Earth-a-palooza primer día: Eat your veggies

This is part one of the SWSS Earth-a-palooza 2009, a week-long celebration of green, sustainable, and planet-friendly goodness (and apparently also a poor attempt at learning Spanish).

Bienvenido a Earth-a-palooza!

Given that I had guacamole and tortilla chips for dinner, it seems only fitting that this blog feature both Español and my favorite vegetables*. I recently dug up my backyard/shared community space to start a sustainable food source (garden) for myself this summer so veggies are top of mind for more than one reason.

As a bit of a nerd and late to catch on to trends, I was one of those kids who happily ate veggies (with the obvious exception of onions) all through childhood. Barring a dark period in college where I ate grilled cheese and French fries for the better part of an academic quarter, I’ve continued this trend into adulthood.

So, in honor of the first day of the first annual SWSS Earth-a-palooza, I present my favorite fruits/veggies of the earth:

Brussels Sprouts: As a kid, I’d eat them whole, despite the fact that the tiny cabbage didn’t fit in my mouth. I am still amazed I never choked (survival of the fittest at its finest, folks). I still love Brussels sprouts and regularly substitute them for actual meals (all praise to the inventor of these). Last week, I ate an entire bowl of Brussels sprouts for lunch at the office… and no one would sit with me.

Spinach: I was at the gym this weekend, watching the Food Network on the elliptical (as per usual). While basking in the irony of watching a food show while working out, I noticed that Five Ingredients or Less was making creamed spinach that looked so amazing that I actually had to get off the machine, go to Kroger and pick up spinach to make it myself. Spoiler: it doesn’t taste as good when you also forget to buy cream but it’s still first-rate.

Olives: I recently discovered olive bars and there is no turning back. I understand that these grocery store staples have been around for awhile but since I lack the capacity to explain the complex layout of my Whole Foods, I’ll just let you judge me as incompetent. I love olives so much that I’m considering tattooing an olive branch on my foot (kidding about the reason but not about the tattoo – olive branches are the symbol for peace and goodwill. See picture for tattoo design).

Peppers: I have a love-hate relationship with peppers. I still have nightmares about the day I decided to make my own salsa and chopped 2 lbs. of peppers without gloves. Needless to say, I couldn’t take out my contacts that night. However, I can’t grill vegetables without including peppers and now include them among my favorite salad toppings.

So for today, put aside that burger and give the salad bar a chance. I'll be back tomorrow with another Earth-a-palooza post.

Adios**.


*no correction needed: she knows that avocado is a fruit.

**the foreign language use is even funnier when she accidently combines Spanish and German in the same poorly-constructed sentence... It'll happen, just wait.