I just got home from seeing Dr. Mark Hyman speak at the Dallas Performing Arts Center. If you dont know Dr. Hyman, he is a rock star in the health and nutrition world, leading the way for functional medicine and changing the way we all think about health, disease and medicine. Check him out. One of his main takeaways for how to create health was quite simple – eat real food. Cooked by a human (you or someone near you). Sounds easy enough, right? But for many of us it’s a lot easier said than done. We’re short on time and often skills too. I don’t know about you, but I never had Home Ec. By the time I got to high school there were more important things to learn than cooking. But what could possibly be more important than the fuel we use to run our bodies and minds? It’s the foundation of our health and well-being. What we eat becomes our cells, our blood, tissues, organs, skin… We create health with what we put in our bodies. And it’s completely in our control. All we have to do is get to the grocery, get in the kitchen and get connected with our food.

Here’s a simple classic that’s fairly easy and worth the time in the kitchen – roasted chicken and vegetables. I know what you’re thinking. “Mashed potatoes?” Well, not exactly. That’s actually cauliflower right there. And mashed it tastes just as creamy and comforting as the spuds you’re used to. Plus it has a heck of a lot more nutrients and no peeling necessary – win-win. Healthy home-cooked comfort food. It doesn’t get any better than that.

Feeling like cooking = rocket science? I can help.

Roasted Chicken

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
1/2 lemon, cut in small pieces
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
1/2 onion, cut into chunks
Sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400
Stuff whole chicken with chopped onion, garlic and lemon
Sprinkle outside with salt and rub salt into skin to cover
Roast at 400 for about an hour until skin is browned and crispy

Cauliflower Mash

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets
1/4 cup evoo
1/2 tsp sea salt
Squeeze of lemon

Directions:
Steam cauliflower until soft enough to pierce with fork. This took about 15 minutes. You can cover the pot to cook more quickly. Be careful to not immerse florets in water or you’ll end up with watery mash. Just trust me.
When soft, transfer florets to food processor, add evoo, salt, and process until smooth (really smooth).
Add squeeze of lemon and pulse.

Steamed Broccolini

Ingredients
1 bunch broccolini

Directions
Steam about five minutes until bright green and soft