Eating the Veggie Rainbow for National Nutrition Month

Photo credit: Eric Rolph. Source: English Wikipedia

I was munching on a Butterfinger and surfing my favorite food blogs when I realized that I’d almost missed National Nutrition Month this March. (No, the irony wasn’t lost on me.)

For those who don’t know, National Nutrition Month (NNM) is the American Dietetic Association’s month-long bid to get us all to eat healthier. I’m completely on board, because between catchy fast food ads and tasty treats swaddled in festive packaging (my Butterfinger had a shiny Easter-themed wrapper covered in cute little bunnies! Who could resist?!), it’s refreshing to see someone attempting to convince me to eat

something healthy. Like, say, vegetables.

Better yet, the theme for NNM 2011 is “Eat Right With Color,” which meshes nicely with my penchant for cute and colorful food, and my ongoing attempts to like veggies. (Although honestly, the first thing that popped into my head after reading, “Eat Right With Color” was the Skittles slogan, “Taste the Rainbow”; probably not what they had in mind!) To celebrate NNM, the nice folks at the American Dietetic Association (ADA) were even kind enough to provide a full rundown of the big nutritional benefits that veggies bring to the table (by color, no less!) in a recent press release. Yet another reason to give every vegetable in the grocery store a whirl.

Taking the Color Challenge

In honor of NNM 2011—quick, while it’s still March—I’m going to take the color challenge and eat the veggie rainbow, chowing down on a different color of vegetable every day this week. The original color challenge, posed by ADA spokesperson Ruth Frechman, isn’t limited to vegetables, but darn it, this is Veggie Quest. I’ll be painting my plate with veggies.

Nerd that I am, I’ll be eating my vegetables in order of color, by wavelength of light, as seen in a rainbow: red, orange, yellow—squeeze in white and tan here—green, blue, indigo, and violet. I know that’s more than seven, but I may have to lump blue, indigo and violet together—there just aren’t that many blue vegetables! (Although I have seen plenty of sad-looking ones in the display case at my grocery store….heh.) I may not make a swanky new recipe every night, but I’ll definitely document the color of the day, starting with red on Monday!

Now, are YOU ready to take the challenge?

[crickets chirping]

What’s that? If only you had some inspiration, you say? Well, look no further: here are some colorful vegetable recipes to get you started: