creative vegetable ideas

kikiboniki

i have trouble feeling inspired when I make veggies. I need some ideas. any takers? Looking for something quick and easy to do with "normal veggies" zucchini, broccoli, green beans, etc. I am having trouble meeting my daily recommended dose of veggies.

impyimpyaj

Roast them. Steam them. Stir-fry. Make salads, and experiment with toppings and dressings.

Tonight for dinner I split a green pepper in half and filled it with chicken mixed with a little mayo and some spices, topped with quartered cherry tomatoes and shredded cheddar. Baked it for a while until the cheese was melted and it was all heated through. SO stinking delicious, and I got lots of veggies as well as protein.

Search Pinterest or Allrecipes.com. You'll find TONS of ideas.

DrKittyCat

Cauliflower pizza crust? Incredibly creative veggie idea: http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/01/16/cauliflower-crust-hawaiian-pizza/

impyimpyaj

Here are just a few different things to do with green beans. There are TONS more.

Roasted:
http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/oven-roasted-green-beans-10000001120274/

Gingered:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/gingered-green-beans

Szechuan:
http://www.cookeatdelicious.com/vegetables-recipes/szechuan-french-green-beans-recipe.html

Sweet chili:
http://mybflikeitsoimbg.blogspot.com/2011/08/sweet-chili-green-beans.html

I found all of those through Pinterest. And promptly re-pinned them all. :laugh:

impyimpyaj

Oh, and I would recommend branching out of the "normal" vegetables. I bought parsnips a couple of weeks ago on a whim. Had no idea what to do with them. The first time I made them, I didn't like them, but I still had half a package left. So I tried again. I sliced them and roasted them in olive oil, cinnamon, ginger, garlic, and a little salt and pepper. They were the best new food I've had in a long time. Next time you're at the grocery store, grab at least one new thing in the produce section, and then come home and look up a recipe for it. You might find a new favorite!

kikiboniki

Gingered:
http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/gingered-green-beans

OMG I LOVE love love ginger. trying this.

BringingSherriBack

Grilled - coat with cooking spray or olive oil and sprinkle with garlic pepper. Great for asparagus. Is also good for squash or zucchini.

sthrnchick

Bump for my friend HC....

kikiboniki

Grilled - coat with cooking spray or olive oil and sprinkle with garlic pepper. Great for asparagus. Is also good for squash or zucchini.

is the george foreman good for grilled veggies?

secretlobster

One of my favorite vegetable recipes ever:
http://www.food.com/recipe/moroccan-vegetable-stew-51902

It does take some time to make but it's even better over the next few days, so you get a lot out of it.

impyimpyaj

Grilled - coat with cooking spray or olive oil and sprinkle with garlic pepper. Great for asparagus. Is also good for squash or zucchini.

is the george foreman good for grilled veggies?

Yes! In the book you get with the grill, he has recipes in there. I'm sure you can find them online if you dont' still have your book. Or just throw 'em on there. Just don't spray the grill with cooking spray. Toss the veggies in oil instead. The spray will stick to your grill.

hcdawg

bump

neurochamp

I just made low-calorie AND low(ish)-sodium stir fried green beans for dinner, and they were delish:

Ingredients:
1 lb french green beans (french as in skinny beans, not cut - you want the whole beans not little pieces); washed and trimmed
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp stevia extract (or splenda)
1 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1-4 small thai chiles (depending on heat preference, or go without)
1/4c + 1 tbsp water
2 tsp corn starch

Directions:
Heat oil in a large pan or wok over med to med-high heat. Toss in beans, garlic, and chiles (if using), and stir to mix beans for 1-2 min as they cook. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1/4c water (carefully so you don't get splashed with hot oil), soy sauce, vinegar, and stevia. Mix well and cover with a pan lid to steam the beans for 3-5 minutes or until desired tenderness. In a separate bowl or cup, mix corn starch + 1 tbsp water until well blended. Once beans are done steaming, pour cornstarch over them and toss to coat. The sauce should thicken and get a little clumpy. Remove from heat and serve.

That's it. This makes two large servings, each about 135 calories, 7g fat, and 300mg sodium (or you could divide it into four smaller servings, but I don't like to share, I like to nom...:bigsmile: ). Of course you could make this steamed with no oil (skip the actual stir-frying step and add all the ingredients at once except the corn starch mixture and just steam until cooked), but I was shooting for some added healthy oils today.

I added four thai chiles and it was HHHOT in a fantastic way...but it was a little painful to cook with all those chile fumes, lol.


