Making Room by Gather
Hospitality. What do you think of when you hear that word?
For some it's old school 'stuffy' entertaining for others it's something to do with the hotel industry. One thing is for sure, as a culture we're not talking about it much.
Food * Design * Relationships have seemed to have taken a back seat to what our culture focuses on and values yet...we find ourselves in the midst of a loneliness epidemic. Something has to change, it's time to get back to our tables, and we're making room for it!
Making Room by Gather invites you into a new conversation on everyday hospitality. One that rewrites the way we approach opening your doors and filling your tables. Shifting the narrative from 'how does this make me look' to 'how does this make you feel' these buildable conversations aspire to inspire connection through everyday gathering.
Kayty's chic and a little quirky interview style will make you feel like you're sitting with a friend talking about how to grow in confidence as an everyday host. You can expect conversations from navigating challenging relationship dynamics to foundational cooking techniques and everything in between.
Whether you are a seasoned host or looking to develop new friendships and grow in your skills for the first time, there is a seat at the table. Join us weekly for new conversations with expert guests and with Kayty in her beloved Date with Kayt episodes. Continue the conversation @gatheritentionalliving
Making Room by Gather
Life Changing Salads w/ Healthy Girl Kitchen
Forget everything you thought you knew about salads. In this energizing conversation with Danielle of Healthy Girl Kitchen (@healthygirlkitchen), we unpack how salads can be transformed from sad side dishes into vibrant, satisfying meals that fuel your body and delight your taste buds.
Danielle shares her compelling journey from college student plagued with health issues to plant-based advocate with over 12 million followers across social media. The turning point? Discovering how dramatically her diet affected her energy, digestion, skin, and overall wellbeing. What began as experimentation in her dorm room—with nothing but a microwave and determination—evolved into a mission to help others experience similar transformations through accessible, delicious plant-centered meals.
We dive deep into the secrets of creating truly satisfying salads that won't leave you hungry an hour later. From incorporating protein-packed grains and legumes to the strategic addition of healthy fats and complex carbs, Danielle breaks down the formula for salads that serve as complete meals. You'll learn why your homemade dressings aren't emulsifying properly (hint: that coffee frother in your drawer has a second purpose!) and how hummus can transform into the creamiest dairy-free dressing base you've ever tasted.
The conversation explores highlights from Danielle's new cookbook "Life-Changing Salads," including warm salads perfect for winter months, grain-based options that travel well, and creative no-lettuce alternatives that won't wilt in your fridge. With 75 recipes designed for real people with busy lives, this cookbook stands apart with its accessibility, allergy-friendly options, and focus on ingredients you can actually find at regular grocery stores.
Whether you're a self-proclaimed "big salad friend" or someone who's been disappointed by too many bland, unsatisfying greens, this episode will revolutionize your approach to healthy eating. Because as Danielle proves, you don't have to choose between food that tastes amazing and food that makes you feel amazing—you can absolutely have both.
Subscribe to our podcast for more conversations about intentional hospitality, and check out lifechangingsalads.com to pre-order Danielle's cookbook before its April release!
I'm your big salad friend, it's true. If you go out to eat with me, I'm getting a salad as big as my head and I'm eating every last bite without any regret. I've always been that way, since I was a teenager and first started to love salads. I wanted them loaded with not just boring toppings, but the good ones. I want a hefty piece of protein. I want a really good dressing and I am going to lick the plate. It's just who I am. I love a hefty piece of protein. I want a really good dressing and I am going to lick the plate. It's just who I am. I love a good salad. But as I've gotten older and learned more about nutrition and intentional eating goodness, I have learned just how quickly a salad could be packed with ingredients that are actually doing more harm than good. But with that, there's also a way to approach a salad, on how to make it so that every single last flavorful bite is fueling your body and you aren't missing a thing.
Speaker 1:Well, I was scrolling social media as I do and looking for some podcast guests and came across Healthy Girl Kitchen. And my word, she just came out with a new book, life-changing Salads, and I was seeing this posted everywhere. I knew I had to have her on the show. Guys, this cookbook is not just a salad cookbook. It is quite literally a life-changing salad cookbook. This has recipes for everyone in your life, from those that eat dairy-free. If you have a friend that's focused more on protein, vegan, vegetarian, I mean everything in one book and every single bite, I kid you not, is stunning, which I really appreciate. I love beauty in every part of my life and also so crave-worthy. Well, if you do not know who Healthy Girl Kitchen is, head on over to socials, literally any social. She has millions of followers, diehard, loyal fans that follow her and support her in all that she does. You're going to hear more about her story in the episode today. But, guys, this conversation is so fun, so so fun, with our new friend Danielle as we celebrate the launch of her newest cookbook and, quite literally, a cookbook that is going to change your life as well.
