This week we'll explore the humble red onion and creamy, decadent tahini sauces. We'll also delve into a magical ocean animal and how we find awe and wonder in the world.

Eat Colorfully

Seasonal Ingredient Spotlight

Winter is the time for root veggies to really shine. These versatile veggies have a long storage life; in the old days of root cellars, January would mean you'd be down to the heartiest roots like onions, parsnips, and rutabaga. This week I want to celebrate our humble but fabulous friend the red onion.

Red onions have a wonderful flavor, especially when caramelized or grilled. If you're a caramelized onion fan, you'll definitely want to try this Caramelized Onion Guacamole. It's an easy, healthy, and unique dip that makes red onion the star of the show (you might want to bookmark it for a Super Bowl party too!).

Speaking of Super Bowl snacks in which red onion plays a key role, this Nacho Cabbage is another really fun one. Diced red onion gets caramelized in a skillet, mixed into a quick chili-like filling, and dolloped into cabbage scoops (instead of chips). Feel free to add all your favorite nacho toppings.

Next time the winter blues have you down, reach for this versatile purple root veggie. Grill it (probably on an indoor grill pan this time of year) or caramelize it in a skillet, then add it to all your favorite salads, dips, soups, and stews.

What I'm Loving Right Now

Do you ever find yourself wanting to make a salad or a bowl meal feel more special but you're not sure what to add? Sometimes a dish just needs that little something extra.

My solution is usually a tahini drizzle. Tahini has a decadently creamy texture that makes any dish instantly feel more indulgent. It also adds good protein and healthy fats, so it's a perfect addition to a salad or other veggie-filled dish. This works great with just straight tahini, or you can mix the tahini with some citrus juice and possibly a dash of maple syrup to make a flavorful drizzle. My personal favorite is this Turmeric Tahini Drizzle, which uses just three ingredients and takes about two minutes to prepare; I put it on everything!

My biggest advice: get a really good tahini. Some store brands can be bitter, grainy, or gloppy, which doesn't make for a pleasant taste or texture (especially as a finishing element on your dish). Look for an artisan brand with a really creamy, silky-smooth texture and just a single ingredient: sesame seeds. My go-to brand is Seeds of Collaboration and you can save 20% if you use the code ROGUE at check-out, but you'll also find good options at stores like Whole Foods (check out Soom or Artisana Organics brands).

Live Colorfully

In the Natural World

This past week, we had the joy of seeing one of my absolute favorite creatures: the Green Sea Turtle. These gentle giants come up onto the beaches of Kaua'i to sleep; we can sometimes find them napping happily on the sand when we hike to remote areas of the coast.

Green sea turtles, or "honu" in Hawaiian, are the largest hard-shelled sea turtles in the world. They can reach a whopping 300+ pounds and grow to four feet long. These are some seriously large turtles! The sweet honu feed on sea grass (the adults are herbivores) and can stay underwater for many hours at a time. Amazingly, they can live up to 90 years old.

It's important to note that the honu evolved to sleep on the beaches here because there are no native land mammals in Hawaii. This is one of many reasons why invasive species are so damaging; numerous native Hawaiian creatures sleep or nest right on the ground and are incredibly vulnerable to invasive mammals like dogs, cats, mongoose, and rats. Although their population decreased dramatically in the 20th century, the honu have been doing better recently thanks to conservation efforts but are still classified as endangered.

To me, the honu always seem so content and wise. They're beautiful, elegant swimmers and exude such grace in the ocean. They also seem to really savor life, swimming in lazy loops in the blue water or closing their eyes for an afternoon nap in the sun. I think we could learn a lot from them.

Self-Care Pick

How often do you experience a sense of wonder or awe? This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately, so I wanted to pose the question to you all.

The reality is that our time on this planet is short, and in our short human lives I think it's important to allow ourselves to be amazed by the world. This can mean different things for different people; maybe you find awe in the beauty of the natural world, maybe you find it in the kindness of others, or maybe you find it in the beauty of what you or others can create.

Personally speaking, I'm awed by the natural world. As many of you know, my husband and I split our time between Kaua'i and northern Vermont. Kaua'i in particular has a way of cultivating a child-like sense of wonder in me, which is much of the reason why I'm drawn to spend time here. Being astounded by the world around me is both humbling and empowering. This year, we've specifically been seeking out as many sunrises, sunsets, moon rises, moon sets, and star-gazing opportunities as we can in order to cultivate that feeling of being both small and infinite.

What are YOU doing to find that sense of awe? Is it a quiet walk in the woods, a hike to see the sunrise, or a night-time outing to watch the stars? Maybe it's visiting a work of art you've always wanted to see, or volunteering in your community alongside people who astound you with their kindness? Whatever gives you a sense of wonder, find more of it; you deserve to be amazed by the world.

Thanks for joining me for this issue of Eat Colorfully, Live Colorfully! I'd love to hear from you, so please feel free to reply with questions, thoughts, or requests. If you missed a previous issue, you can view all my newsletters here. Have a great week!