Vegetable Phobic!

evayna
evayna Posts: 66 Member
edited January 2016 in Food and Nutrition
Now that I've started eating better I would like to incorporate more veg. into my diet. The problem is I don't like very many vegetables. What can I do to try to up my veg. intake? Sometimes I can sneak veg. that I don't care for into meals like tomato in soup, or peppers in chili. I'm running out of ideas!

What I do like:
Spinach , Broccoli
Cucumber , Peas
Potatoes , Corn
Cauliflower , Zucchini
Carrots , Radishes



Replies

  • steph2740
    steph2740 Posts: 45 Member
    Seems like you like some veg! My partner is the same way and doesn't like many either so it's always a challenge! Haha. Try sneaking some greens into smoothies or u can bake little omelette muffins with different veg and cheese. Cauliflower is so versatile and can be mashed like potatoes or made into pizza crust etc. Stuff some spinach/shredded zucchini or butternut squash into lasagna rolls, spaghetti squash is great and can be made so many ways. Roasting a bunch of veggies is always yummy. I used to hate peppers but now I really enjoy the Orange and yellow ones either with dip or cheese and crackers and I like to make them stuffed usually with beans rice and cheese, super filling and yummy! You can always hide veggies in sweet things too like zucchini bread or carrot muffins etc! :) hope that was helpful!
  • evayna
    evayna Posts: 66 Member
    steph2740 wrote: »
    Seems like you like some veg! My partner is the same way and doesn't like many either so it's always a challenge! Haha. Try sneaking some greens into smoothies or u can bake little omelette muffins with different veg and cheese. Cauliflower is so versatile and can be mashed like potatoes or made into pizza crust etc. Stuff some spinach/shredded zucchini or butternut squash into lasagna rolls, spaghetti squash is great and can be made so many ways. Roasting a bunch of veggies is always yummy. I used to hate peppers but now I really enjoy the Orange and yellow ones either with dip or cheese and crackers and I like to make them stuffed usually with beans rice and cheese, super filling and yummy! You can always hide veggies in sweet things too like zucchini bread or carrot muffins etc! :) hope that was helpful!

    That is very helpful thank you! My partner is horrible he likes carrots, and green beans, that's it! So I'm trying to find ways to hide veg. in dishes to help him eat better too!
  • steph2740
    steph2740 Posts: 45 Member
    No problem! There's also a bunch of recipes for roasting chickpeas and edamame in the oven to make like little crispy snacks I've tried the chickpeas with some olive oil and a packet of dry ranch seasoning and it was pretty good!
  • evayna
    evayna Posts: 66 Member
    I just found a recipe for butternut squash gnocchi! Which would be perfect, instead of just white potatoes!! I'll have to try the chickpeas, I love them, but I've never tried roasting them.
  • stmokomoko
    stmokomoko Posts: 98 Member
    Smoothie version. I'm drinking my kale now. About to attempt something with carrots, and then spinach soom.
  • PiSquared
    PiSquared Posts: 148 Member
    edited January 2016
    Spinach is easy to add to pasta. Cook your pasta as normal. Put a your raw spinach in the colander and then drain your pasta into that. The hot water from the pasta will wilt your spinach. Now all you have to do is mix up the pasta and spinach and stir in your toppings/sauce/cheese. Adding tomatoes to your pasta is nice, too. For me, spinach, tomatoes, and garlic are the winning combination.

    Broccoli works really well in pasta, too, though you'll have to cook it first. That can be as simple as steaming it in the microwave. Mac and cheese with broccoli is the bomb-digity!

    Like pasta, rice works really well for stirring veggies into it. One of my favorites is sausage, rice, and spinach.

    Stir fries are awesome. You can get away with loading up on veggies and not noticing too much beacause the sauce tends to take center stage, and a little meat goes a long way.

    Maybe a pot pie? I make a pretty good chicken pot pie, using a bag of frozen mixed veggies and topped with biscuit batter. OK, it's more chicken and biscuits than chicken pot pie, but you get the idea. It always feels like I'm eating a big bowl of creamy, chickeny, biscuity goodness, and I kind of forget the veggie are there. And I like vegetables.

    I've had good luck hiding vegetables in meatloaf, for some of my more vegetable-phobic friends. I chop them really fine in the food processor, and use the them to stretch the loaf in addition to bread crumbs. Carrots worked really well for that. Seriously, the ex-roommate ate way more vegetables than he knew.

