Aliza J. Sokolow, author of “This Is What I Eat: Fun Activities for Mindful Eating,” loves the change of seasons … and the fruits and vegetables that go with it. 

“My eating and cooking and shopping is very seasonal,” Sokolow, a private chef, food stylist and photographer, told The Journal. “Luckily in California we have microclimates, so we get the best of everything all year round.”

She added, “We have such fantastic ingredients available and grown less than 100 miles away.”

For Sokolow, spring also means you get the best ingredients for the Jewish holidays. Hamantaschen with different jams and multiple kinds of charoset for Passover. 

“My favorite one is the Iranian charoset that’s made with pomegranate juice and pistachios,” she said. “Although the Ashkenazi one is delicious with apples and apricots and almonds.”

One of her go-to farmer’s market recipes is a breakfast taco, made with local ingredients: tortillas (from local grain), eggs, avocado and limes. Sometimes she’ll buy salsa at the market or make it herself. 

Another favorite is Israeli salad. She starts with the basics and adds seasonal ingredients.

“I only buy cucumbers from this one farm and I add yellow peppers and … I wait all year for sun gold tomatoes from this one farm; they’re incredible … better than a strawberry,” she said. “I buy some herbs and chop everything teeny tiny and eat it with a spoon.”

Spring also means it’s the best time for snap peas.  

“I like to touch all of the different ones at the different stands to see which ones are very crispy,” Sokolow said. “I want them to make a sound when I bite into them.” 

For Sokolow, the simplest thing is to go to the market and look around. Find a few things that look good, sample and eat them. When you buy great ingredients, you do not need to do a lot to your food.

“I made this really incredible orange olive salad last week,” Sokolow said. “It sounds strange when you say it out loud, but my friend is Moroccan and we made dinner: sliced oranges with these cured olives, and the flavors go so beautifully together.”

Sokolow wrote “This is What I Eat” as a way to get kids excited about healthy eating and cooking. She learned the impact of healthy food on kids, when she worked with chef Jamie Oliver on his “Jamie’s American Food Revolution” television show around 2010, and decided this would be her mission. 

“This is What I Eat” is filled with activities — regrowing produce, food scavenger hunts — designed to make fruits and vegetables fun.

Sokolow has, however, always loved produce, particularly apples. There are so many kinds: some are better for baking, others for cooking and some for eating plain.

“I’m very obsessed with apples; to me they’re the gateway drug into the fruit and vegetable world,” she said. “My second-grade teacher did a unit on apples — we tried maybe 10 different types of apples and we talked about how the peels were different and the textures — and she got me hooked on them; [when] she came to my book party, I told her what an inspiration she was to me.”

Instead of the message of “Eat this, it’s healthy,” Sokolow wants kids to build curiosity about produce through the lens of color, shapes, sizes and seasons. This is fun for adults too.

One activity is to go to the farmer’s market and do a scavenger hunt by color. Choose a fruit or vegetable that matches each color on the page. Then, take it home and learn how to cook it. 

People message Sokolow all the time to ask her what something is or what to do with it. They are fascinated by their new discoveries.

“Whatever it is, it’s probably not that hard to cook,” she said. “Cooking is daunting for many people, but it’s really just washing and cutting things [and knowing] not everything needs to be cooked; certain things you can eat raw.”

Sokolow studied to be an architect, and that creativity comes out in all she does. 

“If you follow me on social media, you see I always make art through fruits and vegetables,” she said. “Everything that I cook and plate is always beautiful, and I often don’t attribute that to myself, but more the fruits and vegetables [from] the farmers.” 

People think delicious things need to be complicated. Sokolow said they don’t. 

“I feel like a little bit of acid, salt and fat goes a very long way,” she said. 

Sokolow added, “Soups are also great for people … who are scared of cooking; they’re so hard to mess up.”  Her recipe for fail-proof vegetable puree is below. 

“I just want to encourage eating things that you find at the farmer’s market or stuff that doesn’t have a nutrition label, because it’s [usually] pretty delicious,” Sokolow said. “And if it’s not, add a little bit of salt to it and it’ll probably bring out the flavors.”

Learn more at SokolowPhoto.com, @alizajsokolow on Instagram, check out her book “This is What I Eat,” as well as the “This Is What I Eat” Substack.

For the full conversation, listen to the podcast:

Watch the interview:

Fail-Proof Vegetable Puree

The best part of making this vegetable soup is that you cannot fail. All of the flavors build upon one another and it is always delicious. Makes a large batch and is easy to freeze.

2 leeks

1 onion

ghee and/or extra virgin olive oil

2 sweet potatoes (optional)

6 carrots

4 zucchini

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

salt for each layer

white pepper to taste (not black, white pepper)

4 containers (4 quarts) of broth. Use whichever broth your heart desires. If you want your soup thicker add less broth, add 1 tablespoon or butter or vegan alternative

Wash your hands and all of your vegetables. Leeks are super dirty, I like to chop them, wash and then drain.

Saute leeks and onions until translucent.

Add all other vegetables until tender (you can add more olive oil and salt for this layer).

Add broth and seasoning.

Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes.

Use an immersion blender to puree soup to your liking. I enjoy some chunks of veggies.

Add in dairy or dairy alternative to make it into a cream soup.

BON APPETITO! Please let me know if you make it and measure with LOVE!

Debra Eckerling is a writer for the Jewish Journal and the host of “Taste Buds with Deb.” Subscribe on YouTube or your favorite podcast platform. Email Debra: tastebuds@jewishjournal.com.