Speaker 1:Well, this episode is brought to you by us at Gather just in time for Mother's Day and just in time for spring and summer hospitality, and we want to come alongside you. Picture us like a private teacher in your kitchen on demand, anytime you need us, as you are getting ready to host, we would love to come alongside you to teach you how to style, plate and prepare, specifically, charcuterie and cake decorating for your gatherings. You see them on social media. You want to know how to make them and we are going to take all the skills that we learned through trial and error we did all the learning so you don't have to and teach you the skills that work. So if you are looking to make a naked cake, a rosette cake, if you are looking to make a fruit and nut charcuterie board or maybe something a little bit more sweet, like our romantique that has chocolate and salami all on the same board, we want to come alongside you and make it fun, make it easy and give you the confidence to host. Head on over to our website, gatherintentionallivingcom, and head on over to our pre-recorded workshops. And head on over to our pre-recorded workshops you should see them pretty clearly listed on the website and use code HEALTHYGIRL H-E-A-L-T. Oh my gosh, you guys know how to spell it, I'm not going to spell it HEALTHYGIRL one word for 50% off the full package of all the workshops or $9.99 a class. We will see you there.
Speaker 1:Hi, I'm Katie, a hospitality educator and the host of Making Room by Gather podcast, I am set to see our communities get back to the table through hospitality, but it wasn't always this way. My husband and I moved to Thailand and through it I experienced some loneliness and with it I was given a choice to sit back and accept it or to do something about it, and for me, that meant two things that I needed the healing to learn how to accept an invitation and the confidence to know how to extend one. Through this process, I developed some of the richest and deepest relationships of my life. Through Making Room by Gather, you will hear conversations from myself and experts in the areas of food, design and relationships. You see there are countless things trying to keep us from the table, but can I tell you something? Take a seat, because you are ready, you are capable, you are a good host. Okay, I am so excited for this. It's timely. I got an advanced copy of your book that I was very excited to receive. It was happy mail.
Speaker 2:Oh, I'm so glad you got one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and you know it was funny. They told me they were like these, like just came out. Did you get yours yet?
Speaker 2:I got mine yeah. Okay, you literally are the only person besides me and my editor who has a book, you should feel super special.
Speaker 1:I know I kind of wanted to be a little protective and almost text you and say did you open yours first?
Speaker 2:Because I don't want to be the very first one that's so funny, you honestly might have opened it before me.
Speaker 1:Well, it's incredible, and we were having dinner with a family friend last night. We were doing a very casual pizza party and I made your pizza party salad.
Speaker 2:I want all of your thoughts. That's like my favorite salad.
Speaker 1:It's so fun. So I'm an Italian background my listeners know that and I had a ton of like antipasto stuff on hand. I was like this is perfect. It was great.
Speaker 2:It's like the perfect like. If you order in pizza but you still want to like have some veggies on the side and want like an amazing salad, because I feel like sometimes casual pizza places their salads aren't the greatest, especially if you're like eating more plant-based, this is like the perfect thing to make alongside pizza.
Speaker 1:Absolutely so. Question for you. So my husband grew up pizza and chips. We always grew up pizza and salad. How did you grow up?
Speaker 2:Pizza and chips is insane. I've never heard of that in my life. What's pizza and chips? I think that was only your husband's family. I've never heard of that, I know.
Speaker 1:And you know what's funny? He's a pretty like fit guy and I'm like if I did pizza and chips, I would not be as fit as you, I would not be like. That would not work for me.
Speaker 2:My body type. Why the chips? I feel like that's not a common pairing. I feel like like chips with like your Mexican taco night is more normal.
Speaker 1:No, it's like it's barbecue. Yeah, it's barbecue chips and pizza.
Speaker 2:So chips and pizza Okay.
Speaker 1:Would you?
Speaker 2:put it on the pizza and eat it as like a crunchy slice.
Speaker 1:Not that's not like, that's not like the formula, like it's not like every time, but sometimes that happens.
Speaker 2:Yep, okay Well, maybe I'll try it sometime.
Speaker 1:I know, yeah, if we ever get together, we'll have both. Colby will bring the chips, we'll have your salad, okay, so I've been following you for a little bit. We were just talking about like our kids are kind of the same age, our sons are the same age, but people might not be familiar with your background. I know that I don't know the full story. What do you want people to know about your journey to 5 million followers? Cookbook release, like there's definitely a story there. So what do you want? What do you want people to know about you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there's a lot of people in the Healthy Girl community. It's crazy, like I think we're even up to like 12 million now across all platforms, like 5 million on Instagram, and then we have our TikTok audience. We have Facebook, which we have a ton of people on there as well. So it's just been a tremendous amount of growth in the past few years and I truly did not picture that I'd be here today.
Speaker 2:Long story short, I always loved eating healthy and I came from a family that loved food. My mom made home, cooked dinner every night. If she said dinner was ready, I was racing down the stairs. In five seconds I was at the table. I was always a member of the clean plate club. My mom joked that she'd have to make so much food because I was at the table. I was always a member of the clean plate club. I always my mom joked that like she'd have to make so much food because I was always eating and I just I love food, but I also loved health.
