What to feed the naysayers
Hey! Happy Monday! Happy Memorial Day, too <3 Hope you’re having a lovely morning.
Since it’s a classic day for BBQs and grilling, I thought it would be fun to post some of my favorite recipes for the healthy eating naysayers.
You know who I’m talking about:
“Why are you eating THAT?!”
“Ewww, is that green? And you’re drinking it!”
“If it’s healthy, I don’t want it”
and my personal favorite:
“I don’t like organic. It tastes horrible.” [What?! Organic is the SAME. It tastes the same, if not better. Silly people]
So for these types of punks people, I like to bring recipes to gatherings that stump everyone because they taste amazing, are plant-based and healthy, too.
Food to please the naysayers:
1. Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat cheese and Chives
2. Snobby Joes (Veganonicon recipe- put it on a bun with cheese and no one will ask you where the meat is)
3. Kale chips (yep, they’re green but once you can get someone to try them, they’ll fall in love)
4. Raw chocolate tart (minis or the full-sized version)
5. Pasta salad
(Brown rice noodles, walnuts, goat cheese, arugula, raspberry vinaigrette)
6. Greek salad (even more fun with quinoa and chickpeas- I’m taking this with me to a BBQ today)
7. Beet burgers! (My fam loves these- the madre requested them sometime this week)
8. Vegan almond butter chocolate chip cookies (feasters are usually shocked these are vegan)
9. Raw strawberry tart (Matthew Kenney’s recipe: Everyday Raw)
10. Goat cheese stuffed mushrooms
What’s your favorite recipe to feed the naysayers??
I’m off to teach- see ya this afternoon 🙂
xoxo
Gina
*Thank you to those who serve and have served our country. I am always grateful for your bravery, selflessness and protection <3
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Southwestern pumpkin soup — low cal, super healthy, tons of flavor!
I usually serve the “naysayers” a veggie-loaded whole wheat couscous; throw some peppers, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes into the grain and it always gets gobbled down!
Great post, Gina!
My fave recipe to feed the naysayers is my “Chocolate Mousse”. I dont happen to tell them it’s made with avocados, it’s raw, vegan, naturally GF, and seriously NO ONE ever, ever guesses that it’s not made with a pound of butter or eggs or baked or bubbled over a stove. It’s the most “fool ’em” recipe I have. Normally I am not big on “tricking” people with food, but I have to say, it’s fun with this one. Currently linked on my site.
As well as a new recipe I created, avocado ice cream. Sounds awful to the naysayers but it’s so sweet and creamy the way I made it. It would totally work.
Can’t wait to see what everyone thinks about the food you’re bringing today.
Love this post 🙂
I don’t worry about the naysayers. If they don’t like what I am serving that means there will be more leftovers for me. I would never impose on a host with my diet. I am a vegetarian and I never ask the host to make something special – never. I just eat what I can and politely decline any meat products while I fill up on salad and veggies.
I love to serve oh she glows maple candied walnut salad. I swear, so many people have asked for the recipe! I always direct them over to angelas blog! anything by mamma pea silences those loud mouths too!
Oh wow, all of these sound amazing!! Love the looks of the little tart too. My favourite go-to’s are grain-based salads with quinoa and some type of veggie protein (edamame, or some other bean) and lots of vegetables with a tasty dressing. Oh – and you can’t miss with sweet potato fries!
people (friends) have been asking me.. “do you ever get sick of vegetables?!” hahaha no never.
Love all these, especially the goat cheese stuffed mushrooms.
My fav is usually to healthify a pasta salad and make a wheatberry or barley salad with tons of veggies but a kicking dressing to make them forget about all that mayo!
Oh yummy!!! As much as i love to surprise people with how awesome vegan food can taste, it really gets old to have to hear all the questions/critics ALL THE FREAKIN TIME! But once someone has taste my vegan food, they never critic anything again;);)
people can be so silly sometimes. When ever i eat my VOO at work everyone is making faces and looking at it.
My dad is no better though! i made some macaroons for my parents, but he didn’t touch any because he thought I might have put some weird healthy stuff in it. And i was like, no dad its just coconut LOL. silly guy.
Hope you have a wonderful day, its not a holiday here. but i still thank all the people that have served for the country!
All of that food looks amazing!! I just experienced a few of those comments yesterday and got teased for not eating ribs… (nastyyyyyyy)
Love this topic!
