How are we all feeling after the long weekend? Relaxed and rejuvenated?
Ready for another 3 day weekend? *me too*
Yesterday I went on a 3 mile run because I woke up with a massive wine hangover and needed some oxygen pumped to my brain. What? Just being honest over here… the best way to cure a hangover is a little bit of exercise.
During my run, I remembered how I used to run outside all the time. How much I used to love putting in my headphones and running into the wind by the lake in the city. And of course, how empowered running made me feel. I’d dodge around the lake power walkers, jam out to my favorite playlists and sweat out anxiety. Being outside running is a high like no other, but it also takes me back to when I forced myself to run because I couldn’t do any other exercise or how when I used to only run because I wanted to burn the maximum amount of calories. Sometimes I have a love/hate relationship with running.
And that’s OKAY. That’s just me.
What I’ve realized as I’ve gotten older and further into my healthy journey is that no one should force you to exercise a certain way, or eat certain foods. Forcing yourself to do something will never make you love it, because you can’t force passion or liking a certain exercise.
Simply put: If it doesn’t give you happiness, let it go.
Try something else!
Same goes with food. I used to force myself to eat certain foods on a consistent basis because I thought it was necessary to get a certain amount of veggies in. Or I would make myself eat other ‘substitute foods’ instead. By substitute foods, I mean a yogurt brownie (remember those?) instead of a real brownie. Or cauliflower instead of rice. Now I don’t mind these foods at all and they are perfectly acceptable, I just never want to feel like I’m forcing myself to have one thing over the other because it seems ‘healthier’.
You see, what’s ‘healthier’ is all relative to your mindset. And often our minds are consumed with an overload of health information that confuses us, our relationships with ourselves, food and our bodies. What’s healthy is when you love yourself first and foremost. Because self love will always be greater than having a six pack.
Sometimes we just have to learn how to be. Be present. Be grateful. Be human. None of us are perfect.
The older I get, the more I am grateful to even have the luxury of putting food on my plate. I’ve also realized that you can make food choices that shouldn’t be forced on you. Eat a donut with a girlfriend. Enjoy a salad for lunch if you want to. Balance your choices. You’re always going to feel like you are teetering from one way to the other, and maybe that’s how it’s supposed to be.
I’ll admit, I wasn’t expecting to write much in this post, but the words just kept flowing. And now here we are, somewhere within a deep convo and a delicious plate of salad.
By the way, this is a salad I absolutely love. A salad I want to eat every day because it’s incredibly delicious, fresh and both sweet and savory — just the way I like it.
Roasted sweet potatoes with zesty arugula, almonds, cherries and a light honey yogurt turmeric dressing? It’s a salad I’ll come back to without feeling forced. It’s a salad that makes me feel good, you know? One that doesn’t take much effort either. Those are always the best kinds of salads.
I hope you get a chance to try it out, but most of all I hope you never have to force yourself to be a certain kind of healthy. Find self love first.
More healthy salad recipes to try:
Fiesta Mango Black Bean Quinoa Salad
Vegan Curried Broccoli Chickpea Salad
Roasted Veggie, Chickpea & Pesto Quinoa Salad
Chopped Thai Kale Salad with Peanut Ginger Dressing
xoxo. Have a happy week ahead. I love you guys.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Garlic Roasted Sweet Potato & Arugula Salad with Turmeric Honey Mustard Yogurt Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch thick wedges
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- For the dressing:
- 1/4 cup nonfat greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
- For the topping:
- 2-3 cups fresh arugula
- 1/4 cup dried cherries
- 1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
Instructions
- Preheat 400 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Add sweet potato wedges to the pan and drizzle with olive oil. Add minced garlic, salt and pepper and toss well to combine. Bake wedges for 20-30 minutes, flipping halfway through, until tender and golden.
- While the potatoes are roasting, you can make the dressing: In a small bowl whisk together yogurt, dijon, honey and turmeric. Thin the dressing out with a few teaspoons of water so that you are able to drizzle it over the salad. Place in fridge until ready to use.
- Once the sweet potato wedges are done baking, remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes.