Edited to add: the sauce I used for this is also a great, fast, all-purpose, lower-sodium teriyaki sauce that I use all the time. You can swap out the garlic and thai chiles for ginger or whatever other Asian seasonings you like and it's always good (and seriously takes like a minute to make). Great on veggies, rice, fish, chicken...or make in larger quantities for a full stir-fry (don't scale up the corn starch too much though...you don't need more than 1 tbsp or so for up to 2 cups of sauce)

happyfrogg

I love making a stir fry with whatever veggies I have lying around (last night: onion, bell pepper, sugar snap peas, broccoli, and asparagus), and tofu or chicken. Cook in a big pan with a little sesame oil, and then mix some minced garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce and honey (I also add a squirt of sriracha [hot sauce] for a little spice) in a little bowl, add to the pan, and cook until the sauce is reduced and everything is fully cooked. I add some black sesame seeds too. Serve over brown rice.


I also recently made this very tasty cauliflower casserole: http://zoomyummy.com/2010/07/07/cauliflower-casserole/ Highly recommend it! I cooked the veggies in some spray oil rather than butter, and I used whole wheat pasta instead of white elbow pasta.

Do you like curry? You can make awesome Indian or Thai style curries with a whole bunch of different veggies. They also freeze pretty well so you can save the leftovers for later. I liked this spinach and chickpea curry: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Vegetarian-Spinach-Curry
Thai style curries are easyish-- just stir fry veggies and meat, if you want it, add some coconut milk and some curry paste. I like this one: http://www.thaikitchen.com/products/sauces-and-pastes/green-curry-paste.aspx

Basically, I'd just spend some time on foodgawker.com-- type in whatever you're interested in trying and check out the recipes until you find something you want to try! I love vegetables!

And now that pic is tiny. Sorry.

tabulator32

tabulator32

Funsoaps

I just had mashed cauliflower yesterday yummmy just like mashed potatoes.

With peeler, peel zucchini and put on tomato sauce (spaghetti sauce, Marinara or something), cheese if you like I do it cheeseless. Meat on it if you like like turkey pepperoni but it's good just sauce.

I love to fry up garlic in olive oil then throw in spinach, garlicky spinach (wilt it) it tastes good.

I just made hubby stuffed Peppers, orange ones are my fav. Put pepper in oven (after you clean it out) and then fill with wild/brown rice with artichoke and spaghetti sauce, add ground meat if you like .So easy so yummy. Add it after you roasted it in oven then stuff it and warm up.

I throw tons of veggies in the crockpot with roast or steak pieces/chicken, all my homemade soups, in the rice cooker with rice (artichoke goes with brown rice quite well), etc. I use organic green beans

I make fajitas but with EVERY veggie you have, organic frozen green beans (cooked obviously)

I fry up green beans in oil and then sautee up almond slices and throw on top with sea salt, very tasty...these are a big hit during the holidays.

Road's End organics gravies, they are healthy and gluten/dairy/soy-free and you add like rice milk or coconut milk and pour over veggies like steamed green beans or something.

If you have a juicer; celery, apple and carrot are yummy together.

Smoothies: add frozen spinach like 1/2 a cup to 1 cup or even more and you will never taste it!!!

Funsoaps

I also make "healthy" fried rice.

I use egg and egg white and throw in.
Throw in a meat; white chicken or turkey sausage or something.
I make brown rice in rice cooker.
Cook and stir fry or steam up every veggie imaginable, peas, green beans, lima beans work, corn works, artichoke works, asparagus works, carrots, celery, etc etc. and throw them in.
Use soy sauce, I like organic gluten-free but whatever works.

Funsoaps

Cauliflower pizza crust? Incredibly creative veggie idea: http://www.recipegirl.com/2012/01/16/cauliflower-crust-hawaiian-pizza/

this sounds very interesting!

JersryGirl31

Grilled - coat with cooking spray or olive oil and sprinkle with garlic pepper. Great for asparagus. Is also good for squash or zucchini.

My favorite!

jadedone

It is squash season. So since I don't really like zucchini, I need to find new ways to make it.

This is one of my favorites. And it is "different"

zucchini carpaccio: http://bit.ly/oudkGh

So I have made a ton of variations: replaced the mint with parsley or arugula. Skipped the cheese. Added avocado. All have worked well. Lime + avocado + cojita cheese (it is a really dry mexican version of a ricotta, you can sub feta, as it is salty) + pumpkin seeds is an excellent variation.