How to make bland foods interesting?

sarah8486
sarah8486 Posts: 7
edited September 22 in Food and Nutrition
I was wondering how people "spruce up" the taste of vegetables.
I love the way asparagus tastes, but I don't know of a healthy way I can make it.
Normally, I use a lot of butter and parmesan cheese.

I was wondering how people enhance the taste of green vegetables the healthy way.
I've been wanting to try different vegetables, but with some of them I have no idea what to pair them with.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. (:

Replies

  • btuman43
    btuman43 Posts: 28
    I love to steam my fresh veggies and dont put any butter on them. Though prolly not what your looking for but I beleive this is the way to keep them the healthiest.

    Grilling your asparagus is very good too.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,453 Member
    Buy some of the "combo" spices.....Like Mrs Dash or grilling spices. Combo spices work great on veggies. I like the hot ones.

    Also, cook your veggies in stock, or bouillion. Boullion can be high in sodium, so try to buy the ones with no sodium or low sodium.
  • playfortoday
    playfortoday Posts: 22
    It depends a lot on how you cook them - boiled vegetables are usually quite boring, but if you grill/roast them with sea salt, lemon juice, herbs, etc., they get much more tasty. My favourites are cayenne pepper, lemon juice, oregano, and basil. Asparagus is particularly good with freshly ground black pepper and some lemon. Another tip is to include vegetables in ordinary dishes - so if you're making a pasta dish, for example, add some mushrooms, tomatoes etc., so it doesn't feel difficult getting your five a day. Hope that helped!
  • jennylynn84
    jennylynn84 Posts: 659
    This is a good recipe for asparagus....

    http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/roasted_asparagus_with_pine_nuts.html
  • dachsiehaven
    dachsiehaven Posts: 8 Member
    I drizzle fat free spicy Italian salad dressing over them. Or sometimes another low cal fat free dressing.
  • MartiWillett
    MartiWillett Posts: 103 Member
    I'll cook my veggies in balsamic vinegar...which is very low cal
  • bbygrl5
    bbygrl5 Posts: 964 Member
    If you buy some good quality olive oil, the flavor is amazing and helps liven up the taste of grilled veggies. You only need a little of it too.
  • mirenner
    mirenner Posts: 205
    yes, mrs dash has different blends, plus you can go wrong with fresh herbs
  • bethvandenberg
    bethvandenberg Posts: 1,496 Member
    I marinate them in a little extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic and then grill or roast them. :)
    It's amazing!
  • GorillaNJ
    GorillaNJ Posts: 4,024 Member
    Don't ask my wife she can make good food bland :laugh:

    Grilling Veggies, or even pan roasting them with a little salt, pepper and Extra Virgin Olive oil is a great way to kick up the flavor.
  • wiggleroom
    wiggleroom Posts: 322 Member
    I roast almost all of my vegetables. Throw them on a cookie sheet, and put them in a hot oven (400 to 425) for about 20 minutes (it varies by vegetable -- just check them every now and then and take them out when they've got some dark brown spots on them).

    Roasting brings out a lot of sweetness and even nuttiness (esp. with broccoli and asparagus). I drizzle a bit of olive oil (or spray with olive oil cooking spray) and put a bit of kosher salt and a lot of black pepper. Sometimes I add herbs and/or balsamic vinegar.

    I've used this cooking method with asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, fennel, green beans, chunks of potatoes ... You can also mix them (fennel and carrots are a great combo).
  • aallison85
    aallison85 Posts: 97 Member
    Bake your veggies (cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli) with garlic salt or Mrs Dash. They are so good baked! Also, olive oil is great!

    I like to put a little horseradish on shredded brussels sprouts. So good!
  • elainegsd
    elainegsd Posts: 459 Member
    Asparagus and curry powder! Either plan curry powder or mix it with some plain yogurt (I like Greek yogurt for this). Mmmmmm!
    Peas and carrots with fresh dill.
    Brussels Sprouts with toasted almonds and a drizzle of olive oil.
    Fresh beets roasted, with a little balsamic vinegar.

    OK, now I've gotta go get lunch. I'm hungry!
  • jillybeanruns
    jillybeanruns Posts: 1,420 Member
    I add lemon juice, garlic powder and pepper to just about anything and it always tastes good
  • JulieBoBoo
    JulieBoBoo Posts: 642
    I put my veggies in a bowl and toss with a little olive oil and some spice mix (Costco has a nice veggie mix and also a Roasted Red Pepper and Garlic mix that is quite lovely). I just go sparingly on both. If it's a longer cooking veggie (like potatoes, yams, turnip, ect) I usually microwave them a bit first. Then I put them on a baking sheet and roast at 375F for 15-20 mins depending on how cooked I want them.

