Two Amazing Tips That Make Veggies Delicious

Jonathan: Hey, everybody. Jonathan Bailor and Carrie Brown back with another Calorie Myth and Smarter Science of Slim show. Carrie, how’s it going?

Carrie: It’s going awesome!

Jonathan: Today is a special show, folks, because this is the fourth show of its kind, and it is the show in which we birth a new, awesome, SANE recipe book from the queen of SANE recipes, Carrie Brown herself. Carrie Brown’s got a new recipe book. Carrie, what is the name of the new recipe book?

Carrie: It is called Eat Smarter Smoothies and Sides.

Jonathan: My favorite thing about this book is the forward. Just kidding. I wrote the forward. I’m really actually excited about this book, Carrie, because it’s smoothies and sides, but the thing, not just because you’re my friend and you’re my podcast co-host that made me want to write the forward is it is an incredible resource to help make eating the single most important component of a healthy lifestyle. Easy and delicious, and that is non starchy vegetables. It’s really helpful for me, Carrie, because I’ve been doing a lot of media recently. When you say non starchy vegetables, people immediately say, okay, so I just eat salads every day. And if any lifestyle requires you to just only eat salads to get non-starchy vegetables, you’re not going to be successful.

Carrie: Right. There are no salads in this book. This is a salad-free zone.

Jonathan: But it’s all non-starchy vegetable based. Correct?

Carrie: Absolutely. There are 55 recipes that will teach you how to make those vegetables delicious. Fifty-five delicious vegetable recipes.

Jonathan: And I want to be very clear that this is not just hype. And we can all know this. Because if you haven’t experienced this, you will upon checking out Carrie’s book, or next time you’re at a nice restaurant. For example, a really high-end restaurant, and they serve the sides ala carte. So you order something like brussel sprouts or broccolini or mushrooms or asparagus, and you order a side of just that, it’s incredible. It’s not like, oh, this asparagus is terrible. It’s delicious! So anything can be disgusting or delicious depending on how it is prepared. So, Carrie, tell us in some detail how you make that which is traditionally thought of as so gross, so delicious in this book.

Carrie: I think a lot of the problems with the people not liking vegetables is the way they were brought up, and I think a lot of it has to do with not so much how they were cooked but the length of time, maybe the method, and the length of time they were cooked. So many people grew up with grey, soggy brussel sprouts. And who wants to eat those? So I think a lot of it is simple education on how to cook them and for how long to cook them to get them to taste fantastic without actually doing anything more to them. Most of my recipes, though, will teach you little, simple tips and tricks about things that you can add to them and ways you can cook them that will make them delicious fast and very simply.

Jonathan: Two things really quick, Carrie, because I want to get into some of those simple tips so that our listeners can start implementing this right away. And then, of course, grab a copy of the book to get into the details. Two things, one, we all know that tastes can be acquired, as evidenced by the fact that I think almost everyone the first time they drank most alcoholic beverages thought they tasted terrible. But then after drinking them for a while, it was like, oh it’s pretty darn good. The same thing, I promise you, applies to vegetables. But the cool thing about Carrie’s recipes are you don’t need that transition period because they will be delicious right from the get-go. And then, what you’ll find is, you’ll accidentally get into that place where you acquired a taste for vegetables. And then if you happen to just eat some kale, you’ll be like, it’s actually pretty good. I don’t know how you prepare kale because we got some fresh kale the other day, and I literally just steamed it on the stovetop, and it was sweet and delicious. I don’t know.

Carrie: Well, I’m very happy for you.

Jonathan: Tell us a little bit about some of these tips.

Carrie: One of the easiest ways to make vegetables delicious is by using compound butter. And a compound butter is butter which has had other flavorings added to it so it’s like a cinnamon butter or a something.

Jonathan: Garlic butter?

Carrie: Garlic butter. That’s called a compound butter. And that has got to be the fastest, easiest way to make vegetables delicious. One of the things I did when I was creating the recipes for this book was I bought some green beans. Because I wanted to make… I wanted 25 different vegetables are stars of their own recipes in this book. I wanted to get a huge number of different recipes so there would be something for everybody. Green beans are not my favorite vegetable. I think they’re dull. I think they’re boring. They’re not my favorite. I’ll eat them. I don’t not like them, but if I have a choice of just about any vehicle, I’ll choose the something else.

