How to eat healthier in the new year Caryn Dugan (a.k.a. STL Veg Girl) shares tips for incorporating more fruits and vegetables into meals.

It’s the time of year when everyone is thinking about making changes. Like many St. Louisans, you might be looking to live a healthier lifestyle. Enter Caryn Dugan (a.k.a. STL Veg Girl) with the Center For Plant-Based Living in Kirkwood. A cancer survivor who transformed her own life, Dugan shared some advice for those who want to eat more fruits and vegetables but aren’t sure where to start.

Is there a recommended first step for shifting your diet and incorporating more plants? Support is everything. First, talk with your family. Let them know what you’re thinking and get their input. Then sit down with your support system and look through a cookbook to see what looks good. Find a cookbook that really jives with the way you like to eat. Maybe it’s Thai; maybe it’s American—whatever it is, dog-ear what you think you might like, and start making the meals.

Are there any particular cookbooks you'd suggest for beginners? The Forks Over Knives series is really good. It goes from beginner to novice, and it's not super intimidating. Lindsay Nixon also has a series of books called Happy Herbivore, with recipes that are even more beginner-friendly.

You also recently launched a YouTube series for beginners? Early in the pandemic, I started the Plant-Based Quick Cooking Show. There are 67 episodes. For a time, I was putting out a new episode every Tuesday. Each episode is five minutes and features just one recipe made with seven ingredients or fewer. It seems to have helped a lot of people.

What would you suggest if someone only has time or money to make one plant-based change to their diet? Set yourself up for success when you go to the grocery store. If you just keep replacing the foods that you’ve always had, where’s the change going to come from? If it’s in the house, it’s in the mouth. We’ve got to go to the grocery store with intent and make sure we have a list from the recipes in the cookbooks that we’ve dog eared. It can be overwhelming—it was overwhelming for me. It’s just taking it step by step. Then try making one fully plant-based meal per week, and batch it so you can eat it several times over the week.

Which veggie is having a moment this year, similar to kale and Brussels sprouts in recent years? Cauliflower. It’s a beautiful vegetable. You can mash it up and create some kind of mashed potato. You can steam it, bake it, sauté it, put it in a soup, blend it... It has some real mileage to it.

Finding fresh ingredients is easier when it's warmer outside. What about during winter? You can still visit winter markets and find produce, but don’t poo-poo frozen foods. I always stock frozen vegetables, frozen spinach, even frozen, shredded kale... Sometimes frozen foods are even better than the fresh stuff. They’re picked at their peak and flash-frozen to lock in nutrients. You don’t have to [start a plant-based diet] in the summer. If you’re trying to turn yourself around in January—like everybody else—go to Dierbergs, pick up organic squashes, and make your own zoodles. Your body will still thank you, whether it’s January or July.

by Mike Miller

January 10, 2022

6:00 AM