By: Monica Bhide

Nutrition research is constantly changing, but one thing remains the same: if you want to be healthy, you have to eat your vegetables, say Tammy Shames and Lyssie Lakatos, nutritionists and certified personal trainers (and authors of the just-released Veggie Cure: Expert Advice and Tantalizing Recipes for Health, Energy and Beauty.)

“When you ask someone what they think they need to do to improve their health, they always admit it’s to eat more veggies. But no one seems to do it,” says Tammy. So she and her sister decided they would make it easy: Write a cookbook with chapters (and recipes) devoted specifically to a health or beauty goal.

 CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD YOUR GUIDE TO HEALTHY EATING

Feeling stressed? Try one of the recipes in the “Stress Relieving and Tension Taming” chapter. Tummy trouble? Check out the chapter on “Beat the Bloat and Clean the Pipes.”

Vegetables are an excellent way to pack in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber with very few calories, Tammy says. She recommends eating a variety to reap the benefits each has to offer:  Tomatoes—high in vitamin C, lycopene and carotene—are terrific for beautiful skin. Spaghetti squash is notable for lifting your spirits, thanks to its folic acid, vitamin B6, vitamin C and tryptophan. And bok choy and beets are the go-to vegetables if you had too many cocktails the night before.

Recipe adapted from The Nutrition Twins’ Veggie Cure: Expert Advice and Tantalizing Recipes for Health, Energy, and Beauty by Tammy Lakatos Shames, RDN, and Lyssie Lakatos, RDN (Skirt!, January 2014)

Recipe and photograph used with permission