Trying to eat more veggies?

What I usually do to incorporate more veggies and fruit into my diet, is that I make smoothies. I make smoothies with both veggies and fruit, but make sure to use more veggies then fruit or you're just going to have to much sugar in your diet. I only have smoothies for breakfast so I can have a blast of energy to get me through the morning. If you don't want to do smoothies then you could juice the veggies and smoothies. If you want some of my recipes for smoothies you can always ask me.

Definitely recommend trying new ways to cook & eat said veggies... hunt for low cal recipes on Pinterest. such as (well this is low carb/gluten free): http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2006/09/twice-baked-cauliflower-recipe.html


Skinnytaste is another great low cal recipe blog: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/01/turkey-stuffed-zucchini-4-pts.html

Small portions of these strange things... These veggies...

I googled how to cook things right in the grocery store. If I saw a woman that looked like she had a family cart full of stuff I would very nicely ask if I may inquire as to what this veggie is good for and how to cook it

Spices of a good quality help! Coconut oil and sesame oil also add variety.

Watching Bobby Flay cooking shows helped too!

Now I know what Bok Choy is and how to season and cook it, or Napa cabbage, or kale, and fresh ginger!

This is the adventure part of eating healthy!

Here is a great tip that you can implement for a variety of Green vegetables for a week's supply.


Big Pot Blanching

1. Vigorously boil 3-4 quarts of salted water (it should taste like the sea) in a 5-6 quart minimum capacity stock pot. Use of a tight fitting lid will help the water come to a boil quicker.

2. Add the green vegetables to a rolling boil and cook until there is still a crunch to the vegetables and they are not mushy. Broccoli only takes about 1 minute. Green beans, approx. 3 minutes. Kale, approx. 4 minutes. Snap peas may take less than 1 minute. Spinach is so delicate that it only takes 10 seconds.

3. After blanching, immediately shock the vegetables into a cold, ice-water bath to stop the cooking. This process will also rinse much of the salt off of the vegetables and capture a very attractive vibrant, green color (instead of that awful, Army green-brown color).

4. When the vegetables are cool, thoroughly drain and squeeze out the excess moisture if necessary. Store in a covered paper towel lined container for up to 4-5 days.

5. Eat as is, or toss into a preheated pan with hot olive oil with aromatics like fresh garlic, chopped shallots, as well as red pepper flake, kosher or sea salt and fresh cracked pepper.

I have found out my dislike for vegetables was actually how they were cooked. All growing up my mom would over cook them and they'd be mushy. I hate mushy foods. As I got older and started going to fine restaurants I noticed that I liked certain vegetables cooked certain ways. So now I have a wide selection of vegetables that I like cooked and seasoned the way I know I'm going to like them. So treat yourself to a really fine restaurant sometime and try out a vegetable you'd never think you'd like. You just might find out you like them after all.

I eat quite a lot of soup. I find it the easiest way to get veggies down and quite low cal. You get some great meat veggie combinations. Soup over pasta as a sauce also works.

Personally, I'd practice hiding them your meat, or in the dishes with meat, to start off. I have never liked veggies either. They comprise a huge portion of my diet now, cooked in as many ways I can think of - I still don't like veggies. It was not a matter of cooking, for me - I just really don't like the taste, or sometimes the texture.

I eat them because I have to, and I'll crave them, even, but I STILL don't like the taste. I don't expect I ever will. But thankfully, you can do things with sauces and salsas and such, to go with the food you do like, and that can make them more palatable.

Like ground meat - finely grated yellow squash is great to add to a hamburger patty. It cooks so soft you have no major texture to notice, but adds moisture so it makes the meat taste really juicy. I know one mom who used to puree carrots and add them to cheese sauces when she'd make mac and cheese. Or serve meats with roasted veggie sauces, or stuff burgers with them, add more veggies to bean dishes like chili, stir fry them (Asian sauces have so much flavor it can really hide the taste of the veggie - which I always liked, LOL). Just lots of options, you know?

ahamm002 wrote: »

As other posters have already mentioned, grilling and roasting veggies makes them taste completely different! But also keep in mind that your taste buds "know what they like and like what they know." That is, they learn to like the food you regularly eat. If you start eating veggies regularly, your taste will eventually evolve to not hate them. You might not ever love them, but eating them won't be unpleasant.

agreed...I'm lucky in that I seem to like most veggies...but roasting or grilling them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper makes most extra-delicious.

If you're not a fan, try adding grated veggies into sauces. My best friend does this all the time to trick her husband into eating a bit healthier! Also, you could try different veggies cut into sticks and eaten with some humus, or some homemade soups or smoothies if you enjoy those?

Curries and chillis are your friend here. I get through tonnes of veg making batch veg 'bases' then adding either more veg to the sauce or small bits of meat, beans etc.

I hate texture of celery but in a slow cooked with onion, bell peppers and tomatoes then whizzed up with chilli spices you'd never know ;-)

I second the green smoothies option! If you like smoothies, that is.
http://simplegreensmoothies.com/ has some yummy recipes and the best thing is (for vege haters, at least) you can't taste the greens at all if you get the right amounts in there.
I'm a vege lover, but I get in an extra serving or two in a green smoothie almost daily and my hair has gotten super smooth and shiny since I started...

I stir-fry mine and serve them over brown rice

I happen to love my veggies roasted. Try that and see if it helps.