I heard somewhere that we should eat 30 different plant foods every week. That includes herbs, nuts, seeds and spices. Clearly, the figure is arbitrary, and therefore not something to get crazy nitpicky about – the point is we all need to eat more vegetables! Just like grandma used to say. I did not know either of my grandmothers, but I can imagine my dad’s mom, Neoma, preaching that for sure, from the stories I’ve heard about her.

One easy way to increase daily veggie intake is to make a big salad for lunch. I always start with chopped-up greens, and then add whatever I have on hand or feel like eating that day. The options are endless – peppers, tomatoes (including tangy sun-dried), cucumbers, red onions, radishes, roasted vegetables like caulifllower, capers, olives, plus proteins like walnuts, almonds, hemp seeds, sunflower seeds, pepitas, hard-boiled eggs, cubed chicken, cheese….the variations are infinite.