Clean Eating for Picky Eaters
ande1285
Posts: 1 Member
I've really been trying to eat clean, but I hate vegetables (except carrots and lettuce). All the recipes I find for clean eating look so gross! Looking for some suggestions on good recipes, ways to "sneak" in veggies; or ways to overcome this mental block about veggies. Thanks
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Maybe looking at veggies as "medicine" - it's good for you and will make you feel better and have energy. Surprisingly, when I went clean, I was not a fan of salads. But now I love them and eat them every day. There are so many things you can add to them to make them tasty and unique. I would also suggest using fresh herbs - basil, rosemary, thyme, parsley - they boost flavors of everything. You might also try making soups to start getting used to veggies. Broccoli soup, pea soup, asparagus soup - these are my faves.0
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I don't know you personally, but a lot of picky eaters I know haven't tried very many vegetables. They SAY they don't like them, but they've actually never tried them. I'll be honest - its a bit hard for me to understand as I love to try new food. That being said, there are plenty that I don't particularly like. Beans and salsa are veggies. I add salsa to everything: eggs in the morning, beans (lol) and rice for lunch, I make meatloaf with it, etc. (Salsa can be high in sodium, so be careful of that... fresher is better...)
When you say you like lettuce, do you mean iceberg? If that's the case, what if you slowly added a higher percentage of darker greens to a iceberg mixture for a simple salad? You could begin with 75% iceberg and 25% spinach/kale something... then slowly increase how much of the darker stuff you're using. Add some carrots, protein, and a little dressing and you've got a nice lunch. Greens are so nutrient dense and very calorie-efficient.
And then of course there's green smoothies. You can't even taste the green stuff, but there's a lot in it.
Oh - and a piece of advice my grandpa gave me long ago: when it comes to vegetables, just keep eating them and you'll learn to like them.
I've found this to be true!
Good luck!
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Oh - and when the cooler weather hits (assuming you're in the N Hemisphere), soups are a great way to get veggies!0
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Keep trying different ways of eating them, new recipes but in small batches. I don't enjoy any vegetable when it is overcooked - al dente always for me! I always told my kids that they need to keep trying, because tastes change and I found that to be true even for myself.... I still don't like steamed asparagus, but love it sauteed in butter and garlic (still a bit crispy). Very few recipes for sweet potatoes that I enjoy yet, but love them thinly sliced with some bacon and wrapped in tinfoil on the bbq. I have finally managed to eat brussel sprouts shredded raw in salad, but still don't like them cooked and I don't think I'll ever manage beets but I keep trying a tiny taste whenever my OH has them!0
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hello I am so picky eater I don't like vegetable either. all though I do eat lettuce. Can you tell me what will make them taste better0
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Keep trying! Look up different recipes and be inspired! I always hated parsnips because my father used to boil and mash them.... I found them watery and gross. My husband reintroduced me to them when he made them for me, baked until they are caramelized and crunchy, and now I am obsessed!
Some of my favourite veggie recipes include... green beans, sauteed with bacon and mustard, roasted root vegetables, beetroot dauphinoise with garlic and cream, mushrooms and cherry tomatoes sauteed with a little coconut oil and sprinkled with sea salt.0 -
I never liked vegetables...now 75% of my daily food is vegetables. What got me to love them at first was roasting a mix of vegetables (cauliflower, zucchini, yellow squash, asparagus, red peppers...). It changed my whole view on vegetables.0
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Yes... to echo the others, just keep eating them and eventually you will aquire a taste and learn to love them! My biggest problem is I eat so many veggies that I get too full to eat anything else on my plate LOL!0
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My favorite way to eat two vegetables
Zucchini or asparagus: salt pepper Garlic powder and olive oil. Cook in toaster oven or oven I like flavorful food so I load up the seasonings. Leftovers go in salads or eggs.0 -
I didn't eat a single vegetable 10 years ago and the only fruit I ate was bananas. So I hear you!
I now eat more veggies than anything else and was even 90% vegan for a while and did a raw vegan cleanse for 10 days a while back so it can be done.
For me it started with making my own sauces and soups. I used to pick the tiny bits of onions and tomatoes out of sauces and wouldn't touch any soup that had lumps. I simmered celery, onions, carrots and tomatoes for ages and then blended. I added loads of garlic and basil so couldn't taste the vegetables. Voila, a sauce for pasta, chicken, fish... Over time I added courgette / zucchini, mushrooms, peppers. I began to eat lettuce on burgers. Then tomatoes.
Parsnip and apple soup with loads of curry spices was my favourite. I also liked chicken soup but blended a load of vegetables into the broth.
Then I began to make smoothies. I find that adding ginger and squeezing a lemon and adding honey meant it didn't taste like vegetables / fruit at all. I then started juicing and like that ginger and lemons helped me stomach the juices.
When I did began to have vegetables it was a tiny amount and I cut them up small so I could just swallow them quickly.
I guess it did take a while and there are still some vegetables I'm trying to train myself to like, such as beetroot and cucumber. I also do not like raw onion but love it cooked.
So it can be done!
Find the flavours you like, get a blender and your body will get used to it to the point where you crave it.0 -
I grew up a very picky eater and not at all interested in veggies, but the older I get the more veggies I am learning to love. Tossed with a little olive oil and salt and roasted in the oven makes the following tasty: broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts (I never thought I would like them!), and more that I can't think of. If you like lettuce, try sneaking in a few deeper greens in your salad--like spinach or baby kale. Ease into it! Oh, yes, smoothies are another great way. The taste of a banana will cover all kinds of veggies! And soup that's got a smooth consistency can be kind of a hot version of the same thing, as GillianLF says.
You might want to check out Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious--she talks about all kinds of ways to sneak veggies in!
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Boy am I looking forward to this group! I am a vegan who doesn't like tomatoes, peppers, hummus or avacados, and It seems like every recipe has one of those ingredients! It seems that all I eat these days is roasted cauliflower and broccoli. Hoping I can get some ideas0
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M DH called me picky the other day! Kind of surprised me - I was picky because I din't want the bake oatmeal breakfast at a B&B I was picky because I got a salad and it was all iceberg no greens I was picky because my ham was too salty (very processed) the homemade grape juice was to sweet I had to cut it with water LOL Guess I should be happy about being "picky"!0
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Don't be afraid to try new things, whether it is questionable looking, or you have to try a new way to prepare a food (as long as it is healthy). Sometimes it is a mindset, you can think a food tastes disgusting, but regular consumption you will find yourself acclimating a taste for it (sounds crazy I know, but it works for me). It may only work for me because I am crazy. lol0