Speaker 2:But when I went to college, I went to Michigan State University and they're known for their dining halls. They're basically like mall food courts with all you can eat pasta, bar, pizza, bar, all-you-can-eat ice cream. They literally have all-you-can-eat soft serve machines on every single corner and while this was fun, obviously I had a little too much fun and I just started to feel sick after eating. And I know I was eating a lot of dairy. I was eating a lot of processed foods. I was eating meat at the time that I had no idea where this was coming from. This was mystery meat from a college dining hall. I was eating a lot of sugar. They literally had a station where you could make an ice cream sandwich and you could pick the flavor cookie and pick your flavor ice cream and make a custom ice cream sandwich. So I started to feel super sick and I was very fatigued. I was taking three hour naps every single day when I was in college and I also had hormonal acne. I felt like my digestion was just always off. I didn't feel like it was running properly. I had chronic heartburn and GERD issues with acid reflux, and none of these things were ever addressed by a doctor I was seeing. So if I went and sought out help from a doctor like hey, I'm having really bad chest pain and heartburn, and they would never really have an answer for me other than maybe a prescription medication and I thought I would just feel this way for the rest of my life.
Speaker 2:When I stumbled across a plant-based diet. I was watching a documentary called Forks Over Knives and I was seeing that people were reversing diseases like heart disease and type 2 diabetes with a plant-based diet. And I came to learn that a plant-based diet meant that you were vegan. And I'm like okay, vegans are weird. This was a time where it wasn't as mainstream. There weren't as many dairy-free yogurts as they are now, or the Beyond Meat or Impossible products. It was not cool and I just thought that vegans smoked weed and ate tofu and were very hippy-dippy and I didn't really relate to them at all and I didn't understand. I'm like okay, so they don't eat fish and they don't eat meat or eggs or dairy. What does a vegan eat? But I researched it and looked more into it and I decided to try it in my college dorm room and, before you know it, I was microwaving sweet potatoes.
Speaker 2:In my dorm room, I kept a bowl of non-perishable fruit. I had bananas and oranges and apples. Constantly in my room, I had things like peanut butter and protein bars, and in the dining hall, instead of having soft serve and Alfredo pasta. I would have pasta with vegetables and marinara sauce. And I would ask the people at the pasta bar to make me whole wheat pasta. And they actually started carrying whole wheat pasta and making it every day. Because I would ask the people at the pasta bar to make me whole wheat pasta. And they actually started carrying whole wheat pasta and making it every day because I would ask for it. And I would ask them like, hey, do you mind sauteing all my vegetables at the pasta bar, in steaming them instead of using the canola oil that you're using.
Speaker 2:And I just started to make these healthier choices. I made the salad bar my best friend. They had a pretty good salad bar with all kinds of greens and beans, chickpeas, seeds like sunflower seeds, and I would make these giant salads and I would have fruit. And I just made it work for myself. And keep in mind, I barely had any money, I didn't have a car, I didn't have a kitchen. I just had my little microwave, my mini fridge in my dorm room and I had access to my dining halls.
Speaker 2:And I just made it work for myself and within a couple months I had lost 20 pounds. I was not trying to lose weight, by the way, I was simply just trying to make better choices, Lost 20 pounds. I had so much energy. I didn't need to take those three-hour naps anymore. My acne cleared up, I just felt so healthy and the chest pain and heartburn that I had been dealing with for literally like three years at that point went away and never came back. And I just thought to myself diet is so powerful and people don't know about this. People don't realize the power of plants being at the center of your plate, and I don't know exactly what I'm going to do, but I was on a mission, from that point forward, to help other people the same way I helped myself.
Speaker 1:I love all of it and as you were talking about your story, like growing up, that your mom said she always had to make food or the clean plate cup, I was totally with you on that, like I've always been known as someone that I say, like I like salads, but I like big salads, you know, like big salads, big portions, but I love health. So I'm right there with you for sure. So this conversation came at a great time because we're recording the start of the new year. People are wanting to make these changes right, like maybe the new year sparked that. Maybe, kind of like your story, health problems are wanting to push them in that direction, and I think a lot of people believe that health and good food can't coexist.
Speaker 1:Like when I say I'm a foodie, but I'm a healthy foodie, I'm an intentional foodie, people are like, well, what does that look like? And so I want to talk about food, I want to talk about how those two things can coexist. But I want to start with a question as people move towards health, what people commonly ask do I need to buy organic? Does it matter? Does it not matter? As they're taking this step, what do you? You actually, you have a great section of your book that talks about this, but let's talk about it here. Why? Why does that matter? When does that matter? What do you say about it?
