Growing up, my uncle – lovingly nicknamed Teddy Bear Hamster – was exempt from eating any and all vegetables at family functions whether it’d be random Tuesday night dinners, Thanksgiving, birthdays … you name it. He was exempt.

His reason every time was, “Green food is unnatural and gross. I don’t eat green food.”

As an adult who now has the choice to eat or not to eat vegetables, I find this reasoning good enough.

However, as an adult, I’m also in charge of making sure I eat at least a little bit of unnatural green food every day, so I added my favorite things into a greens-heavy dish that won’t make you green around the gills thinking about it.

Spicy Garlic & Soy Edamame Recipe Serves 1-4 (I usually eat this as an entire meal)

Ingredients:

• 1 packaged frozen edamame pods – in the shell!
• 1/2 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce (or substitute low sodium soy sauce or coconut aminos)
• 1 tablespoon vegetable or canola oil

Recipe:

• Heat oil in medium- or large-sized saute pan on medium-high heat and add frozen edamame
• Toss in the oil, cover and cook for 6 minutes; stirring occasionally
  • Don’t have a cover? Use aluminum foil!
• Increase temperature, add minced garlic and let cook about 1 minute
• Add soy sauce, mix*
• Add cayenne pepper, mix
• Serve

*If the temperature is high enough, it will turn into a glaze; if it does not, I recommend serving the edamame and pouring the liquid soy sauce into a dish to dip your edamame in