I’m so excited to launch the first-ever Guest Bender — a series of guest posts featured on Eating Bender that you will now be able to find linked here on the top of my blog. These posts will be spread out through the month of February — and beyond! — as a way to show off the talent and creativity of some fabulous foodie, health and lifestyle bloggers in our community.

Our first guest poster — and, actually, the blogger who sparked the idea! — is Angela from A Healthy Fit. Take it away, Angela! Let’s give her a warm welcome 🙂

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I’m so excited to be guest posting for Bender! I have never done a guest post before, so I hope you all enjoy. So who am I? Well… that’s a pretty big question that can get pretty philosophical, but short and simply put…I’m Angela, the gal behind A Healthy Fit. I am a newbie blogger that has become totally addicted to writing, reading, talking, and thinking about blogging. I enjoy eating healthy food, am learning a love for cooking, and am a certified exercise freak.

Enough about me, let’s get on to talking about some food! That’s why we’re all here right?? I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite recipes. Although, I don’t know if you can really call it a recipe. It’s more of a…lets chop everything up, throw it in a pan, and watch it do it’s thang.

This so-called recipe is from my good friend, Myles Davis. No, no, not Myles Davis the great musician. I don’t know him, although it would be pretty cool if I did. This is Myles Davis.

He is no jazz musician, but he does like to make jazz hands.

Years ago when I lived with Myles he introduced me to this gem of a dinner he liked to call “Veggie Parfait.” Veggie Parfait is 3-4 parts veggies, 1 part rice, and 0 parts parfait. Technically…there is a layering of colors and flavors? I don’t know. There is no real parfait action going on. We are just silly.

So I know your mouths are all watering by now and you are just begging me for what to do next. Alright. I’ll get on with it.

You can use any veggies that you like, but for this veggie parfait I used fingerling potatoes, baby carrots, portobello mushrooms, and broccoli. First, chop up the potatoes into ¼ inch slices and slice the baby carrots length wise.

You’ll want to get out your best frying pan and heat up 2 tbsp. of olive oil. I also add a large squirt of Bragg at this time. First add potatoes and let them cook for a while. I don’t have exact timing here, but usually I let them cook for about 7-10 minutes. Then throw in the carrots. Keep mixing everything around because it will stick. You can always add more Bragg if things start looking dry.

Since I am so fancy and sophisticated when it comes to cooking, I add a lid over the potatoes & carrots to steam them a bit and get them cooking faster. If you have a pan that has a lid that fits in, I recommend that instead of this…

Let the potatoes and carrots mingle together for a while. Like I said, a while is not a technical timing. I would say let this mingling occur for about 5-7 minutes. Next up add your portobello mushrooms and then put your lid back on.

Once the mushrooms look like they are getting tender, throw in your broccoli.

As I throw in my broccoli I like to sing a little tune. Now, this is not mandatory, but I think it makes the process a bit more fun. The song I like to sing to my broccoli is a little ditty from SNL by the fabulous Dana Carvey. Do you know it? Choppin’ broccoleeeeeeeee, I’m choppin’ broccolaaaayyyyyy.

Put your lid back on and wait until the broccoli turns bright green. Once it does…voila! You are done! Just heat up some brown rice and top with your veggies. Veggie Parfait! Myles actually used to add an egg or two to his mixture, which is excellent as well. It’s really all up to you! That’s the beauty of the veggie parfait.

I have recently been becoming more and more obsessed with hot sauce, so last night I had to add some. Mmm Mmm Good!

Well folks, that’s all I’ve got for now. Thanks for reading and letting me invade Bender’s blog! I hope you enjoyed the experience. I know I did. Although, I can usually entertain myself for hours…usually by singing silly songs that no one wants to hear. But that’s another story, for another time.

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Thanks, Angela! If you’re interested in submitting a guest post or have a fabulous idea you’d like to share, please feel free to email me at eatingbender@gmail.com.

Abrazos!