Your new favorite veggie or veggie dish???

OKRA!

Frozen okra - thaw under warm water - drizzle w a touch of olive oil or even just spray with TJ's olive oil spray along w a little salt and pepper. Pop in a 400 degree oven for about 20 min. DELICIOUS!!!!!

Asparagus on the grill with pepper and garlic salt - yummy!!!

I actually just posted this for my MFP friends to see today:

Hey, ladies! I made the Pioneer Woman Asian Noodle Salad for lunches this week. The recipe will come up if you google it.

It did take a while to chop everything up, but it is SOOO good, and now my lunches are ready for the week.

I feel great that I am getting so many veggies in, too! Especially ones I don't normally eat, like bean sprouts.

It's about 475 calories a serving but very, very filling.

I used whole wheat linguine noodles, but I am sure you could substitue a lower-carb noodle (like those cellophane ones? or maybe even spaghetti squash). I think it would be good to add some protein, too, like seared beef or thin-sliced chicken. I didn't have cashews, so I have been putting some almonds in it.

I love roasted and/or sauteed red bell peppers they seem to go with everything. My favorite is to use them with lots of raw spinach, english cucumber, and put them in a wrap with a little light cream cheese, mmmm I am getting hungry now.

I love zuccini either sauted or grilled. Just season it with a little Mrs. Dash. So yummy. Also love cucumbers and tomatoes cut up with vinegar, green onions, dill weed and salt and pepper. Very low cal low carb and super good.

I make grilled zucchini and top with grated parmesan cheese.

Roasted brussel sprouts. So simple to make, but it is probably my favorite food. Even if you include junk food and desserts and special occasion foods. One time I was eating them straight from the pan before dinner and my husband asked if he should be jealous. Apparently I was making "happy noises".

Until a couple of years ago I thought I hated brussel sprouts because I'd only had them boiled or steamed (still hate that!).

Recipe: Put sprouts in a bowl. Squirt/pour on a good amount of evoo. Add your favorite spices (mine are garlic powder, dark chili powder, black pepper and ceyenne). Toss, dump on a baking sheet and bake at 400 F for 20 - 30 min (depending on the size of the sprouts). When they are soft but not mushy and have started to brown, they are done.

This recipe also works for cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots and most other root vegetables.

Don't forget the humble acorn squash or actually winter squashes of all kinds. They are very filling for the # of calories. You can go sweet with them with cinamon and sugar or go savory with salt and pepper. Roast them in the oven or steam them in the microwave -- either way works good.

The ethnic market I shop at caries Chayote Squash which is a mild squash like zuchini but unlike zuchini it won' t disintigrate in soups. If you get vegetable soup at an authentic Mexican restaurant it is the thing in the soup that you don't know what it is. :-)

Lately I have been making kale salads. You have to cut the kale up small and "massage" the dressing into it (litterally with your hands) but you can make a big batch and have it throughout the week -- definitly not a possibility with regular lettuce! When I make it I will zest an orange into the salad and then cut up the orange segments and throw them in too and use whatever juice comes out when cutting up the orange as part of the dressing.

One last suggestion -- roasted green beans! The get a bit shrively looking but they taste amazingly sweet when roasted.

Curly kale fried in coconut oil with garlic, Spring beans fried with bacon, yummy! Also just tried celeriac mashed with butter and it was DELICIOUS!!

Meant to say spring greens, not beans!