Ray's Take

Vegetables
- Cauliflower, whole
- Broccoli, florets or crowns
- Spaghetti squash, whole
- Romaine lettuce heads
- Spring Mix , carton
- Baby spinach, carton
- Tomatoes
- Onions
- Mushrooms
- Red peppers
- Napa cabbage
- Avocados

Cauliflower
How I eat: Roasted whole with olive oil, almost every day. Recipe
Where I buy: Trader joe's is the best, but anywhere they price per whole cauliflower
Organic or not: Weirdly non-organic cauliflower usually has better integrity/denseness so I go with that. It's also cheaper
Other thoughts: I go to Trader Joe's and pick the biggest ones that also weigh the most. Bc its priced per lb, this gives the most value and I am a value player. Pre-cut is fine but I've had a bad experience with costco (fermented, old) so don't buy it from there.

Broccoli
How I eat: Roasted with cauliflower usually (IE I have both together). Sometimes just one or the other if that's all I have. It's also actually really good raw if you just drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle seasoning on top (garlic powder, salt). The trick for the raw version is make the florets small.
Where I buy: Any grocery store
Organic of not: Usually not. Don't perceive organic to be worth it
Other thoughts: I like florets in a bag if its cheap but don't mind crowns. I don't like the trader joe's whole broccoli bc too much core so i'll get florets at trader joe's usually. Crowns at whole foods. I used to get bags at Costco but it seems they stopped carrying it.

Spaghetti squash
How I eat: Roasted, with meat, guac, salsa, pico, and optionally greens. Recipe
Where I buy: Trader Joe's or anywhere they have it priced per lb
Organic of not: I think the ones at TJs are organic
Other thoughts: I pick the biggest, heaviest ones at TJs for highest value

Romaine lettuce
How I eat: Lettuce wraps with tex-mex food (meat, guac, pico) or with simply seasoned roasted chicken. Alternatively, chopped and turned into a salad.
Where I buy: Trader Joe's but can get anywhere.
Organic or not: I usually do get organic TJs bc i don't like washing lettuce. I take the outer leaves off. Wet lettuce tastes really bad and can ruin everything. But the lettuce / veggie spin dryers are super annoying to use and to clean and store. This is also why i stopped buying lettuce at farmer's markets (they usually have dirt on them).

Spring Mix
How I eat: Salad
Where I buy: Anywhere is $5 per lb
Organic or not: Yes

Baby spinach
How I eat: Salad
Where I buy: Anywhere is $5 per lb
Organic of not: Yes

Tomatoes
How I eat: Homemade salsa (highly recommended, recipe coming soon) and homemade pico (chopped tomatoes, onion, cilantro with garlic powder and a little salt, lime juice)
Where I buy: Trader joe's chepeast, but will get anywhere
What kind: I usually go for Romas - its less flavor but consistent and i like it for homemade salsa and pico
Organic of not: Whatever they have at TJs or depends on the firmness of the tomatoes. I buy firm so they last a long time

Onions
How I eat: Added to meat dishes, salsa, pico.
Where I buy: anywhere
What kind: usually yellow
Other thoughts: I pick the ones that are firmest bc they will last the longest. Bigger onions are a better value bc you through away a lot of the small ones (I usually throw away the outer layer with the skin as part of peeling process).

Mushrooms:
How I eat: For buttons, mix into meat dishes to add more volume with no cals. Yes this works. And yes, it is good. For others, add for flavor into various dishes.
Where I buy: Trader joe's sometimes. There is a really good mushroom store in SF called Far West Fungi. I usually get from there. They supply whole foods too.
What kind:
- Buttons: I like white buttons better than crimini / baby bella on taste but they don't last as long (they are the same species). Buy these all the time and add to meat dishes to add bulk. I buy a lot of this.
- Shitake: These are great for flavor. Buy all the time
- Maitake: Insane flavor. Expensive, but these are dank. You should try. I really like but don't keep around as much as above ones bc its like $20/lb
- Other: I think chanterelle, morel are overrated. Enoki (cheap) from asian grocery store weird me out bc they last literally forever. I do not buy the shitakis from china.

Red peppers:
How I eat: Don't do this all the time but making romesco (recipe coming soon) and escalivita (recipe coming soon). Both are really good. Sometimes chopped to go with tacos.
Where I buy: Anywhere
How to pick: Smell them. Should smell like red pepper.

Avocados:
How I eat: Guacamole, every day
Where I buy: Costco, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods
Organic or not: I can't actually discern if organic is worth it. Honestly I usually buy one bag of organic from costco and one bag of non-organic at the same time. I let it ripen until just barely soft and put in fridge.
How to pick: Err on too hard vs too soft. If you have to have for tonight, just pick one that is soft but not too soft.

Napa cabbage:
How I eat: I used to be obsessed with napa. I'm not quite as obsessed today, but it could come back.This is the ultimate max vol least cals food. I would have napa salad (just sliced) with everyone's favorite dressing with almonds (recipe coming soon). Can also sautee with meats/low carb noodles, or add into asian soups.
Where I buy: Asian grocery store. Period. Its like 1/5 the price vs whole foods.
Organic or not: They don't have organic napa at Asian grocery stores.
How to pick: Yellow is better than green. Size doesn't really matter.