This episode of the Cooking Chat Food & Wine podcast features a conversation with Heidi Herman, author of The Hidden Vegetables Cookbook. Give this episode a listen for ideas on how to get more veggies on your plate!
In this episode:
- Heidi shares her journey to enjoying more vegetables and how her Icelandic upbringing shaped her habits.
- Learn about the inspiration behind The Hidden Vegetables Cookbook including Heidi’s goal to eat healthier and surprising research—like the 90% of Americans not meeting daily vegetable recommendations.
- Heidi emphasizes that disliking vegetables is common and nothing to feel guilty about—the book is geared toward adults who want to eat more veggies, even if they don’t love them.
- Recipes tackle common barriers such as taste and texture: creative methods like pureeing spinach into ricotta for lasagna and beets roasted and pureed for baking.
- Practical tips are featured for prepping, storing, and freezing vegetables to reduce waste and make it easy to add veggies to meals on the fly.
- The cookbook begins with helpful how-tos—selecting, storing, and prepping lesser-known veggies like kohlrabi—plus “core recipes” for purees and chopped veggies.
- The cookbook appeals to a wide audience: not just veggie skeptics, but anyone looking to use up CSA shares or reduce kitchen waste.
Today’s guest
Heidi Herman spent more than thirty years in the telecommunications industry before applying those lessons to entrepreneurship, first in a successful small restaurant business and later in a boutique publishing company.
Heidi cherishes the Icelandic heritage passed down from her mother which informs her writing and cooking. She has authored seven books in five genres, including Homestyle Icelandic Cooking for American Kitchens, which won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award in 2017. When not spending time on writing, motivational speaking, and travel, Heidi can usually be found cooking something up in the kitchen. The Hidden Vegetables Cookbook: 90 Tasty Recipes for Veggie-Averse Adults is her latest cookbook.
Ordering the book & other resources
You can pre-order the cookbook on this webpage to get your signed copy! Visit Heidi’s website for more information on her background, including other books and her keynote speaking availability. She’s also active on social media, including here on Instagram.
We spoke about ideas for a number of vegetables, including the beets I had from my local Family Dinner food share. Here are two of my favorite recipes to make with beets:
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