A lot has been happening in the last few weeks. Fall officially began, a heatwave rolled up in Southern California and won’t let go, and I started a nutrition program to become a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner with the Nutritional Therapy Association. It’s been 6+ years since I’ve been in college or any kind of rigorous academic program.
For the next nine months, I’m going to be reading, watching, listening and taking notebooks (yes, I still write in notebooks #oldschool) full of notes on nutrition, anatomy, learning how to work with clients and help people find a healthy that works for them.
If you’ve been reading this blog for a little bit or for a little longer (thank you), you can tell I’m really passionate about healthy eating, sharing nutrition tidbits and approachable ways you can eat healthier, cook more, know where you food comes from… For the past year or so I’ve been wanting to take my constant Googling, limited PubMed skimming, and overall researching and learning to the next level. In the sea of the internet, it’s easy to get swept up in a wave of facts or “facts” from experts or “experts” and I got tired of all that swimming without some kind of compass.
It became clear to me that it was time to look into getting a more professional, more legit and grounded education in nutrition so I can continue to find the facts for myself and also share them with you. There’s so much out there about nutrition and food and my last dream is to add to the confusion and not help you eat healthy meals and learn more about getting or staying healthy.
After a few months of endless research on online nutrition programs last year, I got overwhelmed with just how many there are (there are SO FREAKING MANY) and how varied they are. So I put that on the back burner. This time last year I attended a conference and met some great people, one of whom is a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner. I had come across the program in my searching, added it to the list, but didn’t give it anymore thought while in the overwhelmed research state. Talking to her was helpful to learn more about the program and how it stacked up against other programs out there.
A friend who was also attending the conference was so intrigued by the program she signed up in the next few weeks and spent late last year and this spring going through the program. She shared her experience and that just clinched it for me. When it came time this year to sign up, I went all in and did.
She told me it was all encompassing, in the amount of amazing information and the time commitment is and just two weeks into the program I feel what she’s saying. It’s definitely making me think more about how I’m going to meal plan for the next month as I fit in work, studying, being a girlfriend and partner, and taking care of myself physically and mentally.
I will still be blogging and sharing recipes with you, and hopefully share more with you about nutrition that I learn each week in the course that can be helpful to you.
For my own meals, I’m thinking the simpler the better is going to work, or, the more hands off the better. Before the heat wave, I made a Beet Carrot Soup that was beyond simple and for most of it hands off. After you cut up the vegetables, you roast them up (time to do other things) and then when done, you blend them up with some veggie stock and you have a great soup to enjoy as a main course, side dish, or accompaniment to some delicious grilled cheese.
Once it finally cools down, I’m going to make this soup again and maybe a lot more over the fall and winter. The best thing about this soup is that keeping carrots and beets on hand is easy because they’re root vegetables and can last a little longer than some other vegetables in the fridge or on the counter.
As always, make this your own. Add whatever yogurt you like (lactose-free or dairy-free) or if you don’t like yogurt, leave it out. If you want to add more heat or maybe some curry powder, try it and see how you like it.
Ingredients
- 2 large beets (slightly bigger than a baseball), stems removed, halved
- salt and pepper
- olive oil
- 4-6 medium carrots, cut in one inch logs and quartered
- 2-3 tsp za'atar
- 1-2 tsp paprika
- olive oil for roasting
- salt and pepper for roasting
- 1 quart of low-sodium vegetable, chicken or beef stock
- salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder to taste
- dollop of full-fat Greek yogurt or non-dairy yogurt
- za'atar
Instructions
Preheat oven to 475.
Place 2 beets on a large sheet of aluminum foil (enough to fold the foil up into an enclosed packet for roasting) and lightly drizzle in olive oil, salt and pepper. Fold up the foil to enclose the beets, repeat with other beets. Place foil packets on a baking sheet and roast for an hour.
When done, remove from oven and carefully open the foil packets for the beets to cool a little bit.
Reduce oven temperature to 425.
Arrange carrots in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet and lightly drizzle with olive oil, za'atar, paprika, salt and pepper. Roast these for 20-25 minutes, until fork tender.
If using a hand/immersion blender, combine roasted carrots, beets, and stock in a large stock pot and blend until smooth. Add water (or more stock if you have it) to get the consistency you want.
If using a regular blender, in batches add in roast carrots, beets and stock and run until consistency you want is reached.
Taste and add any more salt, pepper, za'atar, paprika or garlic powder to your liking. Portion out in bowls and garnish with yogurt and za'atar.