Episode 4: Viva Las Veggies!

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Ready or not, we’re dishing up Episode 4 of the Nom Nom Paleo Podcast! In this installment, we dive into our love of vegetables and how to get more of it into our bellies. Despite what everyone outside of the Paleosphere may think, we don’t eat only meat. In fact, I eat more vegetables now than I did when I was a semi-vegetarian! Listen in as we chat about our favorite vegetables and how to buy, store, and cook them. You’ll be vegucated in no time!

Show Notes & Links for Episode 4:

What We Ate:

Henry fills us in on how he hacks a rice-noodle-free salad bowl at Vietnamese restaurants, while I let everyone in on my favorite crunchy snack, Yucan Crunch. It’s a delicious cracker made with just one Paleo-friendly ingredient: yucca root. Toast the crackers, slather on a bunch of savory toppings, and you’re good to go!

You can pick up Yucan Crunch at Mission Heirloom in Berkeley or order it via their online store. (I buy it through Good Eggs SF Bay Area.)

Main Course:

Surprise! In case you haven’t noticed, we don’t hoover meat down our throats 24/7. In fact, our plates are usually crammed with vegetables—so let’s talk about how I buy, store, and prep our favorite edible plants. I discuss the benefits of joining a CSA (community-sponsored agriculture), how to make the most of the veggies in our CSA box, and the best time to pick up a box at your neighborhood drop-off spot.

If you don’t have access to farmers’ markets or CSAs, just do the best that you can. Refer to the Evironmental Working Group’s helpful lists to check which produce items are best bought organic and which ones have less pesticide. Once you stock up on healthy produce, I let you in our family’s favorite vegetable recipes and my inexpensive kitchen gadget picks to make the most of your vegetables. Plus, I share my favorite salad hacks, and the kids crack some vegetable jokes, too.

Click here to find a CSA near you.
I was a member of Mariquita Farm’s CSA for many years. Starting in 2015, Mariquita now offers veggies through their Ladybug Buying Club.
Caroline Randall Williams is one smart cookie, and her cookbook, Soul Food Love, is must-read.
The Environmental Working Group’s Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen Plus lists can be found here.
The Kitchn has a bookmark-worthy post on the best way to store your veggies. Click here to read it.
Yotam Ottolenghi’s ourtrageously popular vegetable cookbook, Plenty More, is a constant source of inspiration for me.
On most nights, I use my trusty toaster oven to roast the bulk of my veggies.
My favorite inexpensive kitchen gadgets are a vegetable peeler and a reliable salad spinner.
I learned how to simplify my vegetable cooking after spending a day at a Thai organic farm. You can read about our life-changing farm to table experience here.

Recipes referenced in this section:

Crush of the Week:

Big-O reveals that he’s crushing on asparagus, Lil-O tells us about how he loves broccoli even though he’s not sure how I cook it, and I let everyone in on the secret that I can’t live without frozen vegetables. Also, Henry and I fight over who loves April Bloomfield’s new vegetable cookbook, A Girl and Her Greens, more. I win.

Big-O’s favorite asparagus dish is Broiled Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus.
Ollie asks me to make roasted broccoli and bacon several times a week. He like to douse it with Coconut Secret’s Teriyaki Sauce.
I like to throw frozen vegetables into my Thai Chicken Curry.
If you’re looking for a crazy-good vegetable cookbook, check out April Bloomfield’s A Girl and Her Greens. Visiting NYC? Go order the English Breakfast at The Breslin.

Question of the Week:

Sandy asks via email: How do you get Big-O and Lil-O to eat vegetables?

Instead of answering this question myself, I ask my kids how I do it. (Spoiler: The Double-Os reveal that they have no choice but to eat their mother’s cooking.)

Ciao for now!

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