Confessions of a Former Veggie Hater
I didn't grow up loving vegetables.
In fact, my brother and I spent a considerable chunk of our childhoods scheming how to get rid of the vegetables on our dinner plates without our parents noticing.
Peas-and-carrots were chewed up and balled into napkins.
Lima beans were shuttled into the waste basket in the nearby bathroom.
Broccoli was dropped onto the floor and conveniently camouflaged by the groovy green shag rug under our table. Later, we'd return to the scene of the crime and dispose of any incriminating evidence.
It wasn't that my mother was a bad cook. In fact, she's a fabulous cook.
However, this was back in the old days — before you could buy out-of-season produce shipped up from South America or grown in greenhouses.
Most of the vegetables we consumed (or didn't consume) were frozen or canned — at least in the winter time — and the preparations were simple: boiled or warmed up in a pot.
It's easy to understand why vegetables were so often the have-to-eats.
Today, of course, things are different.
Meat's still king — or, more accurately, chicken seems to be — but vegetables are playing a more significant supporting, if not starring, role on many a dinner plate.
When working with clients, I encourage people to dramatically increase their consumption of vegetables — regardless of the kind of protein they eat. And for the record — in case you thought this post was going to turn into some sort of plants-only propaganda, don't worry — I do eat animal protein, just in smaller portions than found in the Standard American Diet.
Now — back to vegetables.
If you want to be healthy and energized and balanced and all that — vegetables are key!
Vegetables are where all the vitamins and minerals and antioxidants and fiber are. They offer powerful compounds your body needs to balance and heal itself — nutrients you simply won't find in meat, chicken or fish.
But most people know this.
We know we should eat vegetables — and not just eat them, but in large quantities — but it's hard to eat more vegetables if you don't like them.
Or if you're unaccustomed to preparing them in ways that make them delicious and appealing.
And that's what my work is all about — I'm deeply committed to exploring and creating tasty ways for my clients to prep and enjoy vegetables.
One of those ways involves soup.
Having a couple of fantastic soup recipes in your arsenal is a powerful way to increase veggie intake and enjoy the previously unknown (or terrifying) world of plant-based cuisine.
Soups are often simple to prepare, easy to digest, and filled with nutrients and rich flavor.
They're also convenient for people who struggle finding time to cook during the week — make a batch on the weekend and you have lush, satisfying soup to accompany lunchtime or dinner salads throughout the week.
One of my favorite soup recipes was inspired by a simple cauliflower soup included in Dr. Mark Hyman's book, the 10 Day Detox Diet. While the original recipe is delicious on its own, I like to warm it up with curry powder, ginger and turmeric.
The additional spices also provide additional anti-inflammatory power. Turmeric, which has been used for centuries in Ayurveda (Indian traditional medicine), contains curcumin, which has been shown in numerous human trials to be a non-toxic way to reduce inflammation such as arthritis. In fact, curcumin is currently the topic of many studies looking at how it might have a positive impact on not only arthritis, but cancer and Alzheimer's disease as well.
So that's the science, which is impressive.
But food needs to taste good too, right?
Well, this soup definitely does.
This Curried Cauliflower Soup is consistently one of my most popular recipes during detox programs such as the spring program I'm launching this Sunday, April 12.
If you'd like more details on my 28-day program, you'll find details here. The “I Love Food” Spring Detox isn't a fast or a juice cleanse or anything radical like that — although your results might end up being somewhat radical.
The spring detox isn't about deprivation or restriction. It's a real-food focused program to help you eliminate processed foods, lose excess weight, turn on your energy boosters and figure out a dietary lifestyle that works for you — for the long term.
The Curried Cauliflower Soup is just one of the recipes on the menu. The program includes weekly meal plans and recipes for the entire 28 days, and it's full of simple, delicious recipes for smoothies, soups, salads, vegetable preparations and lean protein.
Get the Recipe: Curried Cauliflower Soup
If you're curious about the detox, you can “test drive” my program by checking out the Curried Cauliflower Soup Recipe below. I hope you enjoy it!
For detox details, hop on over to my Programs page for details about the I Love Food Spring Detox.
