Mother’s Day + Family + Sunday + Japanese Spiced Roasted Beets

DFJ and I are enjoying a quiet Sunday… We’re just chilling, doing different things but checking in on each other every now and then. Most of the time, I still can’t believe we are husband and wife now. Every time I think about this, my heart gets so big it hurts and I feel like crying joyous tears of happiness.

My day didn’t start out great though. Early this morning, I had a terrible dream of losing my mom. In my dream, I saw myself keeping it together until I finally realized that it was real. All of a sudden I unleashed all the anguish I have been holding in and hurled myself against the wall and on the floor in despair. Finally, when I thought I couldn’t handle the pain anymore, I woke up staring at DFJ’s bare back. That’s when I realized with great relief that it was JUST a dream. Thank you, dear God! What would my life be like if I lost my mom? I don’t even want to imagine it… she is a huge part of me and I owe her so much for shaping me into the woman that I am now.  

I called home to greet my mom a Happy Mother’s Day but she wasn’t there, so I talked to my sister instead. She is so busy and unavailable every time I call home, so I was glad to finally be able to catch up with her. My little sister, whose hand I used to hold, is now a career woman. Hard to believe! She was only a senior in high school when I last saw her and thinking about how long it has been since then makes me miss her even more so. We used to sleep next to each other even in our older years and we would fall asleep holding hands for fear of ghosts. Haha!  

While my sister and I were talking, I chopped beets, parsnips, potatoes, cauliflower, asparagus, and stale bread for roasting. This week’s Food Matter’s Project, Japanese Spiced Roasted Beets, chosen by Sandra of Meadows Cooks, called for turning on the oven pretty high. Since it has been almost 100 degrees F over here for the past week, I decided to make the most out of turning on the oven and roasted as many vegetables as possible! It was a big accomplishment at 9:30 in the morning on a Sunday. To celebrate, I made us a brunch that included veggie scraps: cauliflower stalk and leaves and asparagus ends in scrambled eggs with roasted potatoes and bagels.

After brunch, DFJ went right to his laptop to prepare slides for an interview talk in Maryland next week while I cut up his old fraternity t-shirts in an attempt to make this. Not very much success since he is way bigger than I am. Instead of using my finished product as a workout tank, I will have to use it as an apron instead! No more craftiness for the day.  

Now that my so-called hamstring injury, which really was an adductor injury, which really stemmed from my scoliosis, is finally beginning to disappear, I have been doing yoga religiously for three days in a row. Nothing crazy though… I have been doing Tiffany Cruikshank’s Groin Injury Practice, Pelvis and SI Joint Stability, and Medicine for Your Hamstrings classes. Strong, gentle, healing practices for the upper legs and hips. Just what I need plus some ice! During savasana, I fell asleep on my yoga mat and woke up feeling good and ready to do some blogging!

So here I am, blabbering about things, when I really should be telling you about the Japanese Spiced Roasted Beets that I made at 9:00 this morning. Mine is a combination of three large beets, a parsnip, and a potato. I followed the rest of the original recipe quite closely, except for using only ½ teaspoon of chili powder instead of a tablespoon. One of my favorite ways to eat vegetables is in roasted form. Since they are already delicious, most of the time, I stick to just seasoning them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. However, this recipe takes roasted root vegetables to a whole new level.

This dish is a medley of earthy root vegetables, with citrusy hints, and a spicy kick. I love the different flavors that each vegetable offers and the way the seasoning combination (orange zest, poppy seed, chili powder, black pepper, sesame seeds, and scallions) gives the roasted vegetables some spunk!

 

I hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day celebration. Every day should be a mother’s day… these special women in our lives deserve nothing less!   

P.S.

- For the original Mark Bittman recipe of the Japanese Spiced Roasted Beets, check out Meadows Cooks.
- To see what other FMP members came up with, check out our website.