Return to top
featured in… The Huffington Post CookingLight Reader's Digest Women's Health BuzzFeed Glamour Whole Foods Oprah Winfrey Network CNN Food Network Healthline Shape

Hello! Iā€™m Anjali. Iā€™m a board certified health coach, author, wife, mom and food lover from the SF Bay area (now living in Seattle, WA!); with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty and fun! Learn more about me here and stay for a while!

Anjali Shah

About Me

Hi! I’m Anjali. I’m the Nutritionist and Health Coach behind The Picky EaterĀ®. I’m so happy you found me! Here you will find healthy, family-friendly and kid-friendly recipes that are easy to make and taste GREAT!

About Anjali Shah

I am a board certified health coach, wife, mom of two, cookbook author, and self-taught chef who develops all of the recipes on The Picky EaterĀ®, and investigates the truth behind food products on grocery store shelves, so you can find the healthiest options for your family.

I received my undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley (Go Bears!) and my nutrition certification from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. I absolutely LOVE food and I am passionate about healthy living for the whole family ā€“ including picky eaters!

More About Me! I am…

My husband and I live in Seattle, Washington (by way of Ann Arbor, MI and San Francisco, CA) with our two kids – Layla and Ayan.

About The Picky EaterĀ®

The Picky EaterĀ® is a place where you can browse hundreds of plant-based recipes covering all types of courses, diets and cuisines. In addition, I provide healthy tips, insights, and resources for parents and kids of all ages. 

Youā€™ll see nutrition information provided for my recipes, but my philosophy around food isn’t focused on calories. Instead, I prioritize eating lots of plant-based foods with a little indulgence here and there. I am vegetarian, and have raised my kids to be vegetarian, so those are the type of recipes that youā€™ll see here. (Although I have to say, meat-eaters love my recipes too!)

The Picky EaterĀ® is a place of no-judgement and no-diets. I believe in healthy eating, but I do NOT believe in deprivation. I believe you can have your cake (in moderation!) and eat it too!

The Huffington Post CookingLight Reader's Digest Women's Health BuzzFeed Glamour Whole Foods Oprah Winfrey Network CNN Food Network Healthline Shape

Why “The Picky Eater”?

I grew up a ā€œwhole wheatā€ girl: I was raised in the healthy-eating, organic-obsessed, farmerā€™s market-driven culture of the San Francisco Bay Area. My childhood was filled with fruits, vegetables and home cooked meals; I was raised to be ā€œpickyā€ about what I put into my body and to eat junk food in moderation.

I always thought of myself as a picky eater in the non-traditional sense of the word: that it was all about being choosy about finding healthy options to put into your body.

Then I got married and ended up with a family of TRUE picky eaters ā€“ in the traditional sense of the word! I realized that the only way I could convert my family into healthy eaters would be to cook healthy versions of the foods they loved: pizza, pasta, and fast-food.

My Blog Was Inspired By:

  • My journey teaching myself to cook, and using my “picky eater” philosophy to help my whole family eat healthier.
  • Expanding my family’s palate to enjoy just about every healthy food out there.
  • My ability to transform my kids into veggie-loving, sprouted-wheat-bread-eating, health conscious little ones!
  • Making healthy food taste good for families all over the world!

What started as a way to catalog my own journey cooking healthy meals that my picky-eating family would love has since turned into an online destination visited by millions of people a year. I’m so grateful for the community we’ve built here, and the connections I’ve built with all of you!

Our Medical Reviewers & Dieticians

While The Picky Eater is mostly focused on healthy recipes that kids and adults alike will enjoy, you’ll find that I also have a section on my blog called “best for kids” – where I recommend some of the healthiest products for your child including vitamins, baby formula, snacks, baby food, cereals, granola bars, and more.

To ensure that any product recommendations I’m providing are 100% accurate and align with current dietary guidance for kids, I have three pediatric dieticians on my team who fact check, review, and sign off on my articles in my best for kids section. You’ll see them mentioned on any articles they have reviewed and fact checked. Here’s more about them!

Linzy Ziegelbaum, MS, RD, CDN 

Photo of Linzy Ziegelbaum, MS, RD, CDN.

