I’ve upped my game at Christmas. But not in the sense you may think. In that this year I let go entirely of the restrictive mindset. Ate whatever the hell I wanted. Faced the immediate consequences. Of sugar rushes. Of feeling far too full to be comfortable. Of having to lay sprawled out on the floor on my stomach, in front of the air conditioner to try and combat the food sweats. First round of dessert, followed by a main meal of red and green M&Ms, and finished with a second round of dessert was a thing. It might seem ridiculous to be proud of letting go, of indulging (okay, maybe over-indulging at times). But for someone who for the last three years has battled with over-monitoring their food, with eating far less than they really should have, it’s a big step. Things have been improving significantly in recent times – there’s still been stabs of guilt and/or the pangs of ignored hunger, but they’re rapidly reducing in frequency and ferocity.
Therefore the burst of intense revulsion for my stomach that appeared on the scene this morning was entirely unexpected. And a nasty reminder of just how warped that whole thought train around food/body shape used to be. How all the self-hate/self-doubt/unhappiness manifested into a viscous all-consuming hatred for that one body part. The incident this morning was also quite an uncomfortable wake up call to the fact that perhaps it’s still simmering there under the surface, waiting for the ideal moment to rear it’s ugly head. That if it does I best be ready with a shining sword to cut it down. Because like the malevolent queen it does it’s very best to squish all the happiness and goodness out. And we can’t be having that. It’s been banished from this land.
For a while, in the intermediate stage between the not consuming much at all cray-cray period and the recent cookie-monster-want-more-cookies Christmas phase, wraps were on the list of no-go items. As were bananas. And cheese. And toast for breakfast on weekdays. Told you it was weird. A bit loopy you could say. But the wraps (as with all other aforementioned items) have made a comeback! With a burst of colour and flavour, they’re well and truly back on the scene.
No need to miserably drag yourself back to work after the festive season with a soggy left-over Christmas ham and lettuce sandwich for lunch. Not when you can prance through the door with this fresh, flavoursome specimen. Evidence that it needn’t be Christmas for you to dine like a king, these Warm Roast Vegetable Hummus Wraps prove that sometimes simple is best. You’re tummy is likely in a semi-state of confusion from the many rum balls/salads/potatoes/sauces/puddings/chocolate/sweets/cheeses/every other darn food you can think of that it’s been subject to over the last week. Silently pleading for something simple and satiating, it’ll weep with joy when you consume this wrap.
And in the oh-gawd-I’ve-eaten-more-than-a-house/I-feel-like-a-house post Christmas panic don’t be a silly-billy and cut things out of your diet. Just ease yourself back into a state of normalcy. Your body – and more so your mind – will be ever so grateful for it.
Warm Roast Vegetable Hummus Wraps
Serves 2
Ingredients
1 large carrot, trimmed and cut into roughly 1.5cmx4cm strips
¼ butternut squash, peeled, de-seeded and cut into roughly 1.5cmx4cm strips
½ red capsicum, de-seeded and cut into roughly 1.5x4cm strips
2 tbsp sunflower oil
¼ cup hummus
2 tsp sweet chili sauce
¼ tsp smoked paprika
large pinch sea salt
2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 large whole-grain wraps
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c. Line a large baking sheet with baking paper. Toss the carrot, butternut squash and capsicum in a large bowl with the sunflower oil until all vegetable pieces are well coated. Roast for approximately 20 minutes or until tender. Set baking sheet on a wire rack to cool. *Note you can either serve the wraps with warm/hot roast vegetables, or cold.
Meanwhile, place the hummus, sweet chili sauce, paprika and sea salt in a small bowl and whisk until combined.
Set a large frying pan over a low-medium heat and place one wrap in the pan. Heat for 20 seconds either side, or until just warmed.
Set the warmed wrap on a chopping board and spread half of the hummus mixture in a 4cm thick line down the middle (horizontally to you), leaving 3cm at the left and right ends (so that you can fold them in). Now top with half of the spinach leaves and then arrange half of the carrot, butternut squash, capsicum and cherry tomatoes on top (so that they make a nice neat pile above the hummus). Fold the left and right ends in and then fold the edge of the wrap closest to you up and over the filling, tucking the edge of the wrap slightly under the filling. In one careful movement firmly roll the wrap up so that you now have a tight, long sausage. Cut in half on the diagonal and repeat with the second wrap.
Serve immediately or wrap tightly in cling-film to take as a packed lunch. Best eaten the day made.
Source: A Taste Without Waste original.
Taste Without Waste 