Registered Dietitian Erika Barrera discusses the importance of eating the rainbow with seasonal produce such as providing the body with antioxidants and phytochemicals, which both target inflammation and carcinogens in the body. Erika also showcases a Pasta Primavera recipe that anyone could easily prepare at home to boost these plant- based benefits into their diet! For more information visit www.leafenutrition.com
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00:00 - Making sure you eat a selection of fruits and veggies
00:03 can be hard to accomplish in your day-to-day life.
00:07 But registered dietitian, Erika Barrera,
00:09 is here with some great tips and a delicious recipe
00:12 that will have you eating the rainbow.
00:14 And we're not talking about Skittles.
00:16 Welcome, Erika, thank you for being here.
00:17 - Thank you for having me.
00:19 So March is National Nutrition Month,
00:21 which is why I'm here.
00:22 So I'm so excited to be talking about the rainbow
00:25 when it comes to fruits and vegetables.
00:26 - Yeah, so break this down for us
00:28 because Brad and I earlier in the show,
00:29 we're talking a little bit about Skittles
00:31 and taste the rainbow and all that,
00:33 but we're definitely not talking about Skittles.
00:35 We are talking about the array of different colors
00:39 you can see in all these natural foods.
00:41 So talk about what we have on the table here.
00:43 - Yes, exactly.
00:44 So I brought today some spring and winter vegetables
00:48 since we're technically still in winter
00:50 and we're approaching spring.
00:52 So on the top, we have our red
00:54 and our orange vegetables and fruits.
00:56 And these are gonna be great for not only our eyes,
00:59 but our skin and our brain health as well.
01:02 In the green and yellow, we have,
01:05 so you see some broccoli, some lemon, asparagus.
01:08 These are going to be great for the protection
01:10 of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance,
01:13 and even cancer.
01:14 - Oh, wow.
01:15 - And then the blue and purple group
01:17 are gonna be our anti-cancer nutrients there.
01:21 And I feel like everybody forgets about the colors
01:24 of the browns and the beige and the whites.
01:27 So you should see, we have some onion,
01:28 we have some beautiful leek here, garlic, mushrooms.
01:32 Those are gonna be important for anti-inflammatory.
01:35 - That's such a great point
01:36 because I think we naturally think the more colorful,
01:40 the better the fruit or vegetable is gonna be for you.
01:42 But we do have some great tan or white vegetables,
01:45 like you just pointed out.
01:46 I know garlic is super, super great for anti-inflammatory,
01:49 like you were saying.
01:50 But something else that's great that is, you know,
01:52 kind of a tan color is our pasta here.
01:55 We're making a delicious pasta primavera.
01:57 - Yes, we are.
01:58 - Okay.
01:59 - So I'm Italian and I'm always eating pasta.
02:00 - As am I.
02:01 - So I decided on pasta primavera
02:03 because it's a spring pasta.
02:06 However, I added vegetables from the winter season.
02:10 - That's what we were just talking about,
02:11 is that this is kind of more of your
02:13 fall/winter style veggies.
02:15 You got some root veggies in there, brussel sprouts,
02:17 some onions it looks like, some butternut squash.
02:21 - Delicious.
02:21 - Yep, so it's like our pasta.
02:22 - All right, tell us how we would go about
02:24 starting this guy out.
02:25 - Yes, so we're gonna start off with vegetables.
02:27 So any vegetables that you have at home or want to have,
02:32 you can slice them up, put it in a mixing bowl,
02:34 add some olive oil, some salt, pepper, garlic powder,
02:38 and then you're going to add that to a baking sheet
02:41 and roast it at 450 degrees Fahrenheit
02:45 for 20 minutes or so.
02:46 - Okay.
02:47 - So this is that end product of that roasting process.
02:49 - That looks beautiful.
02:51 - While it's cooking, you're also gonna make some pasta.
02:54 So here I have some fafale pasta, some butterfly.
02:57 - Some fafale pasta, like Giada would say, fafale.
03:02 Looks great.
03:04 - And then once both of them are cooked,
03:06 you're just going to mix them both.
03:09 And so since here we have a little bit cold,
03:12 we're gonna add just a little bit more
03:14 of extra virgin olive oil,
03:16 so those healthy fats for our heart health.
03:19 - Yes, olive oil's so good for you, okay, perfect.
03:22 - So that's gonna help mix it up a little bit better.
03:25 And then now to add just more freshness to this recipe,
03:29 do you like arugula?
03:31 - I love arugula.
03:32 - Yes, so we're gonna sprinkle on some arugula
03:34 if you want to help.
03:35 - Absolutely.
03:36 - Arugula is my favorite leafy green
03:37 because it has this peppery, bitter taste,
03:40 and it's a great addition to like sandwiches,
03:43 pastas like this.
03:44 - Would you mix it in?
03:45 - Yep, we're gonna mix that right in.
03:47 - Delicious.
03:47 - And then I'm also gonna put some cherry tomatoes
03:49 because what's pasta without tomatoes?
03:50 - You're totally right, yes.
03:54 - And there's also lycopene in tomatoes,
03:56 which is again, another anti-cancer,
03:58 anti-inflammatory benefit.
04:00 - Perfect, and then our last step on here,
04:02 'cause we're running out of time,
04:04 we're gonna add our cheese,
04:06 'cause you can't have pasta without cheese.
04:09 - Some Parmesan cheese, baby.
04:11 And then do you do a little bit of the lemon on top?
04:14 - So I get a zester, and just to add some citrus,
04:18 and we're just going to zest the lemon.
04:20 - Great, all right guys, stick around
04:21 'cause we have more of the mix coming up after this.
04:23 Thank you so much, Erica, this looks beautiful.
04:27 Wow, that looks so great.
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