Peek Inside Clean Plates: What Our Team Is Cooking

January 28, 2019

You’ve probably already guessed that your Clean Plates team is food obsessed. We love bringing you recipes, expert tips and all kinds of information about healthy eating and overall wellness every day.

But that love of food also extends to our personal lives. When we aren’t researching or writing about food, we’re at home, cooking it. Here’s what’s on our stoves, in our ovens and on our plates right now. Hint: You’ll find a lot of vegetables.

Jared Koch, founder and CEO. He’s into vegetables. His kid’s into beef. Everyone’s into beans.

My 3 year old loves beef and chicken, which is great, but my wife and I also try to make sure she eats several plant-based-only meals per week for balance. We came up with a bean stir-fry that she loves and is really easy to make. We use canned beans of different varieties (we always seek out BPA-free cans) and stir-fry them with all different vegetables in some coconut or olive oil. We add a bunch of veggies, like onions, carrots, spinach and tomatoes. We sprinkle in some herbs like thyme, rosemary, garlic and ginger, and add a dash of tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) or salt to taste. Sometimes I use Simply Organic All purpose seasoning—it’s easy and convenient, it adds great flavor and since it has a variety of herbs and spices, it lends lots of different types of health benefits.

Hali Bey Ramdene, editor. Hot salad evangelist. Passionate about black vinegar.

I’ll fully admit the name isn’t all that appealing, but one of my favorite cold-weather dishes is a salad with some iteration of hot beef dressing. The magic is in the dressing, which starts with ground meat (I prefer pork, beef, or turkey — in that order) sautéed with loads of ginger and garlic. A splash of soy sauce (use tamari or coconut aminos if that’s more your thing) and black vinegar adds a jolt of flavor, and the whole thing comes together in about 10 minutes. This recipe has completely changed the way I think about salad for dinner.

Megan Steintrager, writer. Grain bowl maker. Definitely keeps gochujang on hand.

I’ve been making a lot of warm grain bowls lately. I cook a big batch of brown rice, quinoa, or freekeh, and keep it in the fridge. Then I roast vegetables in olive oil (I like to do a combo of Brussels sprouts, broccoli, or cauliflower with cherry tomatoes, which get super-sweet when roasted). Toward the end of the cooking time, I add the grain to the pan to warm and crisp up a little. I season the whole lot with whatever spice blend or sauce I have handy (e.g., za’atar or gochujang), then add some nuts or seeds and sometimes a fried egg. Easy, one-pan, healthy, and so tasty – comforting, too!

Jason Wagg, audience development director. Uses every spice in his spice cabinet.

It got really cold in NYC this week, so I’ve been really craving warming soups and roasted veggies. I’m especially fond of the amazing Vegan Lentil Soup recipe from Serious Eats in big batches. I often keep half a gallon of simple apple cider warm on the stove (I add half a lemon and peel for extra zest and brightness) to sip as a warm-up. And I love roasted carrots tossed in turmeric, Himalayan salt, and cumin. For a bonus, I love adding the carrot tops to my salads with a little mint and some minced shallots.

Beth Lipton, contributing editor. Can turn anything into dinner. Queen of bullet coffee.

One of my favorite winter dishes is a simple sheet-pan roasted vegetable and sausage bake. I cut up lots of vegetables (usually broccoli, fennel, red onion, bell pepper and sometimes a winter squash like delicata), toss with avocado oil, salt and pepper and roast at 425ºF until it’s tender and starting to caramelize, stirring a few times. About 5 to 7 minutes before it’s done, I add sliced sausage (we like a spicy kind, like andouille) and let it roast just to warm through. So easy and satisfying, and clean-up is simple, too.

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