Mayor and Council Members Kick Off VegOut! at Houston City Hall

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Houston City Council Member Dav12768308_1146413012038368_2766709861255061502_o-3id W. Robinson helped us launch the VegOut! 2016 Challenge as city council members joined in the fun with their first veggie- carrots
At City Hall on Tuesday, March 1st, Mayor Sylvester Turner and Council Member Robinson presented Recipe for Success Foundation with a proclamation declaring the month of March as VegOut! with Recipe for Success Month. Council Member Robinson commended the foundation’s work inspiring Houstonians to eat healthy every day. “Recipe for Success is dedicated to improving the health of Houstonians by changing the way we understand, appreciate, and eat our food,” he noted before inviting his colleagues around the horseshoe to take the VegOut! Challenge.

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Gracie Cavnar, CEO of Recipe for Success, thanked the City for its support and announced that this year’s VegOut! participants can use the new smartphone app  to track their consumption of vegetables.
Join Council Member Robinson and his staff by taking the VegOut! Challenge this year. To participate, download the VegOut app on your smartphone, or visit www.vegoutwithrfs.org.12764689_1146413092038360_1164940072638856063_o-2

Ashton’s Kale Caesar Salad

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For the 2014 VegOut! Challenge, Amy Anton, Houston mom of three boys, shares a favorite recipe of her eldest, which just happens to be a simple and tasty way to check kale off of your Veggie Log, as well as a way to get the kids in the kitchen.

AmyAnton-Kale 

When I picked up my twelve-year-old from camp last year, the first thing he asked for was a Kale Caesar Salad. Wow, you might think, what an enlightened child, what a lucky mom. In some ways yes, in others, I just chuckle.

Kale is the super food of the year, on every menu in town, and, really yummy, but that is not why he loves it. He loves kale because it is a hearty leaf that can stand up to a serious Caesar dressing with a flurry of cheese, and still have fortitude. There’s no limp, watery lettuce here. It’s just stiff greens with briny anchovies, tart lemon, and the nutty goodness of parmesan. If that’s what it takes for him to inhale an entire bunch of kale, so be it. There are a couple tricks we have learned along the way that make the salad the success that it is.

First, hold the rib of the kale in one hand and, with a sharp knife, just cut down the rib to remove the leaf. The rib is too bitter and hard to eat most of the time. Then chop chop chop all of the kale into fine pieces.

The recipe for the dressing is below, but we have a couple pointers. For one, mellowing the garlic in the lemon juice is a good thing, as it removes the raw garlic taste you would have otherwise. Also, don’t be shy with the anchovies. Ashton has been known to slip in 6-8 anchovies! He likes strong flavors.

And last, massage the kale. Kids love to get their hands dirty, so this is fun for an idle child begging for dinner now. Massaging the dressing into the leaves with your hands really makes a difference. The kale needs to be persuaded into accepting the dressing, melding the flavors into one.

There are also endless possibilities for add-ins: tart cherries, avocado, pepitas, slivered almonds, thinly sliced radish… you name it.

AmyAnton-KaleCaesar

Ashton’s Caesar Salad

Ingredients

For dressing: 

1 clove garlic, minced

Juice of 1-2 lemons

Dash Worcestershire sauce

1 T Dijon mustard

2 anchovy filets

Yolk of 1 egg

1/2 C grape seed oil (or other mild flavored oil)

1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese

For salad:

1 head kale

Add-ins (optional)

Directions

  • Juice the lemon, mince the garlic and combine, letting them sit in a small mixing bowl while you chop the kale.
  • Whisk in the Worcestershire sauce, Dijon, anchovies, and egg yolk.
  • Slowly add the oil while whisking constantly.
  • Whisk in the the Parmesan. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pour desired amount of dressing over kale and massage it into the leaves.
  • Let dressed salad sit, covered, in the fridge for about 30 minutes to absorb the flavors.
  • Top with desired add-ins, if using, and serve!

Try Ashton’s recipe and let us know what you think, or share YOUR favorite ways to eat kale below.

Bon appetit!

30 Days?!

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This March, Recipe for Success Foundation will host its second-annual VegOut! 30 Ways in 30 Days Challenge, motivating folks to eat 30 different vegetables in 30 days during National Nutrition Month. Bustling schedules and picky palettes can make the task of nourishing a family an uphill battle, so how do you get your brood to eat 30 different vegetables period, much less within one month?

Houston mom Amy Anton has a plan.

AmyAnton-Fam

30 Ways in 30 what!?! There is no way I can do it again this year. I have three boys who will eat some veggies, but certainly not 30, and we have school, and homework, and lacrosse… and busy lives!

But this is important.

OK, breathe, and make a plan of attack.

March is busy with sports and we have a whole week off at spring break, during which we will be eating out a lot. I think I will frontload to get as many veggies as I can in during the first two weeks. That way, I can relax and we can have fun with the Challenge in the second half of the month. After all, it’s “an easy, delicious food adventure”, it’s supposed to be fun!

So, what to start with? Salads. Remember, salad dressing can be a friend, and if I make a yummy dressing or grate in some parmesan, they will usually eat it all. Possibilities are endless there. If I am really in a pinch, I can run to the salad bar and load up on already chopped goodies.

Then, I can alternate with a huge pan of roasted veggies – squash, zucchini, cauliflower and bell peppers. Just toss with some olive oil and a roast in a 375 degree oven, and there’s four more to add to the Veggie Log.

Add my oldest child’s favorite, Kale Caesar, to the list, maybe even with sliced radishes, and we’re on our way! Stay tuned for Ashton’s recipe for Kale Caesar. It’s a keeper!

How will YOU tackle the 2014 VegOut! Challenge? Tell us in the comments!

It’s VegOut! Month in Houston!

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VegOut-CultureMap

This week, City of Houston Mayor Annise Parker proclaimed March official “VegOut! with Recipe for Success Month” in Houston.

During a press conference at City Hall to kick off the 2014 VegOut! Challenge, Parker pledged to take the challenge for the second year, and waved about her newly purchased Brussels sprouts as evidence.

A bushel of VegOut! supporters also showed up for the kick off, including emcee Isis Smalls, Miss Houston 2014; Ed Gonzalez, Mayor Pro-Tem, Houston City Council; Dr. Faith Foreman, Assistant Director, Houston Department of Health & Human Services; Cyndy Garza Roberts, Director of Public Affairs, H-E-B; Dr. Russell Kridel, Chair, American Medical Association’s Council on Science & Public Health; Kelly Landrieu, Forager, Whole Foods Market; Paula McHam, Director of Client & Community Affairs, Cigna; Chisolm Tate, Director of the Diversity Council, Luby’s Fuddruckers; Lisa Mellencamp, Co-Chair GoHealthyHouston Task Force.

In addition, VegOut! chef partners (Jon Buchanan, Trevisio; Stephanie Hoban, Ripe; Jason Little, Whole Foods Market; and Erin Stewart, DEFINE) each provided samples of their own tasty take on 2014’s hottest vegetable: cauliflower!

We hope you’ll join Mayor Parker and Recipe for Success Foundation in eating 30 different veggies within 30 days, starting March 1. Register TODAY!

Read a story about the kickoff in CultureMap here.