Linzy Ziegelbaum is a New York based pediatric Registered Dietitian and the owner of the private nutrition practice LNZ Nutrition LLC. She has her Masters in Nutrition from Lehman College and her bachelors from Syracuse University, did her clinical dietetic internship at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital, and formerly worked as a clinical nutritionist at Hospital for Special Surgery and as a Pediatric Dietitian at Northwellā€™s Allergy/Immunology office. She specializes in areas such as: helping families remove stress from meal times, helping children with food allergies and intolerances meet their nutrition needs through diet, and helping youth athletes learn how to fuel their bodies for sports. Linzy has frequently been quoted as a nutrition expert, and recently started a youth sports nutrition blog

Katie Drakeford, MA, RD, CSP, LD, CLC

Photo of Katie Drakeford.

Katie graduated from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with a Masterā€™s in Dietetics and completed her Dietetic Internship through OU. She has over a decade of experience helping people of all ages meet their nutritional needs but found her passion in pediatrics. She currently holds a Board Certification in Pediatric Nutrition and is a Certified Lactation Counselor. You can learn more about her on her LinkedIn page here.

Christina Badaracco, MPH, RDN, LDN

Photo of ChristinaĀ Badaracco.

Christina Badaracco is a consultant, author, and educator focusing on elevating the role of nutrition in healthcare and better aligning our food and healthcare systems. She regularly writes, teaches, and presents about nutrition, culinary medicine, and sustainable agriculture – including publishing The Farm Bill: A Citizenā€™s Guide in 2019. She earned her MPH from the University of California, Berkeley, and her bachelorā€™s degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, with a minor in Italian Language and Culture, from Princeton University. She completed her dietetic internship at Massachusetts General Hospital and was selected as a 2021 Recognized Young Dietitian of the Year and 2023 Emerging Dietetic Leader by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. You can learn more about her on her website and LinkedIn page

Getting Around

Keeping In Touch

I love hearing from my readers or anyone who is interested in learning more about the world of healthy living and flavorful eating. Don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions, comments or feedback. I respond to every message I get!

154 responses to “About Me”

  1. Hi!! I found your blog about a year ago when searching for the best vitamins for my kids and we loved the Children’s Best Multivitamin which sadly, they have discontinued! I am super bummed because they were perfect! I am now looking at Bluebonnet Rainforest Animal vitamins or Solaray, which is another brand. Right now, we switched my daughter to Mega Food, but they have no iron and seem to lack more of the nutrients she needs which she was getting with Children’s Best. Do you have any advice on Bluebonnet or SolaRay Childrens Multivitamin? My son take Smarty Pants which are great for him, he doesn’t need the Iron as much as she does. She has a very limited food palate and needs more nutrients in her vitamins all while staying away from food dyes and tons of sugar. šŸ™‚

  2. Hi thank you for your recommendation of the best infant formula Hipp Dutch Stage 1. It looks like it’s for 0-6 months and my daughter is almost 9 months old. Is Hipp Dutch stage 2 just as good (the best formula for her age) or should I stick with stage 1 or consider another formula all together? Thank you!

    • Hi Jason! So yes, HiPP Dutch Stage 1 is meant to be used until 6 months of age because it has less iron than HiPP Dutch Stage 2 (and babies tend to lose their iron stores after 6 months of age). However if your baby is eating a wide variety of solids and your pediatrician isn’t concerned about her iron levels, you can ask your peds about sticking with Stage 1 since the main difference really is just the iron content. But if she’s not a great eater, or if your peds does want her to have a formula with more iron, then you should switch to Stage 2 – it’s the best out of the Stage 2 options available for her age. Hope that helps! Let me know if you have any other questions!

  3. Hello Anjali;
    Thank you much for your recipes – I enjoy the broad spectrum of flavors. I tend to cook larger amounts of vegs and freeze for the future. I find your mix of herbs and spices tasty and would enjoy a book of your recipes. I think a book would be better than hunting on line to find inspiration. Again, thank you for your great recipes.

