Need Help with Vegetables

- Mashed potato: Use sweet potato and normal potato, and add a little crushed garlic. Yum!
- Roasted veggies are easy and tasty : Try roasting carrot, sweet potato, pumpkin, squash, eggplant, corn, onion, garlic, and capsicum. Use rosemary, parsley, garlic flakes, cracked pepper, any herb you like to flavour and drizzle sparingly with olive oil. Whack 'em in the oven and BAM! A delicious, easy and healthy dinner.
- My favourite salad: baby spinach, red onion, cherry tomatoes, carrot, cucumber, avocado. It's simple and is good for you. Try replacing lettuce with spinach goodness (and taste IMO), and sprinkle with sunflower seeds and pepitas for crunch and nutrients. Make your own dressing, or use balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar for taste without the fat and preservatives that come with store bought dressings.
- Bolognese: 600g lean mince, 1 diced onion, 1 diced capsicum, 1 grated carrot, 3/4 cup peas, 1-2 tsp crushed garlic, 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms, 1 tub of tomato paste, 1 bottle of your favorite pasta sauce (I like dolmio's garlic and red wine), 1 tin of crushed tomatoes (If needed). Cook mince, onion, and garlic. Add other veges. When slightly softened, add pasta sauce and tomato paste. If needed add crushed tomatoes. Stir and simmer with lid on until veges are soft and it smells delicious. Serve with wholemeal pasta and a little parmesan. You won't even know your eating that many veges!
- Vege bake: Use the same recipe you would for potato bake, just add sweet potato, eggplant, zucchini etc.

You can grill or steam veggies with a little vegetable seasoning and they are are yummy. I like squash (yellow and green), bell peppers, serrano peppers, green beans (french cut)...

You can add them as a side to any dish, lite on calories, taste a heck of a lot better than crappy baby carrots and celery.

If you would like a list of veggies check out my diary. Just scroll back and you'll see all kinds of stuff. I can email you recipes.

I really love roasted beets, with onions, carrots and brussel sprouts, just stick in the oven with a little olive oil drizzled on it and a sprinkle of feta about 5 mintues before it's done (done when beet are soft in the middle). Sautee the beet greens with garlic and onion and celery and any other veggie you like. sprinkle with feta. beets are surprisingly sweet when roasted.

I like to sautee garlic and onion and celery, add 1 lb kale and 1/2 veggie stock or water cook until liquid is gone sprinkle with pepper and red wine vinegar

Sweet potato chips (slice them thin spray lightly with oil of choice bake until crispy) dipped in guacamole (avocado mashed with tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, lime, pepper and whatever else you like in guac)

Turnip fries, (slice turnips into fry shapes.. spray lightly with oil and bake until crispy)

mix watermelon with tomato, spinach feta and balsamic vinegar (trust me so good!)

breakfast burrito - peppers, onions, tomato, avocado,mushrooms, eggs, cheese, lettuce, wrapped in a tortilla top with salsa and/or guac.. mmmmmmmm

You can mash cauliflower with potatoes or mix swiss chard in with them.

Saute asparagus in butter with onions and garlic

Quick spaghetti sauce - squash, tomatoes, peppers, basil, onions, pepper, parsley, in a blender and then cook until it tastes good! (can add so much more to this, just a basic recipe)

Sourkraut - sautee onion add 1 head shredded cabbage 1 1/4 cup cider vinegar, 1/2 water, salt cook for about 30 minutes until the cabbage is tender. (basic recipe can add shredded carrots, onions garlic, caraway seeds, dill whatever you want)

Spaghetti squash - poke holes in it, bake until tender. Slice open, remove seeds scoops out innards. treat like spaghetti (I like to toss it with broccoli, grape tomatoes, red onion, feta, green olives, cheddar and a smidgen of oil)

I'm still trying to get creative with radishes

Grilled veggies are my favorite, I'll be so glad when it warms up and I can start grilling again. My favorite is mixed fingerling potatoes, squash and zucchini. I think this year I want to try grilling some fruit for dessert, like peaches.

I'd also suggest substituting homemade hummus for the ranch dressing for veggie dipping. Hummus is stupidly simple to make, cheap and damned tasty. Google for Alton Brown's "Turbo Hummus" recipe to see how simple it really is.

One more..

Oil-less fried or bake sliced up eggplant put on a tortilla with. Mozzarella, onion, tomato,yellow pepper, salsa, cilantro and squeeze lime. (I heat the tortilla with the cheese on it before putting everything else on it) or top with spaghetti sauce,and basil (and more veggies if you like) and you've got ghetto eggplant parm. LOL