Diet is such a key part of ensuring, sabotaging or creating overall health. Most of you have a decent idea of the kinds of foods you should eat if you want to be healthy, but

knowing about good nutrition and following that information are two different things.

Food can help you heal from your illnesses. Food is medicine that we put into our bodies all day every day. The overall impact can be great or devastating. That is complicated by the fact that there is no one perfect diet. The right foods for you may aggravate another person. The idea behind seeing someone who can help customize a diet plan for you is twofold: 1. you can discover the right diet for you, and 2. you have someone to hold you accountable. We all need accountability in life, and in the world of food, it seems like we need quite a bit of accountability.

You know you should get more vegetables into your diet, but the bag of potato chips keeps shouting your name. One of the biggest issues I hear from patients is how hard it is to get vegetables into their diet. I have two kids — they love vegetables, but mostly because I have always been diligent about making sure they are constantly eating them. Their first foods were vegetables, and it is still one of the most common snacks they are offered. I’m not saying this to be boastful — I’m saying this because I have spent lots of time perfecting recipes and options for making vegetables super tasty so that they want to eat them. Now I am sharing a few of my most successful recipes with you. Enjoy!

Solstice’s Homemade Ranch Dip

Yield: 1 cup of dressing/dip

Ingredients

3/4 cup plain organic whole milk yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise (only use real mayo without any modified anything in it!)

1/2 to 1 tsp lemon juice (to taste)

1/4 tsp salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 black pepper

1 tsp dried dill weed (if you have it, fresh dill makes this even better)

*Optional: 1/2 tsp arrowroot powder or 1/8 tsp guar gum to thicken

Instructions

1Put all ingredients into a small bowl and whisk together until blended.

2You can eat this immediately, but if you put it in a glass jar and refrigerate for a few hours the flavors will blend a bit more and become richer.

3Keep refrigerated; use within seven days.

This dip is great with raw, roasted or grilled vegetables. You can use it as a salad dressing, a dressing for homemade potato salad, or as a simple dip. In our house we often roast a pan of plain seasonal vegetables at the beginning of the week, then eat those vegetables for snacks along with this delicious ranch dip throughout the week.

Roasted Vegetable Magic Recipe

Recipe posted May 2008 at http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/05/roasted-vegetable-magic.

Spring vegetables are so tasty seasoned with a Dijon mustard sauce- especially tender new potatoes and onions. Throw in some sausage and you have a one pan dinner.

Ingredients:

For the Dijon roasting sauce:

4 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup Dijon mustard

4-5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh chopped dill, marjoram, parsley or mint

Cut up:

2 cups sliced young potatoes- try a mix of blue, red and gold

1 medium sweet or red onion, cut up

4 carrots, sliced into thin diagonal coins or matchsticks

1 bunch of broccoli, cut up

1 yellow squash, sliced into half moons

1 zucchini squash, sliced into half moons

1 small cabbage, sliced

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

4 Italian style sausages, sliced- optional

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400ºF.

Toss the cut vegetables into a large roasting pan. Season with sea salt and ground pepper.

Whisk together the Dijon sauce and pour over the veggies. Stir to coat.

Roast until fork tender (usually about 30 minutes depending on your oven).

Add in sliced cooked sausage during the last twenty minutes of roasting time, if desired.

Serves 3-4.

Solstice’s Roasted Pepper Romesco Sauce

•1/2 cup breadcrumbs or almond meal

•1/3 cup almonds

•2 cloves garlic

•3/4 cup drained roasted red bell peppers

•2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

•3/4 teaspoons salt

•1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika (pimentón)

•2-4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (to achieve the desired consistency)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until finely ground — start with 2 Tbsp of olive oil and add more as needed). Process until a rough puréed consistency, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice. Transfer to a bowl and eat immediately. You can also save in the refrigerator for up to one week.

This sauce is great with roasted or grilled vegetables, chicken, beef, or fish.

Try out some of these recipes, leave a comment and let me know what you think — or add a few of your own favorites! Eating more vegetables is one of the best ways to make a positive impact on your health. For more detailed information on what vegetables are best, watch for my next blog post about eating an anti-inflammatory diet. If you feel like a detailed custom plan along with some accountability is what would be best for you, schedule a free consult so you can get an idea of what this could mean for your short-term and long-term health.