    • Hi Kate! Thank you so much for your kind words about my blog! I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my recipes. I have a couple of books out but they are focused on recipes for kids! I don’t have a cookbook for adults planned yet, but you never know what the future may bring! šŸ™‚

  4. Anjali, you are very inspiring and love the way you compromised in your marriage without letting go of what you know is good. Love your travel pics, but you definitely need to come to Cape Town. We were in SF last year and we lived it. Was so refreshing to have healthy vegetarian foods wherever we went. Quite different to my premise about typical American food and portions. I love cooking but need to make the transition from traditional Gujerati cooking to the more healthy alternatives without losing the art of spices and flavours.
    Regards Priya

    • Hi Priya! Thank you so much for your comment – you are so sweet! šŸ™‚ I’ve heard Cape Town is beautiful – we really want to visit at some point! I hope you enjoy my recipes when you try them – keep me posted on how trying healthier recipes goes for you!

  5. Hello, I am just wondering if you have ever tried any of the LUVO products. There are supposed to be healthy and everything I have read seem to support that. Just thought it might be something to grab quick when travelling, short on time etc. I do try to cook everything myself, but there are just those times, when it seems impossible to find anything to eat with any food value. Thoughts?

    • Hi Wendy! I haven’t tried the LUVO products before, but in general their nutritional information and ingredients lists look pretty decent for a packaged/frozen food product. I’d say they’d probably be an ok backup if you need something fast when you’re on the go. Hope that helps!

  6. Love your blog and recipes. Which I have only discovered today. Can’t wait to try and recreate some of recipes. I Have subscribed to all 5 choices to keep up to date with new recipes and to enter your competition. not sure if I should be leaving the comment here or not x

    • Awww thank you so much Grace!! I can’t wait for you to try my recipes – you’ll have to let me know how you like them! šŸ™‚ For the giveaway — I’m guessing you’re trying to enter the Theo Chocolate one? If so, be sure to post a comment on that post so it’s counted among the rest of the entries. Thanks!

  7. Hi Anjali! Just stumbled across your blog because I’m going to Rome this weekend and was looking for some blogger’s tips. Love your post on Rome – unfortunately I’m only going for 4 days, not 2 weeks, but trust me, I will try and eat as much as food as I can nonetheless! Thanks for the tips – working my way through the rest of your blog now šŸ™‚

    • Hi Kiran! Oh that’s so awesome – you will have an amazing time in Rome! I’m so glad you came across my blog – you’ll have to let me know if you end up trying any of my recipes! And have a wonderful trip! šŸ™‚

  8. Thank you for sharing your recipes. I consider myself a picky eater but I am the mexican version. A few years ago I tried indian food for the first time and I felt in love with it. I can’t wait to try all the healthy version recipes from your blog. Thank you!!!!

    • Hi Lucy!! It’s so great to meet you! I can’t wait for you to try my recipes – I’m sure you will love them! Keep me posted on how it goes!

  9. Dear Anjali,

    I stumbled upon your blog quite accidentally and I am glad that I did. I will be visiting it regularly and inviting my friends to do the same as it is very interesting and extremely useful. Thank you and keep it up!

    • Hi Betty! Aw thank you so much! I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying my blog – keep me posted on how my recipes turn out for you!!

  10. Enjoyed reading your About Me page. Nice photos!!! Your blog is nice! I also have become a picky eater ever since I discovered how corrupt America’s food industry is. Before then, I could eat almost anything.

    • Thanks Anna! It’s so nice to meet you! It’s true that the food industry in the US can be misleading and disappointing when it comes to quality of ingredients – especially for packaged foods. But luckily, there are plenty of organic and non-GMO options out there for consumers! šŸ™‚

  11. Great blog, LOVE your falafel recipe and looking forward to trying more. My husband and I are trying to eat clean and incorporate more protein naturally into our diets as we are trying to work out and stay healthy. This was a fantastic recipe. Best wishes from Scotland! šŸ™‚

    • Aw thank you so much Supriya!! So glad you are enjoying my blog and my recipes, and kudos to you for eating clean and staying healthy!

  12. I found your blog while looking for a healthy falafel recipe and your recipe looks terrific. But also I wanted you to know, I had a good laugh at your About Me section – in particular about the way you and your husband grew up around food because that describes me and my husband perfectly. Like your hubby, mine has also learned that vegetables and healthy foods can taste great! Seeing that your recipes are “husband approved”, I will definitely be trying out a bunch of them, and I can’t wait šŸ™‚

    • Haha that’s awesome! Love that we have similar stories šŸ™‚ Can’t wait to hear how you and your husband like my recipes!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Subscribe to newsletter

Copyright 2024 The Picky Eater®, LLC. All rights reserved.