Aliza J. Sokolow: Spring Produce, “This is What I Eat” & Fail-Proof Vegetable Puree

On this episode of Taste Buds with Deb, host Debra Eckerling speaks with Aliza J. Sokolow, author of “This is What I Eat: Fun Activities for Mindful Eating.”    Sokolow, who is a private chef, food stylist and photographer, loves the change of seasons … and the fruits and vegetables that go with it.    “My eating and cooking and shopping is very seasonal,” Sokolow says. “Luckily in California we have microclimate, so we get the best of everything all year round.”   For Sokolow, the simplest thing is to go to the market and look around. Find a few things that look good, sample and eat them. When you buy great ingredients, you do not need to do a lot to your food.   One of her go-to farmers market recipes is a breakfast taco, made with local ingredients: tortillas (from local grain), eggs, avocado and limes. Sometimes she’ll buy salsa at the market or make it herself.    Sokolow wrote “This is What I Eat” as a way to get kids excited about healthy eating and cooking. The book is filled with activities - regrowing produce, food scavenger hunts - designed to make fruits and vegetables fun! Sokolow wants kids to build curiosity about produce through the lens of color, shapes, sizes and seasons.    “Cooking is daunting for many people, but it's really just washing and cutting things [and] not everything needs to be cooked; certain things you can eat raw,” she explains. “I just want to encourage eating things that you find at the farmers market or stuff that doesn't have a nutrition label, because it's [usually] pretty delicious; and if it's not, add a little bit of salt to it and it'll probably bring out the flavors.”   Sokolow talks about her love of produce - and what started it, some of her favorite spring recipes, and ways to have fun at farmers markets. She also shares her fail-proof vegetable puree recipe at JewishJournal.com/podcasts.   Learn more at SokolowPhoto.com, @alizajsokolow on Instagram, check out her book “This is What I Eat,” as well as the This Is What I Eat Substack. For more from Taste Buds, subscribe on iTunes and YouTube, and follow @TheDEBMethod on social media.