Jonathan: They’re not the SANEst vegetable in the world, so don’t feel too bad.

Carrie: So green beans, I made a compound butter. I won’t tell you exactly what’s in it because then you wouldn’t need the recipe. But I made a compound butter, and I simply steamed the beans and then mixed them while hot with this compound butter that I made. And I’ve got to tell you, those green beans were the best-tasting beans I’ve ever had in my life. I posted on Facebook about how exciting these green beans were. The compound butter actually transformed. And anybody can make a compound butter. You get a recipe so you get the ratio of ingredients right, but with a few simple flavorings, spices, herbs and some butter, you can make something that will transform just about any vegetable you can name. Even kale.

Jonathan: I’m delighted you brought that up, Carrie, because that’s the tip, let’s call it, that has transformed. At least in my experience, it’s the most basic tip that we can all embrace to make vegetables more delicious. Because if you just tell somebody put a pound of kale on your plate and just muscle through it, it ain’t going to happen. But if you saute kale with bacon, it is delicious. I challenge anybody to put bacon in a pan and cook bacon and put kale in the pan with it, and let them cook together. And then fill your plate with the healthy fat, sauteed green, leafy vegetable, and it is so much better than rice or pasta or bread. It is a delightful taste. It’s not just filler. So, overcoming our fear of healthy fats that has been put upon us incorrectly over the past 40 years. It’s funny how the fear of fat has, in some ways, caused us to eat fewer vegetables. Because if he choice is between eating raw, unprepared vegetables, that’s just a non-starter for most people. But delicious compound-buttered vegetables are fabulous. And it’s not like you have to beg your children, which is the common argument I hear, my kids just won’t eat them. Make what Carrie is talking about. Use bacon grease, use duck fat, use coconut oil, use seasonings, and they become delicious.

Carrie: And the reason I talk about compound butters is they’re so simple, you can make them well in advance, they store easily in the fridge, and you can make them in bulk. And all you have to do with vegetables is you steam them, and then mix them with the butter. So this is your cure rule for vegetable hatred without having to create a recipe or do anything any more complicated than that.

Jonathan: So, Carrie, I’m a huge fan, not only of the taste but also of the health benefits, of raw garlic. So I just try to put… I cook something, and then use my little garlic press, and I try to put some garlic in there. If I wanted to make a Jonathan Bailor assembly version of a garlic butter because then I could keep the garlic raw, how do I do that?

Carrie: Garlic butter is easy. Well, typically, you would cook the garlic. But in your case, if you don’t want, I would just either crush it with the side of a knife and then chop it finely, or if you have a garlic press, press it through there. And then you’ll need to leave the butter out of the fridge overnight so that it’s not hard in the morning, and then just literally mix the two up. And with garlic, that’s super-simple because you can make it as garlicky — you don’t really need a recipe for that. You can make it as garlicky or not as you want. And then simply put it in a jar. Just keep it in the fridge.

Jonathan: Dave Asprey, the bulletproof executive who is like the king of butter needs to buy a copy of your book. He’s going to love it. It’s like the better butter book. Because he wrote a book, he and his wonderful wife. I met Dave and his wife on a low-carb cruise. I believe his wife’s name is Lana. They wrote a book. Hey, Carrie, how about compound butter. So we’ve got savory sides. So is it a bunch of compound butters, or are there other ways?

Carrie: No, no, no. There are only two actual compound butter recipes in there. One was for the green beans which just rocked my world. And the other was for a compound butter recipe for a mixture of cabbage and brussel sprouts which is absolutely delicious. It will change your mind about brussel sprouts if you don’t like them.

