I mentioned in my last post about my dad being raised on a farm, and even though we lived in town while I was growing up, my dad still had the “country boy” in him. He built a small barn next to our house, where we kept one cow. I remember at the age of three, my dad lining my siblings and me up and squirting fresh warm milk into our mouths from “Dot” the cow. Dot was a Holstein, white with black spots, hence the name “Dot”. I’m sure one of us kids named her, even though I don’t remember that. I do, however, remember riding Dot around the small pasture we had, probably because there was no pony. I also remember, quite vividly, the night we had cow tongue for dinner. All of us kids were very concerned when mom told us it was cow tongue. I’m sure we were afraid poor Dot was dead. Dad assured us it was the old angry steer, but each of us kids just shook our heads and said quite firmly, “I’m not eating that!” I can’t remember whether or not she made us eat it that night, but we did have a very interesting tasting “tuna fish” sandwich the next day.

We always had a beautiful fresh vegetable garden, and even though it is just my mom and dad there now, they still maintain a smaller version of a once overly abundant veggie patch. We grew everything from sweet corn to zucchini, but my favorite were probably the fresh tomatoes. Dad would have us search on the undersides of the tomato leaves and pay us five cents for every tomato worm we caught in a jar. One night we were having fresh lettuce and tomatoes from the garden and I had a little bug on one of my leaves. Dad just smiled and said, “Oh, just eat it. A little added protein is good for you!”

While visiting our boys about a month ago in Seattle, we stopped by their favorite pub and ordered an appetizer. It had root vegetables, apple, and gorgonzola in it. This is my version of one of the best small plate appetizers I’ve eaten. This would make an excellent side dish to just about any protein. Just leave off the gorgonzola to make it dairy-free.

 

 

Using a vegetable slicer ensures all your vegetables will come out evenly sliced and therefore cook evenly!

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Once your onions are sliced in rings, cut them in half.

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Peel the butternut squash, then slice in thin rings.

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Cut each ring into quarters.

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Slice potatoes, leaving skin on, quarter them as well.

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Slice apples, keeping skin on, then quarter each slice.

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Rinse arugula

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Mix olive oil, pure maple syrup, thyme, salt and pepper together in a bowl.

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Place all ingredients (except gorgonzola) into a large Ziploc bag and pour oil mixture over top. Shake until evenly coated.

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Place on a non-stick sprayed cookie sheet and into a 350 degree oven for 1 hour and 10 minutes.

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Place the gorgonzola evenly on top of the vegetables and return to oven for five minutes.

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Serve as a delicious side dish  to chicken, fish or steak.

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Caramelized Root Vegetables with Arugula & Gorgonzola

 

1/2 a sweet onion

1 granny smith apple

3 medium-sized red potatoes

1/2 a butternut squash

2 cups fresh arugula

1/3 cup gorgonzola

3 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp pure maple syrup

1 tsp dried thyme or 2 tsp fresh

sea salt

pepper

 

This recipe was also shared on cookingtf.com, realfoodforager, butterbeliever.com, glutenfreehomemaker.com deliciousobsessions.com, MadeInADay and simplysugarandglutenfree.com

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