How to enjoy 30 vegetables in one week

Think in weeks, not one plate

Thirty can sound daunting, but it works out to four or five kinds a day. Add onion and mushrooms to breakfast soup, leafy greens and tomato at lunch, then root vegetables at dinner. Small additions accumulate.

Yasai Biyori counts the same vegetable once per week, however often you eat it. The goal is not to compete on volume, but to notice opportunities for a little more plant variety.

Start with ten reliable staples

Use familiar staples such as onion, carrot, cabbage, tomato and mushrooms as your base. With ten dependable weekly items, the rest can come from seasonal vegetables, beans, tubers, sea vegetables and herbs.

Look for additions, not new recipes

You do not need a new recipe every time. Add frozen spinach to soup, beans to curry or mushrooms to a stir-fry. Herbs and small side dishes also count when you actually eat them.

Review, then choose one missing color

Check your list on Thursday or Friday. If it is mostly green, add orange pumpkin; for white, try daikon; for purple, eggplant. A week below 30 is not a failure. One more kind than last week still means a broader table.