Vegan queso – once you get them to taste it, there is no going back.
I like to feed people taco or burrito bowls with black beans or lentils as taco meat. They might complain initially, but they usually comment after the meal that they didn’t need the meat or miss it.
Pasta dishes are usually a hit. A good margherita pizza or spaghetti pomodoro works.
Have fun!
Vegan queso?! Ummm…recipe, STAT! (please? :))
Your recipe tips look yummy! Now I’m getting hungry.
Whenever I’m invited to a potluck or bbq, I usually bring glass noodle salad (japchae) and/or veggie pancakes (with carrots and zucchini). My meat-eating friends love them! If a dessert is requested, too, I might bring a huge fruit salad. Ice cream optional, but highly recommended.
I like to make “deconstructed guacamole” to feed naysayers. Cut 2 avocado and 2 tomatoes into chunks, add 1/2 of a finely diced red onion, and top with a viniagrette of rice wine vinegar, olive oil, and hot sauce. Let it sit for about an hour, then serve with blue corn chips. It’s also great on fish or chicken tacos!
oh i’m drooling…i love sweet potatoes and goat cheese! such a perfect combination!
Usually I bring a big fruit bowl and salad — sure it seems a little boring, but everyone seems to appreciate some fresh produce at parties.
Any vegan baked good usually works. They say something like, “Wow, this is amazing. It doesn’t even TASTE vegan!” What does that even mean?? 😀
Otherwise, peanut noodles are always a hit for an entree
I love tricking people with healthy desserts – ones with applesauce, beans, etc. No one can ever tell, and when I tell them, they don’t believe me!
These are great suggestions btw…will definitely have to try a few out.
WOW! I wasn’t hungry before I read your post, but after I saw all of those amazing, delicious pictures…I’m STARVING!!! Everything looked so yummy!!!!! Okay…off to munch on something healthy…and green…and vegan…and organic:)! Thx!!!:)
Those sweet potato rounds look amazing!
Psh, more for me if they don’t want some!
Ahhh. The Nay-sayers, we gotta love em right?! Ummm not so much actually! 😉
Great post here Gina. I will take # 1, 9, and 10. I also put together a very similar meal idea post too this weekend so people can think out side the bun!
It is funny, I have a Vegetarian “Sloppy Joe” Recipe and goat cheese stuffed mushroom recipe too. We eat so similiar it makes me laugh often. 🙂
I am sorry your dehyrator is acting up…lame!
Happy Memorial Day!!
And a BIG THANK YOU going out to your Pilot today too! Happy Memorial Day! It seems to have even more meaning to me this year as we just visited Pearl Harbor a few weeks ago!
I love bringing healthy dishes to parties and just setting them out without saying anything…people end up devouring it and then I reveal how healthy it is! They are always shocked….hehehehe I love being sneaky!
Oh! I make a Mediterranean-ish layered dip with plain greek yogurt, hummus, couscous, tomato, cucumber, roasted red pepper, etc etc. Just whatever sounds good. People LOVE it–it is a nice (and healthy!) change from regular Mexican layered dip. So yummy.
OH YUM!!
Ummm… Holy delicious. And now I’m hungry!
Most of my family are self-professed “healthy food haters”, which is FRUSTRATING. I usually don’t tell them what’s in anything I make until after they eat it… 🙂
Mmmm, I would gobble up all that stuff in a mere minute!
Have a great day!
Hey Gina! Great post! I get naysayers at work ALL the time… I feed them some vegan vanilla cupcakes and they swoooooned over them! However, they still do not understand how I can “live without eating meat!” Haha
Also, I was wondering if you had any ideas on substitutions for cashews, almonds etc… I am allergic to tree nuts (not peanuts, at least not yet) but there are a TON of fabulous recipes with tree nuts in the recipe. I would love to try them all but I’m concerned if I tried peanuts as a swap, I may totally ruin the recipe.
Thanks!! Have a wonderful day!!
i make the best salad dressing around here so whenever we have a get together, i feed them huge salads with all KINDS of veggies in there! i usually get no complaints. 🙂
Oh my gosh, thank you for posting these recipes! I’m not a vegetarian, but I’m not a meat-lover either. I love going to BBQs, but I often find myself with an upset stomach from all the greasy food. These are great alternatives! Thank you! 🙂
I’ve gotten my husband hooked on kale chips! He even talked them up to his other chef friends 🙂
Great recipe round up. Raw chocolate cakes, avocado chocolate mousse, veggie-based hummus, and my chocolate banana kale chips are my favorite recipes for them.