Speaker 2:So the organic debate's a big one, right? I think in general, like, let's start overall, eating fruits and vegetables is better than eating none at all. So if you can't afford to buy organic, if you don't have access to organic fruits and vegetables, it's just important that you're eating fruits and vegetables. But if you do have access, if you have access to a farmer's market, if you have access to locally grown produce, if you are able to find it in your local grocery store and that is an option for you, I'd highly recommend buying organic. I like to stick to the rule of do your best. So if I really need peppers for a recipe but they're sold out or they don't have organic that day, I get the peppers. But then what you can do is actually in my book there's a little recipe for a fruit and vegetable wash. You can do kind. Actually in my book there's like a little recipe for like a fruit and vegetable wash. You can do kind of like a homemade fruit and veggie wash and just make sure that you give them a really good rinse and a really good wash. If you don't want to make it, they even sell like. Trader Joe's has a really good one, whole Foods has one. They have a fruit and vegetable wash that you can spray on your produce. That really helps to get any waxes, pesticides or anything off your produce. But overall it is amazing to be able to buy organic produce so that you're not consuming any extra synthetic pesticides that would be used on conventional produce.
Speaker 2:Also, you have to think about fruits and vegetables that are in a peel or not in a peel and whether they would be directly sprayed or not. So let's say, take berries, for example. They're exposed, so it's important to buy things like berries, organic lettuce that's directly exposed that's really important to buy organic. Or something like a banana that has a peel it's protected. Or something like maybe a, a potato that you you are going to peel you know you're going to peel. That's another one. That's great.
Speaker 2:But in general, if you can buy organic, I love to and I think it's most affordable when you do it from like a local farmer farmer's market or like get to know a local farmer by you. I found so many different random little like nooks and crannies, even by me, and like in Florida of like really cute places that aren't even that aren't organic certified because they're too small to be organic certified. But like I've had conversations with them and they're like, oh yeah, like we don't. We don't spray with anything toxic or we don't. You know, we don't use any harsh chemicals, so it's just. I think it's important to to get to know your local, local produce places.
Speaker 1:Yeah, those are great tips. It's a great conversation. I remember, you know, I'm like young thirties right now when I was in like high school and the organic conversation was really like becoming more mainstream. People just didn't understand it and it kind of felt like it was something like a decision that only people like elite people made. You know, like buying organic meant like I don't know, higher society, higher income, and it's like that's not. I'm thankful that it's taken a different turn, right Like Trader Joe's. Places like Trader Joe's have made it really affordable really for everyone.
Speaker 2:Yeah, walmart has a huge organic section too.
Speaker 1:Walmart did.
Speaker 2:You said yeah, Walmart has a really big organic section.
Speaker 1:That's incredible. Yeah, it's these small decisions that really, I don't know, make a lasting impact. Well, with this, I think, as people move towards health, they think small salads, really basic salads, and even as we talk about your cookbook, I've gotten salad cookbooks in the past that it's just like repetition the same flavors over and over. They're not filling things like that, and so I'm glad we're having a different conversation here. But when I talk about a salad, we were talking about this before we hit record. I want a big salad, I want a filling salad, and I know that that's possible. So what do you find is the key to making a salad? Let's start with filling. I think that people think diet and they get lettuce, tomato, cucumber and they're like why am I still hungry? So right. So what's the key here to making it bulky and hearty?
Speaker 2:That's a great question. So there are some secrets to bulking up your salads and to making them filling because, like you said, a lot of people they go on a diet or they're trying to eat healthier and they think they just need to eat a boring salad. But what that's going to do is create too much of a calorie restriction in a meal. So if you're just having greens and fruits and vegetables as your meal, if it's on a side with protein and other types of things, of course that's great to have a green salad, and there's plenty of those in my book. But if you want your salad as your meal, you have to make it hearty. I have a category for grain salads, which are so filling and hearty so they have grains in them, like quinoa, maybe they have couscous. I have an entire pasta salad section that will show you how to use like protein pastas and whole wheat pasta to make a little bit more of a filling salad. So adding some kind of grain or whole grain filled with fiber, complex carbs. I recommend always like over a white flour pasta, like always like a whole wheat pasta, because it's going to have more protein, going to have more fiber. It's not going to spike your blood sugar or something like a chickpea pasta, a lentil pasta. I love. It's not organic and I wish it was, but I love it so much and I buy it.
Speaker 2:The Barilla Protein Pasta it's in a yellow box and it's delicious. It's a blend of, I think, wheat, chickpea, lentil, fortified with all different vitamins and it tastes just like white pasta. I think there are some lentil and chickpea pastas out there that are not good and I'm not going to say any brands, but I am like kind of a pasta snob. But the Barilla Protein Pasta is really good. And then I also buy this brand Goodles. It's in a hot pink box and it's protein pasta.
Speaker 2:I feed it to my toddler too and it's filled with protein, filled with like lentils and all different vegetables. It has, like broccoli, sweet potato, all different kinds of vitamins, and so there are so many healthier, nutrient-dense pastas now on the market that you can use to beef up a salad Also healthy fats. So making sure you're adding, like an avocado, some kind of nut or seed, like a scoop of hemp seeds amazing to add to a salad because they have that fiber, healthy fats. Hemp seeds also have protein If you want to do, like some chia seeds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, some kind of healthy fat in your salad Also. The fiber will fill you up as well, and then some kind of starch too, right, so if you add, like a sweet potato, to a salad, that can make it very satiating as well.
