Sides

Easy oven roasted broccoli seasoned with lemon and garlic on a parchment lined sheet pan. Serve as a delicious side to your plant-based meal!

My quads are *still* sore from hiking Old Rag Mountain this past Tuesday. 

The last time I hiked this 10.2 mile loop trail was back in 2015 and I don’t quite remember my quads screaming at my in this acute fashion. 

My one goal in setting out was to stay well hydrated because last time I trekked up 3,284 feet I ran out of water at the tippy top. 

Luckily, a fellow hiker tossed me a spare bottle that I chugged with Dan before the descent. 

So this time I vowed to have plenty of  H20. 

I took multiple bottles, which ended up being a *really* good idea. 

In the first 10 minutes, I unscrewed my purple Lifefactory glass bottle and, in a tragic slip, dropped it on the ground; 22 oz of filtered water watering the leaves around my hiking shoes. 

It ended up fine because my 48 oz Nalgene magically sustained me for the remainder of the climb. 

I even passed some energy bars to a hungry hiker on the way up, to give back that Old Rag good karma that I received last time. 

The autumn colors at the top were absolutely beautiful, guys! 

M and I sat shaded by a boulder, eating food smashed for our packs and looking out over a sea of burnt sienna, evergreen, and amber tree tops. 

The only thing missing on a long hike are the greens.

This Garlic & Lemon Roasted Broccoli is my current favorite side dish that’s sure to ehance any of your plant-based meals! 

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Vegan potato salad made with yukon potatoes and chopped vegetables in a creamy vegan mayonnaise. Perfect to make in advance for summer entertaining.

The past few weeks I’ve been watching the Star Wars movies.

“Which Star Wars movies?” you might be wondering.

Well, all of them.

It still amazes how I made it to the age of 32 without having seen any of them.

I mean, I even took film studies in high school, guys.

So when Darth Vader bellows, “Luke, I am your father,” my jaw just about dropped down to my pajama bottomed booty.

Basically, I was shook, and so was the ginger kombucha in the glass I gripped tightly between my hands.

I know I’m about 30 years late to jump on this worldwide pop-culture phenomenon, but the story has me hooked.

It really is an epic love story spanning across space and time, isn’t it?!

Kind of like the kind of love story I would write myself into with this Easy Vegan Potato Salad.

It’s so easy to throw together with boiled potatoes, fresh chopped vegetables, and a creamy vegan mayonnaise!

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Easy summer roasted vegetables baked with simple seasonings baked in a parchment roasting bag. Serve as a summer side to your main dish.

Where did summer go, friends?

Yesterday was a gorgeous 75 degree day and I was walking around the neighborhood with a friend.

It’s the same streets I’ve been walking since quarantine, but it’s amazing how they look a little wider and sunnier with someone by my side.

“It feels like fall,” I remarked to him, astonished.

Then I realized that we’re somehow halfway through August, and, well, Fall is upon us.

Crazy.

I proceeded to share my theory with him: One in which time froze when COVID hit in March this past Spring and therefore it can’t possibly be Summer, let alone almost Fall.

A sound argument to explain my mental space surrounding most of 2020– PAUSED.

“But then, how do you explain all of the 93°F+ days we’ve had recently?” he teased.

Yeah, well, that’s hard to explain away.

And even harder to explain or wish away the bounty of summer produce in my fridge.

So why don’t we celebrate what’s left of Summer 2020 and make Oven Roasted Summer Vegetables.

You bake them easily in one pan in the oven for a colorful and nutritious summer side!

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