What Food Network Star Molly Yeh Eats in a Day to Fuel Her Busy Life

Table of Contents

When she launched her blog My Name is Yeh in 2009, Molly Yeh never imagined her kitchen would someday become a set for a Food Network show and the test kitchen where she’d develop recipes for cookbooks like the award-winning Molly on the Range: Recipes and Stories from An Unlikely Life on a Farm ($22.99, Target) and the forthcoming Home Is Where The Eggs Are.

Yeh grew up in a musical family, loved writing and attended Juilliard before working as a celebrity chef. After meeting and marrying her now-husband, a fifth-generation farmer, she moved from Brooklyn to a farm on the border of North Dakota and Minnesota.

She created My Name is Yeh as a journal and to document the unique, colorful and healthy-ish cuisine she developed to combine her new Midwestern home with flavors from her Jewish and Chinese heritage. Quickly after the blog’s debut, Yeh became known for her peppy, down-to-earth personality as well as her showy cakes (see: Wild Blueberry Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting), creative fusion fare (such as Chinese Hotdish) and homemade snack upgrades (like Everything Bagel Cheez-Its). In 2018, she premiered her show, Girl Meets Farm.

Yeh now juggles being a wife, mom to daughter Bernie, TV host, author, entrepreneur (don’t miss her adorable apron design inspired by bagel and lox!)—whew! But she recently carved out time to chat with us about a day in her life.

Before we dove in, though, we couldn’t resist asking if there’s one recipe she thinks everyone should try from her site, which would it be?

“Probably the naturally dyed rainbow cake that I developed for my daughter, Bernie’s first birthday. I dreamt about it for months and months and I was just so happy with how the colors turned out,” Yeh says. “Then of course seeing her stuff it into her mouth with her little birthday crown on was the best!”

Gallery: Veganized Recipes So Good You Won’t Miss the Original (EatingWell)

6474211.jpg

Plant-based recipes don’t need to only be quinoa bowls or beans. If you’re missing a classic mac and cheese or want to sink your teeth into a loaded taco, these vegan recipes are for you. We’ve taken classic meat, seafood and dairy-based dishes and whipped up healthy vegan versions of sushi, scallops, “chicken” nuggets, banana bread and more. Enjoy!

Vegan Scallops

King oyster mushrooms stand in for shellfish in this look-alike vegan scallop recipe. The seaweed in the recipe helps add that characteristic flavor of the sea, while tamari and vegan Worcestershire amp up the umami. View recipe

Beefless Vegan Tacos

Take taco night in a new direction with these healthy vegan tacos. We’ve swapped crumbled tofu for the ground beef, without sacrificing any of the savory seasonings you expect in a taco. You can also use the filling in burritos, bowls, taco salads and to top nachos. View recipe

Vegan Cheesecake

This luscious vegan cheesecake nixes the dairy in favor of a filling made with coconut cream, tofu and cashews or macadamia nuts instead of the traditional eggs and cream. Coconut oil and nuts make for a rich-tasting and crunchy crust, so nobody will miss the butter. View recipe

Vegan Sushi with Tomato “Tuna”

For this sustainable vegan sushi, we swapped out tuna for tomato that gets a savory seafood flavor from seaweed, tamari and other umami-rich ingredients. The tomato “tuna” tops sushi rice and is finished with a dollop of spicy vegan mayo for nigiri that will delight any sushi lover. View recipe

Vegan Mac & Cheese

Mac and cheese no longer has to be off the menu if you don’t do dairy. A blend of hearty cauliflower, butternut squash, cashews and nutritional yeast gives this vegan macaroni and cheese the gooey, cheesy texture and flavor of traditional mac, without a bit of dairy! View recipe

Vegan Banana Bread

Mashed bananas, flaxseed meal and almond milk make this healthy vegan banana bread deliciously moist and tender. While this quick and easy bread might be eggless and dairy-free, it’s just as delicious as traditional versions. Add bittersweet chocolate chips for a decadent treat. View recipe

