Quick Hits Boston: A Look Inside Tom Brady’s Diet

you have ever wondered what it’s like to be the best at your game, now is your chance to eat like a GOAT, which will get you on the right track. The Needham based Purple Carrot plant based meal company has developed a line of meals for the Greatest Of All Time–New England Patriots Quarterback Tom Brady.

Tom Brady credits much of his performance to his strict diet of plant based foods created by Purple Carrot. His youthful appearance and maximum performance are attributable to the home delivery service that provides an ever changing menu of weekly meals that may include dishes like Sweet Corn Risotto with Crispy Artichokes and Basil Oil; Blooming Chickpea Wraps with Spiced Sunflower Seeds and Ranch Kale Chips; and Coconut Peanut Zoodles with Snap Peas and Radishes.

Whether you’re an athlete or simply looking to get in better shape by eating healthier and cleaner, Purple Carrot’s newest subscription, TB12 Performance Meals, was developed in partnership with Tom Brady to help anyone achieve and sustain their peak performance. The meal subscription plan costs $78 a week for three meals (two servings per meal) that are delivered directly to your home.

We met up recently with Andrea Nordby, head chef for Purple Carrot, who currently heads up the brand’s culinary team in developing three plant-based recipes every week.

“My first approach is to find out what is in season,” Nordby said. “For example, you won’t see butternut squash on any of our menus after February. That’s where we start looking for the freshest vegetables that are currently in season. From there, we create meals that appeal to the masses and try to show meat eaters that our meals are so delicious that you won’t miss eating meat. When creating a dish, we look at comfort foods and try to make dishes from there that are so good you won’t miss what you were previously eating. We do a fish taco with hearts of palm that you won’t believe doesn’t contain fish.”

Photo Credit: Purple Carrot

Her inspiration? Unique, seasonal vegetables along with the challenge to turn familiar dishes into delicious plant based alternatives, including her personal favorite, Lucky Dumplings with Edamame and Mustard Greens.

“I think one of the most important things about our diet is that you will really see the benefits of plant based foods,” she said. “I have always been a vegetable focused chef so when I joined Purple Carrot, it was a perfect fit. The company had been following Tom Brady’s diet and recognized our philosophies aligned closely around food. We work directly with his team to create dishes that are gluten free, contain limited soy, are high in protein and have a limited use of refined sugars.”

What are some of her favorite dishes to prepare? “I love cooking with cauliflower because it can really take on any flavor from Asian to French,” Nordby said. “We did an edamame and mustard green dumpling in January that I loved. One of the most important things for us is that we need great produce. There is nothing quite like an heirloom tomato at its peak. You just need a little sea salt and olive oil and it tastes amazing.”

In addition to the dishes being healthy, Purple Carrot meals are designed to be simple to prepare at home. “We want our dishes to be easy to create so for our recipes, we strive for a 30-minute cook time,” she added. “Our meals feed two to four people and average about 650 to 700 calories. Our challenge is to take a dish like mac and cheese and turn it into a delicious plant based dish.”

Based on Tom Brady’s stamp of approval, they seem to have done just that.