Speaker 1:You know, it always breaks my heart when I see people like making the switch to healthy diets or like healthy eating Is there. They avoid things like an avocado or a sweet potato because they think that they're avoiding fats or carbs, and so they have their salad and then you're like stuck snacking all afternoon. You end up having like you're starving. You reach towards things that maybe, like you shouldn't or aren't great, you know, for your health goals. It's like no, just bulk up your salad right. Like don't be scared.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't be scared. And of course, a protein too, right. So like, aside from like a protein pasta you can do at least all of my salads are plant-based but you do you some kind of protein. So for me I like to do a grilled tofu. I'll do like an air fried crispy tofu L as like a main source of protein in a salad where lentils are going to have like double or more protein than a lentil or a black bean.
Speaker 2:So I would say doing a chickpea as your protein, I would also compliment it with something else, unless you're having like a lot of chickpeas, but sometimes people get digestive upset from too many beans. So if that's the case, you can compliment a smaller amount of chickpeas. But sometimes people get digestive upset from too many beans. So if that's the case, you can compliment a smaller amount of chickpeas with the tofu, for example.
Speaker 1:So good, such a good conversation. Well, over the years, I feel like right now, if you spend five minutes on social media, you're hearing about seed oils, poor quality oils, things like that, and it's good that the conversation's happening. I've been learning about it for the past few years and I feel like, well, I know that a lot of the shelf stable dressings are filled with ingredients, like you were saying, that don't make our bodies happy, for lack of a better term like there are a lot of consequences from from eating them that we don't even realize. You don't know until you know kind of thing. So in your book you talk a lot about dressings that we could be making at home and I think when people first hear this, if they didn't grow up in families that made dressings or they haven't done it before, it feels intimidating. But it's so simple, so so simple.
Speaker 1:I did the dressing last night for the pizza night salad. It was phenomenal. It's so simple. It's so simple and it's likely ingredients you already have on hand. So talk to us about dressings. What are some of your I guess, like go-tos that you think everyone should know about?
Speaker 2:Dressing is a hard one, and it's become extra tough because the healthier dressings that they are selling bottled in a store are very pricey.
Speaker 2:I would say they are starting at $7 a bottle, which you could make your own for exponentially cheaper. And also, of course, when you're making your own, it's fresher, you're controlling the ingredients and you are saving a lot of money and time. So when I make my own dressing, no dressing is going to take more than five minutes. So I have an entire dressing section in the book of 25 different dressings that pair with the 75 salads that are in my new life-changing salads book. And I would say that and of course, like you're going to have fun dressings that you make but I would have like five that you are like constantly keeping in your arsenal and that you're using all the time for different recipes and that you kind of just learn how to throw together. Like maybe the first time or two you're looking at the measurements but they're so easy. You're just going to learn how to like pour things together in a bowl.
Speaker 2:A little secret about me I don't measure anything when I cook, I just don't have time for that. I anything when I cook, I just don't have time for that. I like throw in a little bit of this, a little bit of that. So I would say for dressings, like a really good balsamic vinaigrette is important to know how to make, but I really like one of my favorite dressings in the book is a balsamic tahini dressing where you actually you mix balsamic tahini olive oil, some Dijon mustard and make like a creamy balsamic vinaigrette and the tahini adds healthy fats which are good for your hair, your skin, your hormones, your nails, makes the dressing a little bit more hearty and creamy and filling and that's one of my favorite ones in the book. And again, if you have tahini balsamic olive oil, these are pantry staples that you'll just have on hand and you can quickly whip together a dressing and I'm telling you like that in a store would be like $9 by me, at least in Boca. The healthy dressings are so expensive.
Speaker 1:It is wild.
Speaker 2:It's wild. Another great dressing option that you can make is actually using hummus as a base. I love to do this, but you can take hummus and you can use homemade or store-bought and mix it together with olive oil, lemon juice, a little vinegar and that also makes a really creamy, dairy-free dressing. And I also love using non-dairy yogurt as the base of a lot of dressings, because all the yummy dressings that we know and love like I don't know people love blue cheese dressings and like Chipotle, ranch and buffalo and all of these things, but a lot of the ones in restaurants or store-bought ones are they use mayonnaise or, you know, like hydrogenated oils which clog our arteries. You can use non-dairy yogurt as a base of a creamy dressing and then it's dairy-free. You can buy it unsweetened, so you know that there's no sugar, and then you're getting this indulgent, creamy dressing that tastes amazing but is also good for you.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, this is like my language. I love talking this, but I have, so I make a lot of my own dressings.
Speaker 2:I've never done a hummus one yet, and I love hummus, hummus dressing is so good and it's also hummus dressing is amazing on pasta salads too, so you can make like a like a Mediterranean pasta salad and make like a creamy hummus dressing.
Speaker 1:I think you have one of like the best jobs ever. You just get to like play with salads all day.
