Needs more vegetables in diet

mazziraine
mazziraine Posts: 15
edited November 15 in Food and Nutrition
I love vegetables ,but they can get boring. Any recipes or small difference that can help me eat more of them in my diet?

Replies

  • literique
    literique Posts: 85 Member
    Whaaat.... vegetables.. boring?!?! Nonsense! :)

    Quiche for breakfast. Zuchinni fritters. Add a "flavoring" - pesto, soy sauce, fajitas, curry. Mash an avacodo into tunafish instead of mayo. Cauliflower rice. Cauliflower grits. Stuffed peppers (stuffed with meat / veggies). Fajitas (tonssss of peppers).

    ♡♡♡ Veggies!
  • quilt938
    quilt938 Posts: 57 Member
    I"m not creative- I usually munch on them raw (the chunky baby carrots, celery, sweet peppers) or toss them in a soup or add to a frozen dinner (edamame to asian frozen meals for instance). if I have time I cook them in a healthy oil then use in scrambled eggs/breakfast tacos, etc or add to meat loaf or spaghetti sauce
  • Thank you!
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,224 Member
    Roast those puppies! Seriously, roasted cauliflower, brussel sprouts, carrot, pumpkin, zucchini, cherry tomatoes.... yummo. Toss or spray with some oil, sprinkle with a seasoning that suits your meal and have at it :)
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
    Sautee veggies - onions, zucchini, bell peppers, carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, eggplant, green beans, tomato, pea pods, cabbage, spinach - any or all of them, plus any others you can think of, with a smidgeon of olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add garlic, basil, or any other seasonings that smell good to you. Eat them as they are. Pile 'em on a pre-made pizza crust with a sprinkling of cheese. Stir 'em into spaghetti sauce and serve 'em over pasta.

    Steamed cauliflower can be added to a lot of things such as homemade mac & cheese or chili (surprisingly good). Or mash it like you would potatoes (I love to serve sloppy joes over mashed cauliflower - yum!).

    LIke meatloaf? Dice up an onion, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, and some celery, plus shred some carrots - and stir them into the meat/egg/breadcrumb mixture.

    I use a lot of frozen stir fry blends for quick meals - in omelettes, added to canned soups, served with whole grain noodles and peanut sauce or teriaki sauce or salad dressing.

    Look into roasting various veggies - roasting gives a whole new dimension to the flavor.

    Use a peeler to shave zucchini or yellow squash into "noodles", steam them, serve with whatever sauce you like and some garlic bread.

    Keep frozen chopped spinach on hand, can add it to a lot of things - the flavor will be unobtrusive even if the color isn't. You can do the same with carrots - shredded, they can go into any casserole and a lot of sauces.
  • litlfi
    litlfi Posts: 1
    Great suggestions windsparrow. I'm doing low carb but am trying to work veggies in at every meal.
  • bunnywestley81
    bunnywestley81 Posts: 178 Member
    I have raw veggies like carrots, celery, pepper, cucumber etc with salsa as snacks.

    I stick veg in everything, spag bol can have...well anything you like but aubergine, corgette, spinach, pepper, sweetcorn...

    Stirfry can have anything it in also!! Beansprout, kale, spinach, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushroom, brocoli, cauli....anything!

    Carrots, squash, parsnip, peppers, aubergine, corgette, marrow, cabbage, mushroom and many others are all awesome roasted with garlic and some worchestershire sauce (or whatever you like)

    Buy lots of them and experiment!
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Buy a vegetable in season and on sale that you have never tried before and then Google or Pinterest a recipe.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,611 Member
    You can get veggies in "steam fresh" packages. I bring a package to work with me each day, heat them up in the microwave and mix them in with my rice, quinoa, couscous or noodles. Sometimes I add a small tin of chicken in springwater.

    Those packages are apparently 2 servings of veg, they are low in calories and they fill me up.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I mostly keep them interesting by changing them up and trying to eat ones I don't eat that often (easier when the fresh ones start coming in -- check out a green market to see, but for me that won't be for a bit). Beyond that, I try to change up how I cook them and mix them in different ways or cook them with different things. Last night I had broccoli and cauliflower, which I have all the time, but they weren't boring because I put them in pasta with some mussels. Quite often I'll add something I have less often like fennel to a mixed veggie panfry, and it will liven it up.
  • hansok88
    hansok88 Posts: 11
    "Healthy" vegetable pizzas are a favourite of mine- use a wholemeal tortilla or pitta bread, spread with a tomato sauce (tomato puree or reduce a tin of chopped tomatoes with some seasoning- that's a protion of veg right there!), then top with whatever veggies you like. I love mushrooms, peppers, sweetcorn, courgette, onions...
    When I make a chilli or pasta sauce I always add veg- mostly same ones as above. You can put frozen peas in a curry sauce, or cauliflower/broccoli.
    Add a side salad to your meals- you can get loads of veggies in this way!
    You just need to be a bit creative, so you don't get bored of the same steamed or boiled veg every day.
  • Thank you guys! These all sound amazing! :D
  • WindSparrow
    WindSparrow Posts: 224 Member
    If you are going low carb and the whole grain thin crust pizza ideas above are too carby for you, there are pizza crust recipes out there that are based on cheese and egg - you bake it up then add toppings and bake again. The suggestion I first made about sauteeing veggies in balsamic vinegar? I have also used that to layer in lasagne, and I know there are instructions out there for roasting slices of eggplant to use as "noodles" in low carb lasagne - very tasty, if a bit of work.
  • HeidiCooksSupper
    HeidiCooksSupper Posts: 3,839 Member
    Try new-to-you veggies, even if you believe you won't like them. Seriously. In the last few weeks, at my advanced age, I've discovered
    • turnip greens are not bitter,
    • it is possible to cook eggplant so that it tastes good, and
    • bok choy isn't just for asian stir fry.
    Hubby and I agreed last night, after watching Alton Brown cut one up, that we would buy a small head of fennel soon to see if it's still as disgusting as I remember it being in my youth. I've changed in the last 30-40 years, maybe my ideas about fennel will, too. He doesn't think he's ever eaten one so is game to try.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    Try other cuisines and spices to change things up.

    What about hummus, tabbouleh, felafel, baba ganoush? There are lots of curries based around vegetables, and many asian dishes have at least as much vegetable as meat or fish.
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