Recently we’ve been making some changes to our diet (hate that word), by incorporating a lot more vegetables and fruits into our routine, as well as cutting down on meat. We start everyday with a hearty smoothie or smoothie bowl (basically a thick smoothie you can eat with a spoon), and lunch will usually consist of a soup and salad, or a turkey sandwich. Cutting out carbs has never been a huge goal, but we did want to reduce the amount of processed foods we were consuming. It’s been a bit of a struggle, and we’ll be honest that we have still enjoyed some of our favorite “bad foods” – and that’s totally okay with us. It seems unrealistic to think we won’t ever have a Big Mac again, or share a giant bag of salt and vinegar potato chips. Probably less often, is all.

This is what an average week of grocery shopping looks like these days. We should mention that our dog Milo eats the majority of those bananas!

This is the first time we’ve ever really paid attention to our eating habits, and that in itself has been interesting. You would think as food bloggers we would be thinking about food non-stop, but until recently we had never really been so aware – on a day to day basis – what kinds of decisions we were making. A lot of them weren’t that great.

It’s true that winter can be a challenging time to embrace a plant-based way of eating, but it’s totally doable. There are so many beautiful varieties of winter vegetables to choose from, like beautiful squash, turnips and apples. We do buy local when we can, but during the winter months we do find ourselves with more imported produce than other times of the year.

We’ve been having a lot of fun creating simple and delicious dishes, like these Salad Crispbreads with Roasted Squash Cream. It was actually a little difficult to choose a title for this post, because admittedly there’s a lot going on with this recipe! But we promise it’s actually very simple and requires very little actual cooking. Spending just a little time assembling your toppings is what will make these look so special, and when the produce is this beautiful it does most of the work for you.

You can feel free to use whatever salad toppings you like – sky is the limit. This is an ideal raid-the-fridge recipe, and would be lovely as a Sunday brunch or snack. The roasted squash cream is the only thing that takes some time. We like to use a smaller butternut squash for this recipe. Remove the skin and cut it into small pieces so it roasts faster. Yogurt is used here, but you may omit it if you want to keep the dish vegan. You may need to add a small amount of water to your blender while mixing, to achieve the desired creamy consistency without it being too thick.

You may be asking, “and what the heck are crispbreads?” They’re a flat and dry type of bread or cracker, containing mostly rye flour. We really like the Wasa brand, which come in a variety of flavors (sourdough rye is our favorite!) Enjoy these as a starter, or make a batch for a healthy and delicious brunch. They’re light, cripsy and packed full of flavor – and best of all, taste just as good as they look. Serves 2

Print Salad Cripsbreads with Roasted Squash Cream Ingredients For Roasted Squash Cream 1 small butternut squash, skin removed and cut into small cubes

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic, skin on

salt and pepper, to taste

2 tbsp greek yogurt (or 1 tbsp of water)

For Salad Crispbreads 4 Crispbreads

Pomegranate Seeds

Red Radish

Flowering Purple Kale

Alfalfa Sprouts

Red Bell Pepper

Ube Potato Chips

Baby Tomatoes

Thai Basil

Cilantro

Mint

Watercress

Instructions Preheat oven to 400. Remove skin from squash, and cut into small dice. Place on a lightly greased pan and toss gently with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Nuzzle in the garlic cloves, skin on. Roast for 30-40 minutes, or until golden brown and soft to the touch. Remove garlic from skins. In a food processor or blender, combine roasted squash and garlic with yogurt until smooth. Smear roasted squash mixture on crispbreads while still warm, and top with salad toppings as desired. Serve immediately. 3.1 http://www.foodgays.com/salad-cripsbreads-with-roasted-squash-cream/