Well Sunday night, and another weekend has come and gone entirely too fast!
Did you do anything fun? I definitely did. Hit up the Meatpacking District...fun times! There's always a new adventure to be had in the Big Apple.
So I am SO excited to share this new and delicious recipe with you! It's super easy, yet a showstopper...so it's perfect for a Thanksgiving dish, or for an easy weeknight meal!
All the flavors of fall with a delicious sweet addition: FENNEL.
Now, if you've never had Fennel before, or if you've had it but think you don't like it...do yourself a favor and give it another shot. When it's oven roasted, it is absolutely AMAZING! It caramelizes and becomes beautifully sweet and licorice-y.
And with balsamic vinegar --- get outta town!
That's right, I made balsamic roasted fennel and beets with roasted butternut squash and blistered green beans.
Talk. about. incredible.
And it's Gluten/Grain Free, Vegan, Specific Carb Diet, and Paleo!
Here's what you need: (Serves 1)
1 large beet, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
1 large bulb of fennel, sliced vertically in 4
12 green beans
1/4 cup cubed butternut squash
1 cup baby spinach
1 tsp herbs de provence
2 Tbsp good balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. To prepare your fennel bulb, cut off the big stalks that look like celery. :) Then, remove the outer "leaves." Keep the core, (the little "button" at the base) intact. When you slice it vertically into 4, 1/4-inch disks, make sure to keep a bit of the core in each disk to help it stay together.
Also, scrub and dry your beet. Slice it into 1/4 inch disks. Next, cube your butternut squash into 1/2 inch cubes.
Place your fennel and beet disks, and butternut squash on a tin-foil-lined, olive-oil-sprayed baking sheet in a single layer. Spritz with olive oil and sprinkle with herbs de Provence and a pinch of salt and pepper. Bake for 40 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
When you flip your beets, fennel and squash, add your green beans to the baking sheet. Drizzle your veggies with the balsamic vinegar. Return to the oven for the remaining 20 minutes.
When your veggies are finished in the oven, sprinkle with sea salt. Slice your beets into 1/4 inch matchsticks. Slice your green beans in half.
To assemble, place a bed of spinach on your plate. Place your fennel on the spinach. Then, put your beets, butternut squash, and green beans in a pile on top.
What a wonderful meal! Roasted veggies are one of my favorite foods! Something magical happens in the oven when you oven roast beets and butternut squash. Their natural sugars caramelize and it brings out the sweetness in the veggies.
And the balsamic vinegar reduces and becomes perfectly sweet! Paired with the roasted veggies and blistered beans, it is out of this world!
And the texture of the fennel is amazing. It is chewy and almost creamy! Mmmm!
Finally, it is a beautiful dish with the deep purple, vibrant orange, emerald green and golden fennel. It looks like autumn on a plate!
Have a great week!
Want more GFHT? You can now get my e-cookbook, The Best of GlutenFreeHappyTummy
for only $2.99 on Amazon!
Wow, Caralyn, this looks amazing and your photos are so beautiful - the colors are so bright and vivid. Can't wait to try this one - I LOVE fennel! Do you have to line the baking sheet with foil, or is that just to make it easier to clean? I try to stay away from cooking with aluminum as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce! Thank you! I use foil so the clean up is easy:) But you could also use parchment paper. Thanks for stopping by! have a great night!
DeleteHi Caralyn! Nice dish! What do you eat for protein with a dish like this?
ReplyDeleteThank you Dana! This dish was it for me for dinner that night...I get my protein from nuts and seeds...I'm constantly snacking on them throughout the day...I always carry raw almonds in my purse for snack attack moments! But for a protein source, you could try some broiled, wild caught fish, or tofu! Thanks for stopping by!
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