Veggie help:)) I WANT to eat them!!!

When I am sick of plain veggies, I cut up bell peppers (the red, orange or yellow, never the green) and dip them in Kraft Free Zesty Italian dressing. I also do that with baby carrots and cucumbers. The dressing has 15 cal/ 2 Tbsp and has no fat.

Just so you know: avocados are a fruit. And they are rather high in fat, though it is a good fat.

I love steamed fresh broccoli w/just a little spray butter, roasted aspargus in the oven with a little olive oil/salt/pepper, also I sautee zucchini, carrots, onion, mushrooms, with a little bit of ginger for an asian side or my new favorite is taking a zucchini and slicing think the long way and put olive oil and greek seasoning and grill so it stays a little crispy.... mmmm, let me think of other things lately - lol just google healthy veggies sides and you should get lots of great ideas w/veggies you can enjoy! Hope that helps somewhat!

My favorite is to steam brocolli and cauliflower and add just a little salt when steaming. Also, you can steam just cauliflower to the point it is the consistency of mashed potatoes! My kids loved it. They didn't even realize it was a veggie : ) I just added a little butter for them. I also put fresh cut tomatoes in my spaghetti sauce.

U can always discuise veggies in a bolognese sauce or something like that.

You can always puree veggies to add to sauces. I have a friend that does that with someone who doesn't like onions (and they don't know its there since they don't add a lot). I put celery, bell pepper and onion in my spaghetti sauce so you could always try doing that.

I love broccoli with just a little parmesan melted on top, asparagus in garlic and olive oil. Good Luck!

You can also always go to www.myrecipes.com and search for recipes with a certain veggie. They have a filter so you can filter just the Cooking Light recipes. Most of those are good and semi-healthy (although watch the fat, they can sometimes have more than you want).

I've also heard of people putting cauliflower in a blender and then mixing them in with their mash potatoes. I've never tried but heard you can't really taste them! Asparagus is great if you girll them or just put them in a pan with some olive oil and a little seasoning. (I use extra virgin olive oil)

I LOVE mashed cauliflower. My boyfriend actually said he likes it just as good as mashed potatoes. You make it the same way you would potatoes. However, if anyone is unsure try it with a potato mixed in first.

I have the same issue, but I've found that I can eat more veggies if I just do a few tricks. Any time I'm doing anything with ground meat or something like rice that's in small pieces, I mix in finely chopped carrot, onion, and/or baby spinach. So any hamburgers, meatloaf, lentil loaf, rice dishes, and sometimes even pasta dishes get some kind of veggie in them. Baby spinach is a really good one for that because as you heat it, it wilts, so it hides well. You can see it, but you can't taste it. I put it in scrambled eggs a LOT, and on sandwiches and wraps. Very good.

You can also make smoothies. I like to make a smoothie with a stalk of celery, a big handful of baby spinach, and then some fruit (blueberries and strawberries work well) with a frozen banana and some milk.

Try making veggies in different ways too. I've always loved broccoli just parboiled, but some people hate it that way. A few months ago I found a recipe for roasted broccoli with garlic, and it's seriously the best thing I've ever had. Roasted veggies are really good, and good for you as well. Just toss with a little olive oil, and then salt/pepper/other spices (cayenne goes well with carrots and potatoes; dill goes well with asparagus, carrots, potatoes, and green beans; garlic goes with almost everything) and roast until they get tender enough for you to tolerate them. I don't like them to crunch, so I roast them for a long time, but you might prefer them a little firmer.

Hope that helps! Try some veggies that you've never had before, and look up an actual recipe for them. You might find that you enjoy veggies more than you realized.

Sorry - I don't have any 'crafty' ways to hide the veggies - !!!

I also love collard greens - you can cook all the other greens similarly (sautee w/ olive oil and garlic). You might want to try:
-chard
-spinach
-kale
Zucchini can also be cooked this way, as well as that yellow summer squash.

Oh and I love green beans. You can cook them ahead and make a cold side salad to bring to work for lunch. You steam or blanche the string beans and the maybe add some cherry tomatoes, dill, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add some almonds right before serving.