Speaker 2:So all day? I know that's part eating at the end of the day, right, that's such a dream, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:Well, if listeners haven't made dressings, let this be your invitation to just try it. Try maybe like a vinaigrette and a creamy one. I have two options that I store my dressings in. I do like the OXO or OXO brand. They have like a very simple, like dressing kind of canister that I store my dressing in in the fridge, and a mason jar right Like what do you store? What do you store yours in?
Speaker 2:I like to use a mason jar.
Speaker 1:Okay, cause it's glass, right, yeah, it's glass and it's just easy.
Speaker 2:And if you need to like cause a lot of dressings that you make at home too, you're going to need to like shake it or stir it up before you use it, just because there's no preservatives or anything extra in there that's going to stabilize it or keep it blended. So you're going to need to get in there and give it a good mix once it's sat in the fridge. But I would also say a little frother, one that you would use for coffee, is going to be your best friend too when it comes to dressings, because, let's say, you mix together balsamic and oil. If you just use like a fork, it's not going to completely emulsify and whisk together. If you take one of those little coffee frothers, it'll make like a really creamy, delicious dressing and will really help to blend it as well, you just blew my mind.
Speaker 1:I always whip out my like massive stick blender.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And I feel so like legit, but it's also huge, and so that frother is so genius.
Speaker 2:The frother is genius. Now, if you're making like a more intense dressing with like herbs and avocado like, for example, I have a green goodness dressing that packs in like herbs and like an avocado and it's delicious, but you're going to a frother isn't going to blend up all those ingredients. So, also with dressings, like a mini tiny blender or an immersion blender, like a hand blender is also going to be your best friend when it comes to dressings.
Speaker 1:It's so fun. This is like a foodies dream conversation. I love all this. I know I'm getting hungry, I know. Well, I want to go through just a few of the categories of your book. I think this is my favorite part about it. I honestly was expecting all lettuce salads, and the way that you approached different like non-lettuce type salads was so genius, and I think it's going to be so refreshing for people that want variety and healthy food and just like clean eating. So let's go through some of the chapters. I think I'm going to pick just a few and then leave the rest for listeners to explore as they get their hands on the book, just to show people like what's possible and like some variety that you offer. So give us an example of a grain salad, actually, because I think that's one of my favorite types of salads right now.
Speaker 2:A grain or a green.
Speaker 1:Oh sorry, grain A-I-N.
Speaker 2:Grain. Okay, I have my book here, which I'll show you guys. It turned out so pretty.
Speaker 1:It's so pretty.
Speaker 2:I love it. Yeah, the pink, the green. It has also like a green linen spine which is like really nice if you want to keep on your coffee table or like on your kitchen counter. Like it looks really good design wise too, which is very important to me. But yeah, I have the book right here.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about a great grain salad that you can make so well. I'll talk about two. One is my Moroccan couscous salad. It is literally one of the best salads I've ever had. That's one of my go-tos if I'm bringing something to someone's house. I'm Jewish, so if I'm invited to a Shabbat dinner, I'm always bringing my Moroccan couscous salad. It's like olives, whole wheat, couscous, feta raisins. It's kind of like a sweet savory. The vegan feta makes it amazing and it's just one of the most different salads I've ever had. But so good. And the seasonings too, because I use a Moroccan seasoning blend. It's flavorful, it's filling, guests are always impressed by it and you get the chance to use couscous, which I feel like people don't use enough, and it's like a great addition to a salad.
Speaker 1:That's so fun. I was thinking my husband. He ate couscous for the first time when we started dating and whenever I talk about it or he's trying to refer it, he taps his finger on the table. He's like is it that grain To represent little dots?
Speaker 2:That's so funny, they are like little dots table. He's like is it that grain To represent little dots? That's so funny, they are like little dots yeah.
Speaker 1:He's like what's that thing called? And he does this little tap thing. It's, I don't know bad story. You have to see him do it.
Speaker 2:That's so funny. No, it's such a good salad and it has apples and all different herbs. I think herbs are the secret to an amazing salad too. It just brings so much freshness and flavor. So this is just like a different salad, like kind of just if you want to impress your friends, impress yourself, make something like if you're stuck in a little bit of a rut is what I'm saying. This is like one of my go-tos.
Speaker 1:Moroccan flavors are incredible. Yeah, how about let's do a warm salad, because I feel like people might not like, their brain might not go there, but you captured that so well.
Speaker 2:Thank you, yes. So right now it's obviously cold, it's winter for a lot of people in a lot of places and a crunchy fresh, raw veggie salad isn't necessarily going to appeal to you when your body's freezing cold from the outdoors and you just want to be nourished and warm. So I have a whole section of warm salads, so it's a great way to get your veggies in without having raw vegetables. One of my favorites in there oh, it's the first one on there it's the Zen Bowl, which has curry, cauliflower, black rice, sauteed kale. So it's more of like a warm, hearty, like lots of flavors, delicious, but like super easy.
Speaker 2:All of these recipes are recipes. You don't need to be a chef to make them. I'm not a chef. I like to always say that I did not go to culinary school. I'm just a girl who likes to eat, so I'm always cooking, because if I want to eat, I have to cook. So everything is beyond easy impossible to mess up recipes.
