8 Classic Comfort Foods Revamped
Update the healthy hippie food
If you’re over 40 you might remember our parents’ attempts to “hippie” up our food. The organic whole foods movement of the '60s and '70s was right on track, but a lot of the resulting food was not always so appealing. The typical mom in the '70s didn’t do much more to change the family diet than add sprouts to every sandwich and use whole wheat bread that tasted like sawdust.
The folks meant well but the result often left us kids staring at our friends’ Ho-Hos during lunch with naked envy.
Here are some low-key ways to “hippie healthy” your meals without alienating your family:
- Try different grains. If you get bored of brown rice, try bulgar, wild rice, farro and quinoa.
- Cut veggies small. Hippie food for some reason often featured huge chunks of vegetables, which are not very tempting. Uniformity of size of the vegetables helps, too.
- Make vegetables the centerpiece of the meal, not the side. Add meat as a side ingredient.
- Get some great vegetarian cookbooks and discover recipes your family likes. I primarily use Deborah Madison’s Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone. If you’re interested in vegan cooking, check out La Dolce Vegan! by Sarah Kramer.
- Make good salad dressings. Great salad dressings encourage salad eating. Give kids salad dressing as a dip for veggies.
- Experiment with different types of beans. Go to the bulk section in a good natural foods store and stock up. It’s worth the time and energy to soak and cook your own beans.
- Buy organic food where possible. It’s more expensive, so refer to this list from the Environmental Working Group to prioritize which organic foods you buy.
- Stir-fry using coconut oil, which is healthier than traditional peanut oil.
