last few weeks of class. And if you’re finding it hard to cook during finals, I have a whole catalogue of different recipes you can try in my previous blog posts!
Chayse,
I, personally, will eat almost any vegetable out there except for mushrooms! Great job stepping out of your comfort zone to try new vegetable combinations!
One trick that I learned when I started cooking was that root vegetables definitely take longer to cook than any of your above ground veggies like beans and broccoli. I generally pair potatoes and carrots together into a pan to roast, but often will saute zucchini, broccoli, green beans since they have a similar cooking time. You've inspired me to grab a different assortment of veggies for side dishes for this coming week. Thank you for that!
I am enjoying keeping up with your journey and witnessing your confidence in your cooking skills grow.…
Chayse,
I almost regret reading your post at this hour... your photos made me hungry for a night snack! 😊🍽️. This looks DELICIOUS. You have to remember you are still in the learning process, do not be too hard on yourself! Take the wins where you get them, like the seasonings and broccoli. I am so excited that you are finding an enjoyment in cooking. Although I do not have any great recipes on hand, here is what I LOVE: Thrift store cook books. The older they look, the better! Thank you so much for sharing, and I am so excited to see your progress next week... which I will read at a less hungry time. - Emma
I hope you don't give up on vegetables! I know they are not your favourite but it's not terrible to keep trying. It was a good idea to choose some you already liked along with some new flavours. I am working on feeding my son (10 months old) new solid foods. As babies if he doesn't like it (could be taste or texture), I don't let it be one and done. He has to try foods multiple times to try to develop a large palette. I am only comparing this to my son because you did it first, haha! Thanks for sharing.