Speaker 2:Before I wrote my book, I looked at every other salad cookbook on the market because I wanted to be different. I'm like, how am I going to set my book apart? And what I found with all of these other books is that, of course, mine's different because it's plant-based, but these salad recipes in other books were complicated. They used ingredients that weren't accessible to people. I saw this salad. I'll never forget this.
Speaker 2:I was looking through salad cookbooks and there was one salad that called for fresh honeycomb and purslane. I'm like I don't know how anyone's going to get either of those and I don't even know what purslane is. So my point is like all these recipes are super, super easy. But yeah, the Zen bowl is delicious, and then also the pizza salad. So I have pizza night salad which, like you make, that's a fresh green, like Italian salad that you're making with pizza. But then I have pizza salad, which is like what you would use as pizza toppings, sauteed into a salad, and it's delicious, like truly amazing, and it has a tomato Parmesan vinaigrette that goes on it. But like any pizza toppings you like like tomatoes, mushrooms, you do like oregano it makes like the best warm salad.
Speaker 1:Oh, my goodness. Well, you showed the cover of the book. I'm so glad that you could. I was planning on it, but my camera's not working today. It is beautiful. I hope that everyone picks it up, and I mean it truly is a unique cookbook. Even if people are cookbook collectors, they don't have one like this. This is the perfect addition to any collection, whether you're a healthy eater that wants just fresh flavors. You're kicking off your year with new goals. This really is, I think, a household staple. It's going to become a household staple. What else that we maybe didn't talk about? Do you hope or do you want people to know about it?
Speaker 2:So the Life Changing Salads cookbook really stemmed from my Life Changing Salads series, which I started on Instagram two or three years ago it's probably about three at this point on Instagram two or three years ago it's probably about three at this point and I basically just started posting salads that I created out of desperation for filling, delicious salads that were not only healthy but tasted good, because I feel like whenever I would go to a restaurant, I was just noticing that salads have just become so unhealthy and they've really gone in this direction of being more for taste and pleasure than being for health. When you think of a salad, you think of something healthy, and now it's like bacon and blue cheese and whatever, and, of course, that might taste good but that's not good for you. So I'm like I really need to start creating these restaurant crave-worthy salads that are functional, that actually serve a purpose, that nourish your body especially a woman's body Because 95% of the people who follow me are women that taste good but then are also healthy for you. And so I started my Life Changing Salad series and basically overnight, it became a huge success.
Speaker 2:I had no idea the impact that this series would have, but I was posting my favorite versions of salad, healthier versions of my favorite salad. So, for example, california Pizza Kitchen has this barbecue chicken salad. So in my book I did a tofu, or in the series I made like a chickpea barbecue salad or a tofu barbecue salad. I'm doing like pasta Caesar salads, but with like a cashew Caesar dressing instead of regular Caesar dressing, and the series really just blew up. It was getting hundreds of millions of views. I was gaining millions of followers. I'd sometimes wake up with like 200,000 more followers than I went to sleep with.
Speaker 2:It was really insane, but it just reminded me that people not to be literal, but people were seriously hungry for healthy salad recipes. And after this series went viral, I'm like I have to do a book about this. This is going to be my next book, so it's 75 salads in the book. Some of them are classics from Instagram that I included, but the majority of them are brand new salads never seen before. I know a lot of people are hesitant to buy a book when they're like oh, I can just get the recipes for free online. But this, I promise, there's so much value as most of the recipes are new.
Speaker 2:All of the recipes indicate in the book any kind of allergy issues, so you'll see a little icon if the salad is nut-free. You'll know. If the salad is soy-free, I have little icons with an H on them. If the salad's good for hosting, you'll see an LF on the recipe if it's leftover friendly, because that's a huge issue that people come across when making salads is they're like okay, I made a big salad, I put it in the fridge and then it's super soggy the next day. So I will tell you what salads will stay good in the fridge, what salads won't, how to preserve your salads, how to keep them fresh. I also have an entire section in the book of no lettuce salads, so those won't get soggy in the fridge. Every single recipe has a picture. I'm very visual. I don't know about you, but if I get a cookbook and the recipe doesn't have an image you don't make it.
Speaker 1:I'm not making it.
Speaker 2:So every single recipe has a picture, the entire book. I want to say this is important it's gluten-free optional, so it doesn't say gluten-free on the pages, but in the beginning there's a little disclaimer that it's all gluten-free optional. So, for example, if it's a pasta salad, just use gluten-free pasta. If I used, like a farro grain which is not gluten-free, I make a note like you can use quinoa or rice or something else. Everything's interchangeable, everything can be made gluten-free. I have a couple recipes like I have a vegan avocado tuna salad but I pair it on toast so you can just use gluten-free toast. So kind of, just use your common sense there and like, make whatever gluten-free swaps you need to make, because now they have so many gluten-free breads and pastas and everything that you shouldn't have a problem. So if you're gluten-free, every single recipe can be made gluten-free in this book and they're all plant-based. And also, if you have a nut allergy, I also have certain swaps for nut allergies in here as well.
