How I Incorporated Broccoli Back into my Diet

I could write a laundry list of reasons why eating healthy and exercising has been challenging in this season of staying at home. I remember the day after the news broke that COVID 19 was officially a pandemic, I left work early to try and stock up at the grocery store for the next “2 weeks” we’d be staying at home. Little did I know, half the city was trying to do the same, for a lot longer of an amount of time. The line to check out was wrapped around the entire store and whole shelves were completely wiped out by the time I got there. There is something not wired in our brains to know how to react calmly in that situation, so naturally, I went into total panic mode. Between looking in other people’s carts to see what they were stocking up on and shoveling anything frozen I could find in my cart, I lost all sense of shopping for healthy and planned meals, as well as my budget.

I don’t beat myself up for that experience and I can’t blame the other people around me for stockpiling meats and frozen veggies either. We’re the first generation in quite some time that almost got through an entire lifetime without some sort of global crises. It wasn’t our finest hour as Americans but we’ve hopefully learned from the experience and won’t stockpile up on flour and toilet paper next time. And now, 5 months into this new way of life, the need for pizza and comfort food has thankfully started to dwindle and a hunger for healthier foods is kicking in. Last week was the first week in months I found myself reaching for broccoli at the store, so I thought I’d find a creative and tasty way to introduce it back into my diet. Using a little of my own culinary creativity as well as one of my favorite food blogger’s recipes, here’s what I came up with: (Tested and approved by my husband who hates eating broccoli)

Rosemary and Thyme Dill Veggie Mix with Lime Ranch (Still working on my recipe titles)

Serves 2-4

Veggie Mix

• 1 bag of Broccoli florets

• 1 head of cauliflower

• 1/2 an onion

• 2 tbs olive oil

• 2 tsp dried thyme

• 2 tsp dried rosemary

• 2 tsp dried dill

• salt and pepper to taste

Lime Ranch

• 1/2 cup light sour cream

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 lime juiced

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/4 cup of cilantro

Preheat oven to 450 and line a sheet pan with tin foil.

You can use a head of broccoli or a bag of cauliflower florets as well. I find using broccoli florets + a head of cauliflower the most bang for your buck. Whichever way you purchase them, just make sure they end up as florets on the sheet pan. Slice half of an onion and layer all three vegetables over the sheet pan. Cover vegetables in olive oil and mix with herbs. Place in preheated oven for 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup of sour cream with the juice of one lime, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and chopped up cilantro. Place in refrigerator while vegetables are cooking.

Serves well with pork chop, grilled or barbecue chicken.