Help Me with Veggies!

what don't you like about veggies? is it a texture thing or something else

yes. roasted veggies with olive oil are great! i just like salt and pepper on mine. also almost any veggie is good sauteed with a little chicken boullion powder and maybe a little fresh chopped garlic and a pinch of sugar for dark greens or like zuchinni for one example. ( i actually use mushroom veggie seasoning but i'm vegetarian) if you like chinese food, invest in some oyster sauce for sauteed broccoli or bok choy. you basically just dump on a couple tablespoons at the end of the stir-fry/sauteeing. it's delicious . also salad is an option. it doesn't have to made with lettuce. you can do cucumber and tomato and green peppers with a little feta and olives.. experiment until you find dressings you like. another of my favorite salads is romaine carrots and celery and cucumber..

What about raw? I love a good salad over a grain instead of lettuce. I'm not real into lettuce. But if cooked I prefer roasted or grilled veggies. Steamed veggies are kind of bland. This also makes a big difference, but are you buying fresh, frozen, or canned? I won't touch canned, and frozen veggies are mostly steamed when cooked. Fresh is the way to go if roasting or grilling.

Olive oil, salt, and roasting in the oven will bring out the natural flavor of most veggies. I especially like roasting potatoes, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, asparagus, and parsnips. You can google how long to cook any particular veg you're interested in. I tend to only work with fresh veg if I intend to roast them in the oven as, imo, the frozen ones get a bit mushy. But it depends on your preferences and the particular veg.

Steaming them is also a quick way to prepare them. I used to buy microwave steamer bags at the grocery store that you could fill with different veg and they had the times for each veggie printed right on them. Green beans and broccoli are probably my most commonly steamed veg, but any of the above can be too. Steaming does have a tendency to make veggies mushy if you steam them too long, so don't go overboard. Since you can eat most veggies raw, you don't need to cook them to death. Just enough to soften them up a bit.

Most veggies have their own flavor but will also soak up the flavor of whatever they're cooked in, which is why they are often incorporated into soups, stews, curries, etc (that and they were relatively cheaper than meat for most people, so they stretched a meal easily back in the day). I don't tend to eat enough veggies throughout the day so my dinners get packed with them. I chop up mushrooms to add to ground meat along with some onions. Beyond that, I tend to pair things to go with their cuisine style. Italian food? Bell peppers, tomatoes, eggplant. If I'm making Mexican-style food then it's beans, onion, peppers, corn, salsa. Breakfast hash gets potatoes, broccoli, edamame (shelled) and onion in my house. Maybe some carrots.

I keep frozen veg on hand all the time to just throw in the pot of whatever I'm making. I don't steam them beforehand, just toss them in frozen and let the pan do the rest. I find that if I pre-steam them then they get way overcooked.

Veggies are easy, imo. Toss some spices on them and cook them until they're fork tender. Any longer and they get mushy. Any shorter and they can be tough to eat.

And don't be afraid to add cheese to your veggies if that's the way you like them. There's nothing wrong with a good bit of broccoli in a cheese sauce.

I second roast veggies. Another alternative is raw sticks or crudites dipped into humous or ranch dressing. Green beans, carrot sticks, green peppers would be suitable. Soft greens such as spinach and cabbage can be sauteed with a little butter and garlic until wilted down and soft.

You could buy a vegetarian cookbook. Don't overcook fresh veg, you only need to boil most chopped veg for 5-10 minutes. You can add a vegetable stock cube and herbs like parsley, chives and marjoram to the water which will give the veg a nice flavour, and then use the veg water to make instant gravy. A small microwave egg cooker (like those cheap chicken shaped ones) can also be used as a mini steamer for individual portions of veg. Cook on a high setting for 3-5 minutes.

I absolutely can't eat vegetables without some kind of "flavor" to them. I like to buy sauced frozen vegetables and use the sauce to flavor the veg and the meat for meal prep. Everything bagel seasoning is fantastic, but I find I have to use quite a bit to get enough taste. Tabasco, Taijin, ancho powder, Louisiana Hot Sauce, hummus, ranch, and cheese are also very handy for making the "medicine go down"!

COGypsy wrote: »

I absolutely can't eat vegetables without some kind of "flavor" to them. I like to buy sauced frozen vegetables and use the sauce to flavor the veg and the meat for meal prep. Everything bagel seasoning is fantastic, but I find I have to use quite a bit to get enough taste. Tabasco, Taijin, ancho powder, Louisiana Hot Sauce, hummus, ranch, and cheese are also very handy for making the "medicine go down"!

Same here. I basically douse my vegetables in the stuff. I go through the seasoning really fast lol

Everything with onions and garlic.

Sweet potatoes eaten in spicy baked fry format.

Roasted broccoli with interesting spices, not steamed.

When all else fails, cook with a little butter, salt and pepper, and maybe even a little shredded Parmesan.

Good tips here, adding seasoning really helps. As someone who never used to eat any veggies i'm working on it too. Good luck to you.

Corn on the cob it really good with little bit of butter, old bay seasoning and garlic powder. Just boil it toss on the seasonings and enjoy.

My whole family love zucchini french fries: https://gimmedelicious.com/2016/07/02/the-best-crispy-baked-zucchini-fries/

We make sweet potatoes by grating them with a cheese grater and cooking it in a skillet with coconut oil. Once its tender add a bunch of cinnamon.