Good morning. This being Vegan Feast Thursday, I always have lots of things I consider writing about. When I sat down to my computer I found that I never closed the window to a page offering nutritional info about a wide variety of veggies. Since I have been on a mission to help people learn to love not just their greens, but also oranges, purples, reds, whites and more, I decided to simply post this chart. Hopefully the links will work and you can find the bounty of flavors, colors, nutrients, antioxidants and medicinal benefits of a wide array of the gifts mother nature offers us for the taking. One thing I have learned along my vegetarian and vegan journey is that there is NO end to what you can do with your veggies. This week alone, I have made roasted brussel sprouts with grapes and walnuts, (testing a recipe for Thanksgiving–it definitely passed the test) home-made burgers with mushrooms, onions, celery and beans and roasted garlic and cauliflower soup, which I can’t really report on till tonight. Soup always takes at LEAST a day (2 days, even better) for all the flavors to marry. Amazingly enough, it’s easy to make soups creamy by simple putting them in the blender or food processor once done, and then dumping back in the pot!
One of the questions I am asked most often about my plant-based diet is how I continue to stay so committed, making sacrifices and depriving myself of non-plant based foods. It’s interesting perspective to me, because I don’t feel even slightly deprived. (And since I am not allergic to any foods, I CAN eat them whenever I want, if I want…such as the case with an occasional slice or two of pizza when pizza calls me….it’s probably the ONLY non-plant based food that does!) When Bill Clinton, a one-time big eater of all things unhealthy was asked this same question, he answered with such a cute smile on his face and with such an innocent voice, saying how much he loves the things he is eating NOW. Worth repeating– what I have learned over the past year and a half— I have never felt less conflicted about my eating than I do on a plant-based diet. The second most often asked question is where I get my protein from. It takes a little work, but most people really don’t need nearly as much protein as we have been told–but this is a topic for a different day.
Here goes nothing. My computer skills still lack without Kyle here. If for some reason the links don’t work, or the pictures don’t even post, visit www.nutrition-and-you.com/vegetable-nutrition.html
“Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food” – Hippocrates
OMGoodness, Bonni!!!!! The veggie chart that you posted is phenomenal. I clicked on so many veggies and learned so many wonderful facts and ideas!!! YOU are such an amazing source of knowledge!! Thank you, thank you!!!