    One last question? What types of veggies are you buying? Fresh, frozen, canned? I find that fresh and frozen have a much better consistency and taste than canned.

    How are you preparing them? One of my favorite ways to prepare vegetables is roasting them. It brings out their natural sugars and tends to make them sweeter.

    My last suggestion will be to try to branch out a little based on what you like. You like potatoes, so maybe give sweet potatoes a try. If you like that, maybe you can try squash. You like spinach, maybe try some other leafy greens. There are a lot of places around to find recipes, so you can try some different techniques and figure out what you like.

    I'm not going to tell you to eat what you don't like. That won't work for anything. I am not ashamed to admit that there are vegetables I don't care for very much, like kale. I still eat it occasionally, but I will never be all 'Oh, boy, kale! Hooray!'.
  • evayna
    evayna Posts: 66 Member
    PiSquared wrote: »
    Spinach is easy to add to pasta. Cook your pasta as normal. Put a your raw spinach in the colander and then drain your pasta into that. The hot water from the pasta will wilt your spinach. Now all you have to do is mix up the pasta and spinach and stir in your toppings/sauce/cheese. Adding tomatoes to your pasta is nice, too. For me, spinach, tomatoes, and garlic are the winning combination.

    Broccoli works really well in pasta, too, though you'll have to cook it first. That can be as simple as steaming it in the microwave. Mac and cheese with broccoli is the bomb-digity!

    Like pasta, rice works really well for stirring veggies into it. One of my favorites is sausage, rice, and spinach.

    Stir fries are awesome. You can get away with loading up on veggies and not noticing too much beacause the sauce tends to take center stage, and a little meat goes a long way.

    Maybe a pot pie? I make a pretty good chicken pot pie, using a bag of frozen mixed veggies and topped with biscuit batter. OK, it's more chicken and biscuits than chicken pot pie, but you get the idea. It always feels like I'm eating a big bowl of creamy, chickeny, biscuity goodness, and I kind of forget the veggie are there. And I like vegetables.

    I've had good luck hiding vegetables in meatloaf, for some of my more vegetable-phobic friends. I chop them really fine in the food processor, and use the them to stretch the loaf in addition to bread crumbs. Carrots worked really well for that. Seriously, the ex-roommate ate way more vegetables than he knew.

    One last question? What types of veggies are you buying? Fresh, frozen, canned? I find that fresh and frozen have a much better consistency and taste than canned.

    How are you preparing them? One of my favorite ways to prepare vegetables is roasting them. It brings out their natural sugars and tends to make them sweeter.

    My last suggestion will be to try to branch out a little based on what you like. You like potatoes, so maybe give sweet potatoes a try. If you like that, maybe you can try squash. You like spinach, maybe try some other leafy greens. There are a lot of places around to find recipes, so you can try some different techniques and figure out what you like.

    I'm not going to tell you to eat what you don't like. That won't work for anything. I am not ashamed to admit that there are vegetables I don't care for very much, like kale. I still eat it occasionally, but I will never be all 'Oh, boy, kale! Hooray!'.

    Thank you this is all really helpful! I try to buy fresh produce when I can, but when some things are out of season and really expensive I tend to substitute it with frozen! I never buy canned veg., too much sodium, if I make beans of any kind they are made from dried ones. I usually eat vegetables raw or steamed, I will definitely give roasting a try!!
  • ayamagali
    ayamagali Posts: 167 Member
    I find grating veggies on a micro plane is good for sneaking in veggies. I'll keep some prepared in the fridge to throw into whatever I'm cooking and hubby enjoys (he's not super-picky, but has problem veggies).
    Any who, eat the veggies you do enjoy, and expirement with ones you don't particularly. Shaved and roasted brussel sprouts tossed with oil, balsamic vinegar, and almonds were a way to get hubs to enjoy them!
  • PiSquared
    PiSquared Posts: 148 Member
    I recently just discovered turnips. The best way to describe them is like a starchy radish. They're starchy like a potato, but more fibrous and they have a peppery bite like a radish. I made a turnip puree in lieu of mash potatoes last night. They were really good, and I'll do that again. Except next time I'll add less milk. They were far too liquidy for what I had originally intended, but still quite tasty.
  • Pinkylee77
    Pinkylee77 Posts: 432 Member
    my mother would sneak finely grated vegetables into her pasta sauce because my brother did not like vegetables. Roasted veggies are often tasty and people who don't like them any other way will eat them.

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