To the naysayers I say, “Want to see my abs after having 3 kids?” Yep, that’s what clean eating gets you… 😉
boom!
Ohhh this reminds me I need to make those cookies again soon!! My favorite thing to feed the naysayers is my raw chocolate cake with coconut-chocolate frosting. People LOVE it and never even realize it’s raw!
I LOVE the goat cheese stuffed mushrooms!! They are so easy and delicious!
My trick for feeding the naysayers? Don’t tell them it’s healthy or out of the ordinary. #1 favorite is to feed them goat cheese, but don’t tell them it’s goat cheese, because they say they don’t like goat cheese. It makes me laugh when my dad and brother rave about something “they don’t like.” : )
Just throwing out there that it’s important to keep in mind that “healthy” is subjective. Someone is on a body-builder type diet or who eats low-carb for instance might consider these selections to be UNhealthy indulgences, at least for their particular needs and goals. And while I’ll always choose a veggie burger over a chicken breast for instance (since I am a vegetarian!), it doesn’t necessarily follow that the veggie burger is healthier–in fact the chicken probably has better nutritional stats. I think the best approach is to put out there that you eat a certain way because you like this type of food better than because it’s “healthier.”
Homemade corn salsa- black beans, onion, corn and bell peppers sauteed with olive oil & s/p and then chilled. When cooled, add slices of avocado, cilantro and some finely diced red onion and fresh lime juice. YUM.
That pasta salad looks amazing! Where I’m from pasta salad is oftentimes really heavy on the mayo and that just doesn’t do it for me…so I am really loving the look of yours!
Loved this post! Most of the time I am fine with “defending” what I am eating or trying to convince others that what I am consuming is not only nutritious but also gasp, tasty. However, I do become a bit irritated from time to time with the sometimes relentless comments
Thank you for providing the recipes and links! I especially want to try the first one with the sweet potatoes
I like to make hearty, healthy soups for guests
Great roundup! Dang those naysayers – the no organic is hilarious! My favorite is probably butternut squash fries – they always surprise people!
Haha, that last one doesn’t even make sense — I think organic almost always tastes better, cleaner, and fresher!
Thanks for all the recipes. The chocolate chip almond butter cookies sound incredible!
I like bringing bean salads! My kidney bean salad is the best and people go crazy for it!
It’s definitely important to WOW them 🙂 I like to make a fun mango salsa and for something sweet everyone loves my irish potatoes (not healthy, but vegan!)
I love nothing more than convincing “naysayers” how good healthy foods really are. This is one of the most rewarding feelings! All this food looks sooo good!
I like to bring guacamole to parties and BBQs. Everyone loves the guac! 😀
I used to manage a bunch of guys that would refuse to use the coffee machine if I put organic coffee in it. It’s just a particular (stooopid) mindset I guess. Rather than argue the point, I just got the coffee place to write ‘Krank’ or a name of one of their non-organic coffees on the bag instead of ‘Organic’, even though it actually was organic coffee. Did the guys notice? No.
i couldn’t help but laugh out loud at what you said about organic tasting horrible. people are so narrow-minded. my entire family thinks i’m crazy for being vegetarian but they never give anything “healthy” a try. they just don’t know what their missing out on. LOVE the recipes 🙂
This is one of my favorite contributions to a cookout. It’s a nice sub for the classic white potato salad that is normally swimming in mayo (which makes my stomach turn just to think about…). There are NEVER leftovers! http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/30/dining/301mrex.html
I love the goat cheese rounds! They look amazing. I like to give the naysayers eggplant goat cheese roll ups. I grill eggplant slices, add a dab of goat cheese, spinach, and pasta sauce to the center, roll ’em up, and let ’em feast. They’re always a hit!
Just popping in from my usual hangin’ out in the background to say that I love your posts, and especially this one! I have been brainstorming ways I can get my boyfriend (a SERIOUS naysayer) to try new foods, and I’m going to try out a few of these delicious-looking ideas. I was even linking to your stuffed mushrooms on my blog… not sure if it’s just me but I had to search to find the actual recipe on this back-post: http://fitnessista.com/2011/05/the-opposite-of-exercise-endorphins/
Can’t wait to try it, and keep up the daily inspiration!
thank you so much for saying hi! so glad you liked the post 🙂