Jonathan: My mind has gotten changed about brussel sprouts in general because, I’ve got to tell you, brussel sprouts are good eating. If you just take brussel sprouts, cut them in half, drizzle some healthy fat on them, some garlic, salt, throw them in the oven, roast him. It’s not like… oh, vegetables. It’s good. I’m not just saying that, either. I hated vegetables my entire life. But I’ve got to tell you, it is so cool when you escape from “lipophobia,” the fear of fats, there is no… There is no need to go out of your way. People want to get critical about this fat, that fat, whatever. You’re going to be eating plenty of fat. It’s easy to eat fat when you eat lots of vegetables. Sometimes people say what about lean meats versus blah, blah, blah. Point is, for me at least, the best way to get your fats is with a bunch of non-starchy vegetables. Because it’s delicious.

Carrie: And I’ve just forgotten what I was going to say next.

Jonathan: I think you were going to tell us a bit… So we’ve got the compound butters, but obviously, there are many more types of tips to make delicious vegetables.

Carrie: Yes, there are some has recipes. Obviously with no potato.

Jonathan: What do you mean by? I’m sorry, I’m not familiar with a hash. What is a hash?

Carrie: A hash. Typically has cubed potato in it. Typically that’s what hash is. Hash actually is anything that has kind of that cube-sized, bit-sized pieces of food in it. So I made a hash without any potato, and that actually was a brussel sprout hash which was absolutely yummy. I mixed it with pears and some other things, and it was extremely yummy.

Jonathan: See, that’s the difference between a chef and an assembler because I would never be like brussel sprouts and pears. That sounds like a great combination.

Carrie: Well, here you are. It is a great combination.

Jonathan: I’m sure it is. So we’ve got hashes. And is it a cauliflower-based hash? Is it brussel sprout? All of them?

Carrie: No, I used the pear to resemble the potato.

Jonathan: Oh. Fascinating. Okay, so we’ve got hashes, we’ve got compound butters. What else can we expect in Eat Smarter Smoothies and Sides?

Carrie: There are nine ways to eat leafy greens.

Jonathan: So nine salad recipes?

Carrie: No salad. There is no salad. Leafy greens being your brussels, cabbage, spinach, those kind of things. So leafy greens. There are nine delicious ways to eat leafy greens. Then there are 13 ways to eat deeply colored vegetables. So that would be things like your beats. Those kinds of things. Anything which is deeply colored. Peppers. And then there are whole bunch more, 22 I think, of your cauliflowers and leeks and white. They are typically white. Squash, cucumbers, leeks, cauliflower. Those kinds of things. There are two recipes for mash which I know made a lot of hearts beet a little faster, just saying the word.

Jonathan: What is a mash?

Carrie: We always say mashed potato. I know everybody wants to eat mashed potato, and now we choose not to. So there’s two different recipes and no potato, but one of them I actually call “I can’t believe it’s not mash.”

Jonathan: I love it. Carrie, I know I’ve seen the table of contents of the books. I know you’re keeping it a little close to the chest here because it has a bunch of transformative information in it. And it’s a great example of… It’s funny because oftentimes, it is easy to think that healthy eating is broiled chicken breast and salad. And, obviously, your other recipe books, all the recipes we have online, have shown that not to be true in terms of the protein and the fat. But really, when you compare rolls, rice, pasta, all this kind of boring stuff with these colorful, delicious, succulent, varied non-starchy vegetables, it’s literally like a whole other world you’re unlocking which, for me at least, is very exciting.

Carrie: I have actually already gotten some reviews back on the book and some emails and some lovely notes. And there are quite a few people out there in podcast listening land who already are eating brussels where they never ate brussels before. So that makes me incredibly happy.

Jonathan: All right. So that just covers the sides which are, of course, a fabulous way to increase your SANEity, eat more non-starchy vegetables. Because as we always say, about 50 percent of your plate is going to be a delicious, non-starchy vegetable. So it’s got to be something delicious, and then you’re going to have a bunch of delicious protein as well. And, of course, there are all kinds of ways to integrate healthy fats into the vegetables as well as the dessert which we’ve covered in other shows. But also, Carrie, you cover smoothies as well. So give us some insight into the unique, smarter approach to smoothies.

