fast food, done right

One of the biggest excuses I hear people give when they explain why they don’t eat healthier is that they don’t have the time to. And I’ll admit, that’s valid – a whole foods, plant based diet usually does require a lot more thought, preparation, and time than the average American diet. Even though it is absolutely always worth a little extra effort to try to eat clean, and in a way that benefits your body the most, it’s always nice to discover little gems like this “one & done” salad, that make eating clean a possibility even on a tight schedule. I’m sure the idea of baking an array of vegetables in a muffin tin is in no way a unique one, but it was one that was born out of necessity for me – a series of back-to-back completely packed days left me without a clean baking pan, and without the time to clean it, or really do much else in the way of preparing food. So, I opened up my fridge to find anything that could possibly fit into a muffin tin, and baked it all. I also added in a little bit of quinoa, because I keep a large (sealed) bowl of cooked quinoa in my fridge almost all the time, for situations like this, and of course some sauteed kale, because why not? Fortunately, the combination was delicious, even though it is super simple.

“one & done salad”

ingredients:

1 large brown egg

4 large stalks of asparagus

2 cups of broccoli

1 lemon, or lime, or both

2 large handfuls of kale

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup quinoa

1 tbsp capers

to make:

crack the egg into one of the muffin slots, and add in the veggies to the others (pictured above). Drizzle a little bit of the olive oil on the veggies, and pop in the oven – I baked it at 375, for about 15 minutes. The timing on this one is completely dependent on how runny you like your egg, though – if you give it less time, the egg will be much more yolk-y, and makes for almost a built-in salad dressing… food for thought. While the egg and veggies are baking, turn the stove to medium-high, and sauté the kale in the remaining olive oil, until it’s soft (usually 2-3 minutes). Add everything into a bowl, and if you happen to have cooked quinoa on hand (or are preparing this meal in less of a rush, and have time to actually cook quinoa…), toss that in too. Add in the capers, a dash of sea salt, and the juice from your preferred citrus, and voila! Fast food, done right.