Speaker 1:Oh my gosh, it is so perfect. I'm getting ready to host a baby shower in a few weeks and I wanted all really unique side salads, and so I love this. It's like a one-stop just pick kind of something from each chapter and it's going to be such a diverse, unique selection Wow, well, everyone could go get their copy. Well, actually, what would be the most helpful for you leading into launch? What website should people pre-order the book from? Because I know sometimes there are certain places that are better than others.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so you can go to lifechangingsaladscom and that will lead you to anywhere where the book is sold. So it's available for pre-order right now. It'll be available in April. A lot of people are like why would I order a book now when I won't get it till April One? It'll ensure that you'll be the first to get the book. So if copies are running low or if it's selling out or if there's a huge influx of orders, if you pre-order, you'll be one of the first ones to get it. Also, it's super helpful to authors because for the New York Times bestselling list, pre-orders count towards making that list, which is very prestigious for an author and it really shows your publisher and retailers if the book is popular, if people are pre-ordering.
Speaker 2:Also, enough about how it benefits me. For you, I'm going to be offering a lot of like bonuses and perks. So if you pre-order the book, I'll be sending out like extra eBooks, extra tips and all kinds of extra bonuses that you'll be able to claim if you have pre-ordered. But yeah, lifechangingsaladscom it's on Amazon. If you literally type it on Amazon life changing salads, it'll be right there. Barnes and Noble, where all books Salads, it'll be right there. Barnes Noble, where all books are sold. You'll be able to find it.
Speaker 1:Amazing. This was such a fun conversation for me. Loved getting to chat with you more. But we end each of our conversations with the same three questions, flash answers, and I'd love to hear your answers as well. The first is something you have eaten recently and loved.
Speaker 2:Oh my God, Last night my dinner was like one of the best things I've made in a while. I made like a quinoa, tofu kind of red curry dish and I sauteed. Basically I had a ton of vegetables in my fridge that just needed to be cooked, Otherwise they were going to go bad. So I threw in, like tomatoes that were about to be wrinkly, pepper, zucchini, garlic onion I had some parsley that was getting wilty threw it in there, did a bunch of garam masala, coriander, all different kinds of flavorful spices, quinoa, a whole block of tofu crumbled in there, coconut milk and what else did? I put in there Water and a glass jar of red Thai curry and this was one pot. So literally threw everything in, mixed it together, put a lid on it and basically just cooked it on low, stirring it every few minutes for like 30 minutes and it was done and it was like the best thing ever.
Speaker 1:Those are my favorite flavors. That sounds so good, really good. How about a gathering you attended that made you feel a strong sense of belonging and, if you could pinpoint it, what it was that made you feel that way?
Speaker 2:Give me one second Aiden's crying. I just want to make sure oh baby. Okay, can you hear it at all?
Speaker 1:No, not at all. Okay, I get that though.
Speaker 2:Usually it's me. Yeah, no, sorry about that, you're fine, I think we're good. If you can't hear it, then no, not at all no. Yeah, I think we're good.
Speaker 1:You want just ask me one more time, oh perfect, yeah, a gathering you attended that made you feel a strong sense of belonging and if you could pinpoint it, what it was that made you feel that way.
Speaker 2:Ooh, that's a really good question. I feel like anything with like good friends. Recently had a dinner with a bunch of friends and we did a chili night and like everyone brought something different and we had all different toppings. We did like a help, Like it was one of my best friends. She made the healthy grilled chili recipe and we just had good conversation. Everyone there was eating a healthy meal. We all loved the food and it was a completely vegan meal too, and I'm like this is so amazing that we're all here together. We're all eating healthy meals, sharing. Everyone contributed something and we laughed, had a good time. Like that was within the past couple of weeks and it was just like I filled up my cup.
Speaker 1:That's yeah. That's sweet that it doesn't have to be complicated. I could be nourishing and still be a fun girl's night. And the last thing, my favorite question lately, something you've discovered that you think everyone should know, about something random like a Netflix show and Amazon purchase. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:That's a really good question. I have this, um, I have these things they're called onion goggles and I always I I'm very sensitive to onion. I'm always like crying when I'm cutting up an onion and their goggles that you wear while you cut up an onion and you just keep them in your kitchen and it prevents you from crying.
Speaker 1:They're the best. They might seem silly, but listen, everyone like. Everyone like hates crying when they cut onions. So that is genius. Go on.
Speaker 2:Amazon. I think they're under $10. Just type in onion goggles and they have like they're plastic, but then they have like a foam kind of like layering on there so they seal to your face so that you literally like can't get the onion juices in your eyes, and they are a lifesaver.
Speaker 1:So many genius tips, my goodness. Well, we will link the onion, glasses, the book, everything in the show notes. Thank you guys so much for being here and Danielle, thanks so much for taking time. We're so excited for this launch.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. We'll talk soon.
Speaker 1:Well, guys, we will see you next week.