- Add fresh arugula on top, along with cherries and almonds, then drizzle with dressing and serve immediately. Serves 2 and makes a wonderful lunch or appetizer. Also great when served cold!
This sounds delicious!!
Love this post Monique! I definitely have to agree– the older I get the more I value so much more than what my body looks like. I wish I would have had more information surrounding self-love and body image 10 years ago! Balance definitely looks different on everyone, and everyone has to figure out what that is for themselves. Sometimes it takes having those bad feelings around food to realize you can come out on the other side stronger and more confident than ever. <3
Thanks Ashley! TOTALLY agree. Happy to be surrounded by more and more body positivity everyday <3
This deliciously balanced salad suits your wise words so well! Grateful as well to have a better perspective as I get older, I spent ENOUGH time feeling insecure and restricted about what I put in my body.
Right?? Such a freeing feeling to gain this perspective! Thanks for your note, Meredith!
Very well said Monique!! We need to treat ourselves kinder and with more emotional respect. It’s an easier mindset as I get older for sure.
Yes!! xoxo
This post is so magically what I needed after this long weekend. After a day and night of beating myself up and feeling the anxiety take over, “Because self love will always be greater than having a six pack” is just so perfectly soothing to my soul. Amazing reminder xoxo
Xoxo!!
That dressing looks amazing! The salad has all my favorites too. I’m out of cherries right now, time to stock up! Pinned for later, Thanks!
SO many good things! Let me know how you like it 🙂
Hey Monique! I A) absolutely this post and all of your words hit home for me. I am a runner and have been to that place with my running too, when i used to force myself to run to lose weight. Now i run for different reasons completely. I run because i love the feeling of being free and alive and i mever force myself to go farther than i need to. B) i love the sounds of this yummy salad and cant wait to make her!!!
Thanks for always inspiring me 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hi Natalie! So glad you’ve found that freeing feeling 🙂 Hope you love this salad, too!
Simply put: If it doesn’t give you happiness, let it go. (y)
I made this salad and your almond flour strawberry shortcake today & both were soooo delicious:) Thank you!!
I am so with the idea that if something doesn’t bring happiness it’s a no go. I have a saying that I use with literally everything (picking paint colors, taking on blog projects, etc)…”If it’s not a hell yes, it’s a hell no.” Clearly not an original idea, but it really sticks with me. Also, this recipe looks so good! 🙂
Made this today and it is fantastic. I used reduced sugar dried Craisins in place of cherries.
Perfect!!
How do you toast your sliced almonds?
sooo glad for posting this recipe,it looks like a delicious meal
Forcing yourself to do something will never make you love it, because you can’t force passion or liking a certain exercise.
Another winner Monique!
So happy to hear that, Paula!
The turmeric and honey mustard dressing makes this sweet potato salad so flavorful!
I was searching for “winter salads” to bring to a family gathering this week. And stumbled upon this gem! I was quickly scrolling down, and began reading your post. I really got caught up in your words and I love your perspective on health, wellness, and balance. Thank you for talking honestly, and pointing out the fact that we need to focus more on loving ourselves first, and doing what makes us feel healthy for us, not what others tell us! ! Cant wait to try more of your recipes!! Thank you
Absolutely! So glad you found this recipe and a little dose of inspiration 🙂
Im in love with the roasted sweet potato, been eating it at least twice a week. Excellent recipe, waiting for more. 🙂
I tried this recipe. It was yummy and tasty.
I’m so glad to hear that!
Wait! what sweet potato salad and also roasted i think it’s surprise for me let’s taste it.
Super easy and quick make, simple healthy ingredients, and tastes delicious! Another wonderful recipe ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you, Julia!! I’m so happy you loved it 🙂
Glad I was able to try out this recipe and its truly amazing and delicious.
I had a friend stopping in to talk, and I wanted to have something simple for dinner. I came across this recipe, and I love it. We had a great harvest of arugula from our garden, and to make this a main dish salad I added grilled chicken. I doubled the recipe for the dressing. I roasted the sweet potatoes ahead of time and grilled the chicken, and before my friend arrived, I plated the salad. We loved it!
Amazing! This is the perfect fresh meal 🙂