Simple tips to make healthy vegetables taste as good as meat - Insider

• Simple tips can help you eat your veggies for a longer life without sacrificing flavor. 
• Researcher Dan Buettner has studied flavorful recipes from areas of the world where people live longer than most. 
• He said ingredients like miso, oil, and spices help provide umami flavor so you won't miss meat.

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If you're trying to eat more veggies for your health, but dread the taste, consider cooking like some of the longest living people on the planet. 

So-called Blue Zones are areas of the world where people live the longest, healthiest living, including regions in Greece, Italy, Costa Rica, and the US. 

Many residents there are masters of making delicious, nutritious meals from simple plant foods like greens, beans, and whole grains, according to Dan Buettner, a researcher who pioneered the concept of Blue Zones. 

"The great untold secret is there's a culinary treasure trove of foods that are overlooked since the majority of food in our grocery store is junk," he told Insider in an interview about his new book "The Blue Zones American Kitchen: 100 Recipes to Live to 100." 

Instead, he suggests making plant-based meals just as tasty as juicy cheeseburger or quality steak using techniques mastered in areas of the world called Blue Zones where people routinely live to be 100 or older.

"What we've done is harness thousands of years of culinary trial and error with people who know how to use herbs, spices, and oils," Buettner said.  

Rich, savory seasonings can make plant-based food delicious

Veggies are often stereotyped as bland because they sometimes lack the savory flavor profile known as "umami" that meat naturally has. 

"'Meat and potatoes cooking is a lazy shortcut. It's not very hard to take a slab of meat, fry it in a pan, and make it delicious," Buettner said. 

But meat-free foods like miso, mushrooms, or seaweed can offer a "tsunami of umami," particularly when combined with herbs, spices, and sesame or olive oil for richness, Buettner said. 

He said one of the most delicious and memorable meals he had while working on his latest book was an okra dish, made by chef (and historian) BJ Dennis who specializes in the cuisine of his ancestors, the Gullah Geechee. 

The dish ("Butter Beans With Benne Seeds and Okra") is featured in Buettner's new book, and prepared with fermented sesame seeds and hot peppers to add an intense depth of flavor. 

"It was rich with umami, had a perfect balance of acid and heat, you take a bite and cry tears of joy," he said. "It's made in one pot, takes 20 minutes, and could be served in a Michelin restaurant, but it costs less than a dollar per serving." 

Healthy food doesn't have to be expensive, exotic, or difficult to make

Another misconception is that healthy, plant-based food is costly, hard to find, or time-consuming to prepare, but Buettner said some of the best vegan ingredients are cheap and widely accessible. 

Foods like beans, rice, and greens are staples of plant-based Blue Zones  eating. 

You also don't have to follow any single style of cooking, according to Buettner. While the Mediterranean diet has become increasingly popular for longevity, evidence suggests other diets can be just as healthful.

As a result, you can eat healthy according to your personal (or cultural) preferences, regardless of what flavors, herbs, or level of spiciness you enjoy. 

"It's more about the ingredients rather than the cuisine," Buettner said. 

Even picky eaters can enjoy healthy food with the right seasonings and recipes

You don't have to grow up eating vegan food to appreciate it, either. Buettner said he was born and raised in Minnesota on a diet of meat, potatoes, and processed foods. He went plant-based more than a decade ago after hearing a doctor describe what eating meat does to the arteries. 

To see if his Blue Zones plant-based recipes would appeal to the average American palate, Buettner said he tested them on his father's traditional Midwestern tastes. His dad approved of all the 100 recipes in his latest book, a testament to the compelling flavors of plant-based cooking. 

"People are afraid plant-based food will be be bland because our taste buds have been napalmed with meat, cheese, and eggs," he said. "What you're doing is take something people think is boring, and elevating it to something transcendent." 

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