    I also like spraying a cooking sheet with Pam and then just putting peppers cut in half and placed cut side down on the sheet and roasting them the same way. You can do this with squash and sweet potatoes as well, just pierce the skin and remove any seeds first. With these cook longer 25-30 mins, let cool and then scrape out the flesh. Lovely!
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
    May not be what you want to hear, but I've gotten to where I don't add butter or any sauce to my vegetables (not even salad dressing on salads). I love them raw, steamed, baked. They don't seem bland at all to me. Sometimes I'll add a little black pepper. It took some time to get used to, but it's been wonderful learning how much I like the real taste of the vegetables (as opposed to the taste of the butter/dressing that hides the veggies).

    You could try adding some herbs or non-salt spices if you really need *something* - lemon pepper, mrs. dash, italian seasoning, garlic, black pepper, etc. Also, sometimes a squeeze of fresh lemon or lime juice is fantastic - I'll steam asparagus with some lemon and fresh garlic in the water.
  • SunnyLu
    SunnyLu Posts: 8
    I like the Mrs. Dash spices...add pizazz without sodium. I've been using the Spray butter flavoring on mine and that helps some too.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,453 Member
    I roast almost all of my vegetables. Throw them on a cookie sheet, and put them in a hot oven (400 to 425) for about 20 minutes (it varies by vegetable -- just check them every now and then and take them out when they've got some dark brown spots on them).

    Roasting brings out a lot of sweetness and even nuttiness (esp. with broccoli and asparagus). I drizzle a bit of olive oil (or spray with olive oil cooking spray) and put a bit of kosher salt and a lot of black pepper. Sometimes I add herbs and/or balsamic vinegar.

    I've used this cooking method with asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, fennel, green beans, chunks of potatoes ... You can also mix them (fennel and carrots are a great combo).

    This is great! Thanks for the tip! :flowerforyou:
  • TracieJ65
    TracieJ65 Posts: 645 Member
    Mrs Dash, Mrs Dash, Mrs Dash!!! There are multiple flavors and NO sodium,
  • Valtishia
    Valtishia Posts: 811 Member
    I agree with all the Mrs Dash suggestions :)

    Cayenne is something I use alot of, not just on veggies but even with eggs and stuff.

    Depending in what you are making your veggies with, you can spruce it up that way. For example I will cook pieces of chicken breast with a little bit of honey and some garlic in a pan, then just add in my veggies once it is cooked and mix it all up. Or you can make pretty fabulous soup that is filling. I made a good one last night with ground beef, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, mushrooms and I buy the powder soup mixes so that I only have to add as much as I need to make it taste right instead of really salty, maybe a quarter of the package instead of the whole thing like it calls for. I used cream of mushroom mix this time around but it looked like regular soup rather than cream of anything cause I don't use much. Oh and some cayenne :) YUMMY!!!!!

    Those spray salad dressings would be perfect too, just spray a little on the top before baking.

    Hope this gave you some ideas :)
  • sarah8486
    sarah8486 Posts: 7
    Forgot about grilling them!
    That will be something I will have to try.
    Thanks!
  • sarah8486
    sarah8486 Posts: 7
    Thanks everyone for the ideas!
    All of them have helped, as I'm not much of a cook and they all seem pretty eay to do.
  • mommaski4
    mommaski4 Posts: 305 Member
    Some great ideas! I have never really learned of a good way to cook veggies so I have resorted to buying the steam in bag veggies. I am going to give some of these ideas a try! Thanks!
  • ElenaRenee
    ElenaRenee Posts: 11
    Steamed vegetables are so healthy but they need a little help in the flavor dept. i think. Stuff like Broccoli, asparagus, greens (swiss chard, collards) go well with a spicy sauce.


    1/4cup low sodium soy sauce
    1 T Sesame OIl
    2 T chopped green onion
    1 jalepeno or serrano pepper
    1 t. toasted sesame seeds

    If you want to make it more spicy add in more chile peppers or hot sauce. Adjust the seasonings according to your tastes. Yumm.
  • superwmn
    superwmn Posts: 936
    I'm a veggie roasting fool!

    I take eggplant, squash, onion, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, mushrooms and carrots, toss them in something (usually salt, pepper, and olive oil), and roast them in the oven at 400 degrees. Check after 20 minutes.

    I put them in HUGE gladware containers and toss the veggies in olive oil so I only use a few tbs of olive oil for all those veggies.

    Store bought pesto sauce has a comparable amount of calories to the olive oil and is also a nice choice for seasoning.

    I divide the roasted veggies into small containers and eat them at the office with a protein during the week.

    ENJOY!

    Charmagne
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