Tag Archives: vegetables

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Colorful Vegetables

Posted on by

At our house, we make an extra effort to eat plenty of produce. It might come in the form of broccoli/cauliflower soup, tossed green salad, minestrone, tomato-cucumber salad, sweet potatoes, pickled beets, sun-dried tomatoes, guacamole, homemade applesauce. At the moment we have tangerines, blackberries, strawberries, apples and persimmon in the refrigerator, along with bananas, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and a pomegranate on the counter. Tomorrow night we’re going to have baked apples stuffed with dried figs and shredded coconut.

Our meals usually have a lot going for them in the form of produce and color. Color means phytonutrients, and phytonutrients mean antioxidant power. Colors might include red, green (light, medium, and dark), white, yellow, brown, blue, orange. As much color as we can pack into each meal. And, as my mom taught me, the more colors at a meal, the better. Continue reading →

YOUR HEALTHY PLATE: Green Herb Sauce

Posted on by

At this time of year, fresh herbs are growing everywhere, and large bags of zucchini, tomatoes, and other fresh vegetables continue to appear in the coffee room at work or maybe on your front steps, seemingly from out of nowhere. So even if you don’t keep a garden of your own, this is a great time of year to whip up a batch of an herb sauce that will channel the magical properties of those gorgeous vegetables. Not to mention that it will increase the likelihood that you and your lucky friends and family will eat more of the nourishing and colorful phytonutrients hiding inside all those beautiful vegetables, especially the phytonutrients in the herbs and other deeply colored green leafy veggies.  Continue reading →

Grand Celebration

Posted on by

Our brand new grandson was born into our family this past week, after which my son-in-law named it “Birthday Week,” not only for the fact of his own birthday and that of his newborn son, but also because we celebrated the first birthday of the infant’s newly promoted big sister! Birthday week!! In celebration of this newly expanded family, the week basically consisted of one wonderful meal after the next, all of which reminded me of a post that I wrote once upon a time about the meals at my parents’ small farm in the Watchung Mountains of New Jersey. The years have passed, and my own parents are gone now, but all our beautiful babies have been named in memory of my mother and father, and that has been a gift of its own. Continue reading →

The Illusion of Variety

Posted on by

Like many people who have been holed up in their homes for the past 15 months or so, this past week I entered a supermarket for the first time in more than a year. Omg. I left with one package of granola bites (treat), one cabbage (food), two kinds of beer (treat), and tonic water (treat–Fever Tree, the best!). Hopefully, I’ll do better next time. The whole experience got me thinking once again about what a supermarket really is, and I decided to share something I first posted a very long time ago. Continue reading →

Real Food and the End of the Pandemic

Posted on by

For all the years I’ve written this blog I’ve talked a lot about real food, the kind our great-grandparents ate. Food that comes from the ground (or air or water). Unadulterated food, as opposed to “manufactured calories,” or “food-style products.” I’ve heard this idea expressed in different ways, like:
“Eat close to the garden.”
“Eat food that’s been through as few machines as possible.”
“Eat nothing that contains more than four ingredients.”
“Don’t eat anything your great-grandparents wouldn’t have recognized as food.”
“Be wary of foods that never go bad; if the bugs won’t eat it, it’s not food.”

I didn’t actually eat any differently this year, but talking about it on the blog felt like preaching. It’s not that the message was no longer relevant, but that it just didn’t feel nearly as important as usual. The most important message this year was to be kind to yourself, to do whatever it takes to get through the day. The worst part of all was that we didn’t know how long it would going to be that way. But this week I am feeling hopeful. Continue reading →

Leaves, Buds, and Stems: Cruciferous Veggies

Posted on by

A few years ago a patient came into my office complaining of migraines. He said, “You might think I’m crazy, doc, but I only get these headaches when I eat certain vegetables.” Which ones? It was hard to be sure. Salads gave him a headache only sometimes, and usually only in restaurants. Cole slaw gave him a headache no matter where he ate it. The list seemed completely random, and included Brussels sprouts, watercress, broccoli, and radishes. I grinned like an amateur holding a royal flush. The patient was naming only cruciferous vegetables. Continue reading →

When it’s Not Really Fruit or Vegetables

Posted on by

If I had just ten seconds to share nutrition advice, I know exactly what I would say: Eat more fruits and vegetables. And I don’t think that would surprise anyone. We all know that fruits and vegetables are nutritional powerhouses, rich in not only fiber but also phytonutrients, and everyone knows it’s a good idea to eat more of them. Especially since most of us don’t eat enough produce to begin with.

Now, the brand managers in the food industry know that we know we should eat more fruits and vegetables. This is why there are so many processed food items containing fruit-related words, or some version of the actual word “fruit.” Vegetables, too, to a lesser extent. Like vegetable oil. And which “vegetable” would that be, please? Continue reading →

The Art of Deception: More Ways the Food Industry is Influencing Your Purchases

Posted on by

Did you know that there’s a massive difference between “cereal” and “breakfast cereal?’ Cereal means grain, such as brown rice, bulgur wheat, oatmeal (not microwave-able), millet, amaranth, spelt. Breakfast cereal means Coco Krispies, Frosted Flakes, Life Cereal, Raisin Bran (one of the highest sugar breakfast cereals on the market). Cheerios and Kashi, too, in case you were wondering. Cereal comes from the field; breakfast cereal comes from the factory. Continue reading →

The Box-of-Real-Food Diet

Posted on by

I write Your Health is On Your Plate because there are a couple of things that I want everyone to really understand. First, I want you to understand that there’s a big difference between real food and manufactured calories. A huge difference, really. Real food nourishes; manufactured calories entertain (at best). Manufactured calories also cause a lot of very serious medical problems. Like diabetes and obesity, for starters. And strokes and heart attacks. Continue reading →