As a food blogger making recipes all the time, I don’t fall into that trap of eating the same meals on repeat as easily as some others do. But something that I am very guilty of is eating the same ingredients on repeat, just prepared in a slightly different way. And this year I’d like to make a conscious effort to cook with some ingredients that I neglect, so here are some ingredients I hope you’re going to see more of from me in 2021.
Why I want to eat more of these things
Most of these things don’t have a particular reason behind them in terms of health or upping my intake of a certain vitamin or mineral. This is mainly my way of holding myself accountable. If you see these ingredients cropping up in recipes over the next few months, or Recipe a Day May, I’ve been Successful. If it gets to summer and you haven’t seen any of these ingredients once, remind me this post exists.
I know lots of people set food targets and goals at the start of the year. Whether that’s a weight loss related goal, going vegetarian/ vegan or simply to make some healthier choices. I’m opting to share this now because that time has been and gone. Fad diets and broken resolutions are already over, new year routines are already underway, and I don’t want to be that person who says they’re going to eat a new meal daily for a month then fail almost immediately.
5 Foods I Want to Eat More in 2021
Celeriac
I like celeriac, I order celeriac dishes when I eat out (anyone remember being able to do that?), but I never make it at home. And I don’t know why. I made some simple roasted celeriac with curried chickpeas recently, one pan and one baking tray. Really easy, and it reminded me I should make dishes like that more. And certain vegetables aren’t reserved exclusively for restaurants.
Swede
This is something I associate with childhood Sunday dinners and soups. But it’s another thing that could easily be added to lots of dishes and forgotten about. And by forgotten about, I mean I cooked with it once recently and can’t even remember the last time I thought to use it before that.
Quinoa
I know, I know. I have plenty of quinoa recipes. But this is one of those things that I seem to go through phases with and I haven’t cooked with it in a really long time. It’s a healthy carb, complete protein and easily added to so many dishes. I need to make more effort to get it back into my regular routine.
Fruit…Yes, fruit.
Obviously, that isn’t a food. And there’s a reason my diet has been lacking in it. Ever since I did my head of seasonal recipes, I’ve been trying my best to eat as much seasonal produce as possible and reduce the air miles of my food. Fruit in the UK during the winter months isn’t the best and the variety isn’t the greatest either. Of course there’s still some in my diet, but the veg to fruit ratio is probably about 90:10 right now and I’d like to change that. I don’t know whether lockdown has blurred my sense of time, but it feels like a really long time ago that my days were filled with ripe, sweet deliciousness. This one won’t happen immediately, but as soon as spring starts, I want all the fruit all the time.
Vegan Cheese
Quite the health contrast to the last one. But I’m determined to find a good one that doesn’t contain coconut. Or a find/ create a recipe that doesn’t involve soaking cashews overnight that I can use to make something resembling cheese.
There’s no real reason for this. I’m not desperately craving it. But it’s a bit like the gluten free bread situation in terms of knowing I have the ability to create something.
Are you trying to eat more things or adapt your diet at all this year? How’s it going for you so far?
Until next time,
Sophie
I am trying to switch things up in my diet but find it challenging when I have two men in the house that want our staple meals. Normally I like to try new things when eating out but I haven’t been able to do this since summer. I have never heard of Swede so will now see if I can find out! Thanks for sharing and inspiring me to try new things.
I definitely want to eat more fruit this year. Since lockdown hit last year, my consumption of fruit dramatically decreased!
I love swede! I enjoy a swede and carrot mash (with just a bit of vegan butter, salt and pepper) — it is so delicious!
I absolutely love quinoa & fruits. I’m definitely more of a fruits over veggies person. I’ve tried vegan cheese & didn’t enjoy it much but maybe I just need to try a different brand.
Great post !!
I love quinoa ❤
It’s funny how we associate some food with restaurants when they are actually surprisingly easy to prepare at home, isn’t it? For a long time, we only ate eggplant parmesan at a local restaurant until we decided to make it ourselves one day. Now that I’ve seen not only that I CAN make it at home, but also that I am actually pretty good at making it, that has become a pretty common meal in our rotation lol
Celeriac is something that I don’t anywhere near enough as I’d like to either! I pretty much only eat it in mash form so I definitely need to some experimenting with it. I’d definitely be interested in reading any celeriac recipes you try out 🙂 x
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This was such a great list! To be honest I have never tried Swede! I haven’t eaten quinoa in a while, I used to have at least once a week and then completely forgot about it, it’s time to bring it back. Thanks for sharing x
I went on a hunt for vegan cheese earlier today! I usually get Daiya cheese because it’s also soy-free, but it’s not hitting the spot so much these days!
I’m the same with fruit, I always forget to eat it but need to eat it more 🙂
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Hope you manage to find a nice vegan cheese! 🙂 I like the goal to eat more fruit too! I find it easy to eat a lot of fruit but it’s not very adventurous – apples and strawberries and bananas mostly. I did have a lot of mangos over the past couple months – we have a mango tree so tons of yummy mangos!
Hope that you are having a good week 🙂
I must admit, I was terrified to try vegan cheese lol. I’ve heard such mixed reviews but you have inspired me to finally try it! Great post. Thanks for sharing!
I actually go through phases with quinoa as well!! It’s so weird how sometimes I pure love it, and other time I get pretty bored of it haha. I definitely need to incorporate more veg in my diet; I’ve always been decent at that, but I wasn’t so good at it in 2020 x
Right now my focus is on my fiber. I’ve fallen in love with porridge in the morning, and found this fiber crunch I add on yoghurt for an afternoon snack.
The first two foods on your list I’ve never heard of! I am going to look them up now because curiosity killed the cat 😉
Ugh – I am guilty of the same thing with fruit & veg, with eating all the veg seasonally but not the fruit! And to get onto the vegan cheese too! Thank you x
Ooooh! I love quinoa – they’re healthy alternatives to rice and is packed with some good fiber. I haven’t had celeriac before. Such an interesting vegetable! Love that you’re making a point in wanting to eat more of it. Oooh I can totally relate to you about fruit. SAME HERE LOL.
Nancy ✨ mdrnminimalists.com
So many of my favourite foods here!
Danielle xx
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I’ve never heard of celeriac or swede, so I’ll have to check out what those are and see if they are available where I live. I haven’t thought of much to adapt with or add to my diet too much really. I might later but I don’t have any changes in mind at the moment.
It’s a great idea to be more mindful about which foods you’re not eating enough of. For me, I just try to make sure I eat a variety of fruit, veggies, nuts, seeds etc but one thing I have been trying to find is kohlrabi – why is it so hard to find it in shops? It’s high in Vitamin C, potassium and manganese – and my kids love it. I need to look in other places, clearly!
I really want to start eating fruit when I’m craving sweets! Because it’s still sugar, but a healthier version!
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
That vegan pizza look very delicious. This year I plan eat a lot of fruits because I have feeling that I stop eat it.
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I don’t believe that I’ve ever tried vegan cheese before (where I live access to vegan food is next to none) but it seems interesting! Thanks for sharing your 2021 food with us!
I am really excited to see what you do with quinoa next. This is something I want to do more with this year myself and could really use some good ideas!
I loved reading this post. I’ve never tried celeriac before! What does it taste like? I’ve been trying to reduce my carb intake and upping the amount of good fats I eat like nuts and nut butter. This keeps me fuller for longer and stops me snacking.
I’d love to find a good healthy dessert recipe that will curb my sugar cravings too!
Nice! I’ve been interested in incorporating more quinoa into my diet and I definitely need to be eating more salads to get that adequate vegetable consumption lol. Let’s hope I stick to it!
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