Simple & Plant-Based

Ever in the mood for something light and clean tasting but you still want to feel full after? Yes! Obviously! For some reason I think of fresh herbs and lemons, and steamed veggies. I feel like steamed vegetables are easier for me to digest then raw. I did sautee' the almonds in some oil though to give them a toasty touch. The Lima bean tomato dish gets a touch of lemon drizzled on after, you can also add lemon juice to the steamed potatoes too.

The corn gets a simple splash of, you guessed it, lemon juice! And cilantro because I can't resist adding cilantro to corn. Lime juice is extra nice on corn too...sometimes I put both! A bit of red pepper flakes gives it a zip :)

The arugula beet salad is basically just that; beets and arugula! There's a tendency to add cheese, but if you're trying to stick to strictly plant based then adding some toasted and salted nuts or seeds adds a nice touch. I chose sunflower this time but sometimes I use toasted and salted pumpkin seeds too. Nothing wrong with adding some balsamic vinegar on after! Someone gave me a syrupy one to try and I really liked it, even though I don't usually like balsamic vinegar...this one was a bit sweet. And then I cracked some fresh pepper and salt on everything.

I guess I'm officially a grown up, because when I was younger I HATED the taste of beets AND arugula! In fact, when I was a teenager and had my garden I realized too late that arugula tasted like...snails? I ended up neglecting them and never watered them and just hoped they would die; they were fighters! I feel terrible admitting that I purposefully tried to kill off a plant in my garden, but does it count if the thing actually survives? Hmmm, I wonder ;-)

Is there a particular vegetable or food in general that you didn't like when you were a child and then now you like once your palette changed? I'd like to hear about it!