help! Veggie question

xxthursday09xx

I need to eat more veggies (which I have heard a lot of from my friends here on MFP!). I don't know how to cook veggies so they taste good. Any ideas, recipes, ways to serve as a side?? any help will do! Thank you all so much!

StacySkinny

I eat a lot of veggies Wednesday through Sunday. Feel free to check out my diary for ideas on what to add to them and how to cook them.

Veggie stir fries are great, but if you do that I recommend using EVOO (extra virgin olive oil). I don't fry things very often so most of the time I make hearty vegetable stews. Add some of your favorite spices and if you want you can add some lean meat (skinless chicken is YUMMY in veggie stew). It makes for a very yummy way to get more vegetables into your diet and hot stew is awesome during the colder winter months.

kayemme

it really depends on how you like them. i prefer mine crisp(er), so i usually heat up a pan, pretty hot, with just the smallest amount of oil to keep veggies from sticking. not even a teaspoon's worth, just enough to keep the surface slick.

then i drop about a tablespoon of cold water into the pan and cover. this steams them quick... then i take them out and serve after a minute or so.

you'll have to do a little experimenting to see what you like best. try to find vegetables that are in season - not only are they the most cost-efficient, they are usually low in carbon footprint and picked at peak of freshness, rather than early and gassed along the way to ripen.

superhippiechik

I love McCormics perfect pinch Vegetable. I also boil cauliflower with my potatoes and mash them together.My kids never know!

tylerblue

- Grilled zucchini is incredibly good
- Butternut squash soup is incredibly good
- Vegetable stews are incredibly good


I'll stop saying incredibly good now

kayemme

pumpkin soup is a great way to get a bunch of fiber and vitamins in... and they're abundant right now and store well.

sometimes i throw an apple in the more savory squash soups so it has a sweet and savory flavor.

in the summer, i bake crookneck yellow squash with a little butter, milk, flour and fresh thyme - shut it! so delicious!

leeks, potatoes, carrots, kale, chard, turnips, celeraic, parsnips (and i think beets) and many herbs are in season right now. most of these you can just roast with a little olive oil, salt & pepper. it can make for a meal in itself or be a side dish for carnivorous folk.

in the late fall and winter, we eat almost exclusively soups. except when we go out to eat.

remember that there are lots of varieties of a single thing, i.e. potatoes come in lots and lots of varieties. some are creamy, some are better for jacket baking; kale can be used in everything you would put spinach.

just experiment around. also here's a good website http://www.supercook.com you can put what you have in your fridge and it will tell you what you can make from it.

yumyum!

BoresEasily

If you're just looking for a way to get more greens and things. Make a smoothie. Spinach/Banana/Ice/Milk or water and you can add other berries in. It will taste like the fruits you mix it with and you can get your dose of greens like that. I had one tonight, lots of spinach on the bottom, frozen bananas over top, blueberries and milk and all I could taste was the blueberries and banana. Surprising too because I had nearly half my blender full of spinach. You don't need that much by the way. I was just being excessive. If you think you do taste the spinach, add more banana/fruit of your choice.

Here's a recipe from greenmonster.

Ingredients:

* 2 cups organic spinach
* 1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
* 1 tablespoon flax (optional)
* 1 banana
* ice

Directions:

Hi there, Are you a Green Monster first-timer? Have no fear! This recipe is fool proof. Even the biggest skeptic will love this one. Place the ingredients into the blender in the following order: 1) Flax, 2) spinach, 3) banana, 4) milk. The reason for this order is so the heavier ingredients weigh down the flax and spinach and keep it from flying up around the blender and sticking to the side. Blend everything on the highest setting for 1 minute or so. Finally, add ice and blend on the ice setting. Pour into a large, fancy glass. Sit back, gulp it down, and be prepared to have endless energy!

StacySkinny

pumpkin soup is a great way to get a bunch of fiber and vitamins in... and they're abundant right now and store well.

sometimes i throw an apple in the more savory squash soups so it has a sweet and savory flavor.

in the summer, i bake crookneck yellow squash with a little butter, milk, flour and fresh thyme - shut it! so delicious!

leeks, potatoes, carrots, kale, chard, turnips, celeraic, parsnips (and i think beets) and many herbs are in season right now. most of these you can just roast with a little olive oil, salt & pepper. it can make for a meal in itself or be a side dish for carnivorous folk.

in the late fall and winter, we eat almost exclusively soups. except when we go out to eat.

remember that there are lots of varieties of a single thing, i.e. potatoes come in lots and lots of varieties. some are creamy, some are better for jacket baking; kale can be used in everything you would put spinach.

just experiment around. also here's a good website http://www.supercook.com you can put what you have in your fridge and it will tell you what you can make from it.

yumyum!

Awesome website and tips! Thanks for the great post! I'm really giddy about SuperCook.com! I've been looking for a site like that for a while and right off the bat it found me a kick *kitten* chicken teriyaki recipe with what little I have in the fridge! I think I'm going to make it tonight! THANKS!

MzBug

I Supercook.com!

Robin1117

grilling with a little olive oil makes anything taste amazing: carrots, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms. You won't even recognize them they are so good!

Butternut squash is amazing too--I have been just cutting them in half and drizzling a mixture of : 3-4 cloves garlic, 2 tbsps olive oil, 1 teaspoon balsamic, 1/2 teaspoon sugar, 14 teaspoon chili powder, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, salt and pepper to taste. And baking it for 45 minutes or so at 400 degrees (it's from a William's Sonoma recipe) . Easy and great.

Root veggies: carrots, turnips, parsnips, sweet potato, or anything else--if you bake in olive oil, a little thyme maybe and some sea salt for about an hour everything gets really caramelized, Like grilled veggies, you won't believe how good they are.

That reminds me--just a little bit of chunky sea salt will do wonders for veggies.

We have a winter veggie share from a local farm so are swimming in root veggies this month.

Good luck experimenting!