roasted potato salad

Dieting doesn't mean starving or depriving yourself, in fact, its the opposite. A diet is the composition of foods that you consume throughout your day, the foods that nourish and fuel your body on its many adventures. And a plant based diet is no exception. It's not about the foods that you "can't" have or that aren't "allowed", its about the abundance of foods that you can and should eat to achieve maximum health benefits! 

I am always caught off guard when people ask me what I eat if I don't eat animal products. Well, I eat everything else! In fact, animal products are the only foods that I don't eat (and even then I make some exceptions). While some people may think I am depriving myself on a plant based diet, I actually have to eat a lot of food to fuel my active lifestyle and I don't feel deprived or hungry at all. (Unless I have done 4 Orangetheory Fitness classes in a week, then I am constantly hungry because my body won't stop burning calories!)

So how do I fill up? Potatoes are a great way to fill up on a plant based diet. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, potato curry, potato salad.... starting to sound a lot like Bubba here. What I'm getting at is they are versatile, nutritious, and seriously fill you up. By pairing roasted potatoes with a variety of roasted veggies and fresh herbs you can have an irresistible potato salad that can be served as a side or a main at any meal. 

roasted potato salad

• baby potatoes (I got the baby creamer potatoes from Costco, they're the perfect size!)
• 2-4 cloves garlic
• olive oil
• 1 Tbsp seedy mustard
• juice from 1/2 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 red onion
• 3 ears of corn
• handful of fresh herbs- basil and parsley

Cut potatoes into bite-sized pieces. For these baby creamer potatoes I only had to cut them in half, for others you may have to quarter them. Peel and roughly chop the garlic cloves, add to potatoes and toss in olive oil, just enough to coat.  Add mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper and toss to coat evenly.

Spread potatoes out on a lined baking sheet. Roast at 400 degrees F. After about 20 minutes add the ears of corn and thinly sliced red onion. 

Roast for another 15 minutes, turning the corn once. The potatoes should be fully cooked and browning on the outside and the corn should turn bright yellow. Remove the tray from the oven and transfer the potatoes and onions into a large mixing bowl. Cut the corn from the cob and roughly chop the parsley and basil and add them to the bowl. Toss everything together and serve. This salad is good warm or chilled!