Carrie: So there are like three gazillion smoothie recipes online if you ever type in green smoothie and see what you come up with. The problem, I found, when I was researching this was that there are two camps. There are green smoothies online that taste disgusting, and green smoothies online that taste delicious. The problem with the ones that taste disgusting is they taste disgusting. And unless you’re Jonathan Bailor, you just don’t want to drink them. And if this it’s something you’re going to do every day or every other day as way of getting your ten servings of non-starchy veggies in, it’s going to be really hard work and you’re not going to enjoy it if it tastes nasty. So that takes all the ones that don’t taste good off the table. The problem I found with almost every recipe for green smoothies that taste delicious is what it is that’s in them that makes them taste delicious. And it was typically bananas, dates, apple, maple syrup, honey. Things which are just not at the SANE end of the spectrum.

Jonathan: Grape juice.

Carrie: Grape juice, apple juice. A lot of juices going in there. So they may taste delicious, but they’re not actually the best for you they can be. So what I’ve tried to do is make smoothies that taste delicious but that are also great for you. And the feedback I’ve had so far is that I’ve nailed both of those things. So that made me incredibly happy.

Jonathan: So, Carrie, obviously we can’t give away the farm here because we want people to grab a copy of the book. But what is the secret. How do you take spinach and kale in smoothie form and have it not taste bad?

Carrie: For a lot of them, I’m using the SANE fruits, berries and citrus, to give you the flavor that make them delicious. But also the use of peanut butter, cocoa, things like that which have a deep flavor, particularly with kale. Something with a deep flavor that’s also from our SANE box of tricks. That’s how I used it.

Jonathan: Excellent. I really like that. And smoothies, again, are an area where we really need to tread carefully. Because the very first question that I get asked anytime hears about green smoothie involves these commercial smoothies you can buy at the store or you can buy at these chains. I don’t care if it’s coming from fruits or fruit juices. If you start your day with 80 grams of sugar, which I am not exaggerating. Some of the smoothies you will find commercially have 80 grams of sugar. That’s like drinking three Coca-Colas for breakfast. And I realize it has vitamins and minerals in it, and if you were to take three Coca-Colas and dissolve a vitamin pill in them, they would also have vitamins and minerals in them. And put a fiber supplement in the Coca-Cola, and now it has fiber in it as well. The point is, 80 grams of sugar is 80 grams of sugar. It’s not doing any favors for anyone’s pancreas or anyone’s waistline. So really, finding something that is delicious and nutritious is really key there, Carrie. And I know you also have some tips in here that help us to do this. Not only delicious, but economically and quickly.

Carrie: Yes. And with the last washing up of dishes. Because I just don’t like washing dishes. So read the tips and tricks before you start, and it’s all good. I also, for this one, when I started out, I made them using, to get the protein up to where we needed it to be, I used typically whey protein. But I also have quite a few in there which have egg white powder in there instead. Because there are a significant number of people who don’t want to use whey for various reasons. So there’s the egg white option, too.

Jonathan: Beautiful. Well, Carrie, remind us again the name of the… This is the third. Correct?

Carrie: Yes.

Jonathan: Number three. Now there is a Trifecta. You need to create a special boxed set, Carrie Brown edition. What is the name of number three here?

Carrie: It is Eat Smarter Smoothies and Sides.

Jonathan: And who wrote your forward?

Carrie: Jonathan Bailor. Seriously, Jonathan, who else could I ask to do a forward on a book about vegetables?

Jonathan: This is true. Well, Carrie, thank you so much. I personally thank you for giving us another tool. Because that’s what we need. Kraft and Unilever and PepsiCo have given us a bunch of tools to make us sad and sick. Whereas, what you’re doing is you’re providing us with a bunch of tools to make us healthy and fit and SANE, and I appreciate that very much. So, folks, please, if you haven’t already, check out Carrie’s first two books which have to do with soups. That is the one that most transformed my life. And ice scream, and then also her new one which is about smoothies and sides. Just go to Amazon, type in Carrie Brown, and goodness will ensue. Sound good?

Carrie: Sounds awesome.

Jonathan: I love it. Well, folks, this week and every week after, be it ice cream, smoothies, sides or soups, eat smarter, exercise smarter and live better. We’ll chat with you soon.