Regarding making them taste good, but keeping it healthy - I guess I don't worry about olive oil so much. I def. measure it and it gets logged, but it is the 'good' kind of fat (at least that is what they are saying today :laugh: who knows about tomorrow).
Depending on where you live, the produce will often taste better at some places than others. What I mean is that I try to get a lot of my produce at the Farmer's Market - sometimes there are good deals, and as you already know, things in season are naturally going to taste better.

juicing is a good start. i sometimes add kale to my strawberry and banana smoothie. it kinda makes an odd color but still tastes good. also i add chopped tomatos, bell pepper and onion to scrambled eggs. to canned spaghetti sauce i add some mushrooms, spinach, zuccini, bell pepper and onions. some sites classify tomatos and avacados as fruits. some say they are vegetables. use your own judgement. the important thing is to try to eat better and you are doing that. the gag thing is normal for some people. it's a texture thing. keep trying. add a new veggie to your diet once a week.

Soups are a great way to get many of your veg portions in one go. Try making your favourite vegetables the 'star' ingredient ie:

Sweet potato soup- make the sweet potato the main ingredient, but also add onions, garlic, carrots & celery in smaller quanities with veg/chicken stock.

Sweet potato and corn chowder- dice your sweet potato into small cubes and sautee with chopped onions, garlic & leeks. Top with veg stock, skim milk and corn. Simmer for 20 minutes and finish with low fat creme fraiche (Or other low fat 'cream' substitute).

French onion soup- sooo easy. Sautee plenty of sliced brown onions on a low-medium heat until soft. Top with beef (or chicken) stock, Salt & Pepper, thyme, garlic, 2 bay leaf, and a pinch of sugar. Simmer for 20-30 mins and discard bay leaves.

Or- a few tasty side dishes

Roasted Butternut squash (If you like sweet potatoes, you will like butternut)- chopped into wedges and sprayed with 1 cal oil spray. Season with your fave spices.

Cheesy Leeks (You will probably like Leeks if you like onions) Mix sauteed leeks with herby low fat cream cheese.

Chargrilled chicory (Endive)- Cut these in half and BBQ/Grill (Broil) sprayed with oil spray. A nice, warm dish from a member of the lettuce family.

Mashed Cauliflower- mixed with garlic. Yummy!!

Disguising veggies- chop everything super fine and add things like bell peppers, carrots, celery, leeks, courgettes (zuchinni) to meals like meatloaf, burgers, lasagne, spaghetti sauce, shepherds pie, curries, mexican food.

You can do it!!

Cauliflower, parnips, swede and celeriac are all great to add to potato to make a healthy (and veg laden) version of mash.

Ratatouille is an incredibly simple and delicious way of eating a decent portion of veg as well.

GRILL THEM!!!!!! Brush them with a bit of EVOO a hint of garlic salt and pepper......YUM! I do eggplant, peppers, squash, onions, portabellas, you name it!

Sweet potato makes a great alternative to regular potato for wedges etc as well.

Butternut squash can be used for a lovely and simple spicy soup.

If you're cutting out/down on carbs as well lettuce or some cabbage types can be used as a replacement for wraps. Just fill with grilled meat, beans, rice etc and maybe a little low fat cheese if you want and you've got a lovely meal.

I like to use a hand grater to grate a medium size carrot into my pasta sauce. I also like adding chopped raw spinach to my pasta sauce. Any rice dishes I make I will usually add a grated carrot to as well. Carrots give everything a hint of a sweet flavor. Yummy.

Carrots are quite easy to squeeze into things, you could grate them and add them to salads or sauces - like bolognase or pasta sauces.

You could grill aubergine and courgette and use them like lasagne sheets or in addition to. Throw in some red peppers, tomatoes cook down to pretty much nothing when cooked as part of a sauce.

You could make some home made curries using dry spices rather than pastes and add a whole host of veg - pepper, toms, cauiliflower, brocolli etc, if cooked for long enough they tend to disintigrate and would take on the spices.

Or soups, a nice vegetable soup, using some root veg like carrots, parsnips, potatoes, swede, throw in some peppers and the usual onion and garlic with some chick stock and any other veg and seasoning, then you can blend if you don't want to eat the chunks of veg. (any soup really would be great for disguising veg) - good for lunch or a quick dinner.