Vegan Chicken Nuggets

For the best vegan chicken nuggets, skip the store and try these homemade baked vegan nuggets instead. Seitan, often called “wheat meat,” makes a surprisingly meat-like vegan stand-in for chicken in these crispy breaded tenders. You can make this easy recipe with store-bought or homemade seitan (see associated recipe). Serve them up with your favorite vegan dipping sauce. View recipe

Vegan Meringue Cookies

Magical aquafaba–the liquid from canned chickpeas that often gets poured down the drain–mimics egg whites in these airy vegan meringue cookies. The other magical thing? These cookies require just three ingredients! Save the chickpeas themselves for hummus, stew or any one of our other recipes that call for canned chickpeas. View recipe

Vegan Coconut Yogurt

Are you eating plant-based but missing good-for-you, probiotic-rich yogurt? This yogurt made from coconut milk is entirely vegan and just as creamy and delicious as dairy yogurt. Use it in place of traditional yogurt in recipes, add it to a smoothie or layer it into a parfait. View recipe

Vegan Meatballs

For these hearty and healthy vegan meatballs, we’ve swapped out the traditional ground beef and pork for protein-packed chickpeas and quinoa–without skimping on any of those Italian flavors that you look for in a classic meatball. Mushrooms up the umami factor, and a simple tomato sauce completes the picture. Serve over your favorite pasta. View recipe

11/11 SLIDES

What Molly Yeh Eats in a Day

Breakfast

“Breakfast is almost always a fruit and veggie smoothie or yogurt and granola,” says Yeh, like this Apple and Peanut Butter Green Smoothie. That way, she can kick the day off with some produce and protein—and balance out the many desserts she often tests and samples on a typical day. A seven-minute egg with a slice of seedy toast is also an A.M. fave.

Lunch

“Lunch is a toss-up,” she adds. “Often, it’s leftovers, but if we don’t have leftovers then I make this quick stew where I throw a whole head of garlic, a bay leaf, a Parmesan rind, and canned tomatoes or stock in with white beans and let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. I spread the garlic on a piece of bread and use the bread as my spoon for the beans.” Homemade miso soup and congee (an Asian rice porridge) has also been “on repeat” lately

Dinner and Dessert

For dinner, salads and casseroles are frequently on the menu. She loves this smoked salmon Bagel Salad and this Spinach and Artichoke Chicken and Biscuits is one of her go-to family nostalgia dishes to whip up when she’s in the mood for comfort food. Pizza Fridays are also a tradition in the Yeh household.

We couldn’t resist asking Yeh about her kitchen MVPs. (We can’t be the only ones who love spying inside celebs’ fridges and pantries?!)

“It’s probably a three-way tie between butter, bread and beans. I could live on those three things! And since we have wheat and beans on our farm, I don’t have to go very far to get them,” Yeh told us, explaining why it’s a perfect fit that her newest role is as a partner with Northarvest Bean Growers Association for their “Beans for Life” campaign. “I keep dry beans on hand at all times because they are so versatile. I put them in soups, casseroles, stews—and between their nutrition benefits and creamy dreamy flavor, I feel so great about eating them all the time. For me a perfect lunch or dinner is a bean stew with freshly baked bread and good salted butter.”

And no day is complete without a treat.

“For dessert, I sneak bites of whatever cookies are lying around from being recipe tested. They’re always cookies that celebrate holidays that won’t happen until months from now because that’s what I’m developing,” she says. “Like today, I had a hamantaschen [a traditional Jewish cookie] since I’m working on the Girl Meets Farm Purim episode. But it’s December, so my tastebuds were confused, but they’re used to it by now.”

The Bottom Line

We love Yeh’s nothing-off-limits approach to eating, and the way she naturally balances out her day with sweets, plant-based protein and produce. Her all-foods-fit philosophy and love for (rather than stress over or fear of) food will be a great example for Bernie as she grows older and begins making her own food choices. Plus her ample use of leftovers and snacks throughout the day are brilliant ways to reduce her overall food waste, even while developing recipes. Yeh’s menu gets a “yay” from us!

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
					1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28	29	30
31