About The Picky Eater

Hi! I’m Anjali. I’m the Nutritionist and Health Coach behind The Picky Eater®. 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 The Picky Eater®

The Picky Eater® 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. 

You’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 you’ll see here. (Although I have to say, meat-eaters love my recipes too!)

The Picky Eater® 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!

Why “The Picky Eater”?

I grew up a “whole wheat” girl: I was raised in the healthy-eating, organic-obsessed, farmer’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 “picky” 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 – 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!

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 Eater®, 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 – including picky eaters! Learn more about me here!

Meet The Team

Sophia DeSantis

In early 2024, I met Sophia DeSantis: a mom of 3, recipe developer and food blogger behind Veggies Don’t Bite, ACE certified health coach, photographer, and cookbook author! We had so much in common – we’re both moms, plant-based foodies, and are passionate about health and wellness – that it made sense for her (and all of her recipes at veggiesdontbite.com to join us here at The Picky Eater!)

So as of April 2024, I’m so excited to share that I have acquired veggiesdontbite.com, and that Sophia is now part of my team! I’m so excited to have her on board, her recipes are absolutely delicious, and over time you will find all of them on this blog, as I merge her site with my own. Learn more about Sophia here!

Medical Reviewers & Dietitians

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 

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 Northwell’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

Katie graduated from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center with a Master’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

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 Citizen’s Guide in 2019. She earned her MPH from the University of California, Berkeley, and her bachelor’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.