These roasted edamame snacks are super easy to make, really delicious, loaded with protein, and are vegan and gluten-free.
This roasted edamame recipe comes from The 52 New Foods Challenge – A Family Cooking Adventure For Each Week Of The Year by Jennifer Tyler Lee. This book encourages families to expand their food literacy, and move from the freezer section to the farmer’s market, and prepare fresh healthy foods together.
Jennifer encourages parents to take their children on a journey with food, and make healthy eating a fun game the whole family can participate in together. This book is an amazing tool for parents dealing with picky eaters.
Inspired by her personal journey, Jennifer shows parents how to change their perspective about food, and in turn, change the way their children view food. There are personal stories dotted all through the book sharing practical tips for what worked for Jennifer and her family, and what didn’t.
One of the biggest keys to success for Jennifer in order to get her kids to eat vegetables was to make healthy eating a game. In the book, she shares the Crunch A Color dinner game that was so instrumental in their journey. Kids earn points for eating different colors. The more challenging the food, the more points you can earn: 5 for apples, 10 for broccoli, 15 for kale, and so on. And, there are bonus points for trying a new food. This game, and the excitement about trying new foods that it sparked was the beginning of the 52 weeks 52 new foods challenge that forms the core of this book.
Heralded by Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution as “A mom and genius game creator helping kids eat fresh food!”, Jennifer has gained a ton of attention for this movement she’s created from Michael Pollan, Jessica Alba, Rachael Ray, US Weekly, and Oprah.com, among many others. The book was nominated for an IACP culinary award and won the 2015 National Parenting Publications Gold Award. Her nutrition game, Crunch a Color: The Healthy Eating Game, was named one of Dr. Toy’s “10 Best” Children’s Products in 2011 and 2012, and received the Parent-Tested Parent-Approved seal of approval.
The 52 foods in the book are broken up into seasons and you can take the challenge and work your way through the seasons, the foods, and the recipes. Jennifer shares tips for parents to keep their children involved like: buying food in season, growing your own food, stocking up, planning meals, being flexible, experimenting, letting your kids take the lead, and cooking together.
The recipes are broken up by food, so you can easily find recipes for the new foods you have chosen for your personal challenge. The recipes are very simple with just a few ingredients, so making these dishes is literally child’s play.
These salty savory Edamame Pop’ems are little protein powerhouses so you (and your kids) can snack happy and healthy at the same time! They are best served warm, right out of the oven. I’ve come home to Australia for a month, and I made these for my niece Alexandra, and my very picky nephew Sullivan, and they loved them. I’ve given a copy of the book to my sister, and they’re starting the 52 week challenge on January 1st. They’ve already made a challenge chart and hung it on the kitchen wall. I love it!
Get your copy of The 52 New Foods Challenge, and learn more about Jennifer Tyler Lee.
