Making Veggies Taste Good???

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PANZERIA
PANZERIA Posts: 471 Member
in Food and Nutrition
As my mother will tell you, ever since I was little, I have HATED vegetables (and most fruit is too sweet to me as well, but that's a different topic...)

HELP ME. HOW DO I MAKE THEM TASTE BETTER AND YET STILL BE HEALTHY??

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  • dawnrenee567
    dawnrenee567 Posts: 292 Member
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    Roast them. Everything is better roasted.
  • 1Kristine1
    1Kristine1 Posts: 697 Member
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    Yes, I love most cooked veggies WAYYYY better than uncooked.
  • bm99
    bm99 Posts: 597 Member
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    Saute them (in 0 cal spray oil) with hot sauce. It makes EVERYTHING taste good. Burn them if you like, that's what I do.
  • fitnessfashionista17
    fitnessfashionista17 Posts: 16 Member
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    You can dip them in hummus or greek yogurt or even make a soup with water and vegetables and add spices that you like eating so the soup will taste like the spices more than vegetables. Also you could juice your vegetables, it would be easier to eat and you can easily drink up 4-5 servings of veggies in a tall cup of juice. My faves are:
    kale, spinach, cucumber, ginger lemon
    beet, ginger, apple, celery
    carrot, cucumber apple
    Just experiment with the vitamins you want to get each day and you will eventually find a combo you love :)
    *hint: mixing with mostly fruit juice will allow you not to taste the veggies as much
  • PANZERIA
    PANZERIA Posts: 471 Member
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    Thanks guys!!! =) I'm going to try all of the above!!! (and I'm so hungry and used up all my meat and carbs for the day, so I have no choice now, lol!)
  • angieroo2
    angieroo2 Posts: 973 Member
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    Add things like lemon, or grill on the barbeque
  • rasp12
    rasp12 Posts: 17
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    Saute veggies with rice in a stirfry adding some soy sauce and sprinkling some protein on top before serving OR simmer in a little bouillon OR shred into a tomato sauce with lots of herbs and serve over a little pasta OR shred into a lasagna layer and bake.
    Can you tell that I cook with veggies to give colour and flavour and eat lots fresh by themselves?
  • bongbunny
    bongbunny Posts: 37 Member
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    I agree, roasting and grilling are both great (season the crap out of them). We sauté most veggies at my house - using either olive oil or a no calorie spray, and a tiny bit of sugar and balsmic vinegar. I love veggies, but my husband- not so much. He'll tear up a good sauté though. We put our veggies on top of a bed of mixed greens. He likes to throw a little pasta into the mix to make a more substantial meal. Chicken breast works well too. For the longest time I either steamed or boiled my veggies, but sautéing them has made a big difference for us. Raw is also nice - I suggest experimenting with different salads; you can put a salad in a tortilla wrap and it's slammin' good!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    Yep - roasted or grilled makes a huge difference. Now that summer is rolling around, I love grilling zucchini, sweet onions, mushrooms, bell peppers (red or orange are my faves), tomatoes - whatever you have around. Toss them in olive oil & balsamic vinegar & sprinkle with some herbs (fresh or dried, I like herbs de provence), then spoon them into a grill basket/wok/bowl made for the grill. Be careful about dumping the whole thing in though, because the oil will cause the grill to flare up. I cook them along side whatever else I'm grilling and they come out great.
  • rainbowbow
    rainbowbow Posts: 7,490 Member
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    Tony Chacherees.
  • TuscanySun
    TuscanySun Posts: 3,608 Member
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    Roast them with a little olive oil and kosher salt. So simple and the roasting carmelizes the sugars...the flavors are sweeter and so much better!

    Lots of veggies roast up very well. Sweet potatoes, onions, fennel, Brussel sprouts (yes...they CAN be good!), asparagus, kale, cauliflower...all of it and more tastes sooo good when you roast them!
  • Balice57
    Balice57 Posts: 125
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    I find adding some ground pepper and pink himalayan sea salt to my steamed broccoli makes me almost not miss butter (and I used to cover everything in butter).
  • mzhokie
    mzhokie Posts: 349 Member
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    tonight I diced up one onion, red pepper, yellow squash and some carrots. Diced really small one jalapeno too. sauteed them in a pan with some olive oil pam. I love to get the onions to caramelize a little too. I throw the veggies in as I dice them up starting with the onion. You could add some minced garlic if you like garlic. I use salt, pepper and some oregano or thyme. Then I added them to 1 or 2 cups of quinoa. I would rough chop the veggies more if I wasn't going to add them to quinoa.

    Oven Roasted Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc. Squeeze a little lemon juice on them or add some spice. Spray them with PAM, sprinkle S&P, a little garlic powder or cayenne pepper. If you have montreal seasoning... that's good on them but don't use anymore salt if you use that. There are lots of spice blends out there and Mrs Dash makes some great low sodium ones.

    Try combining veggies together vs by themselves. Personally I love onions with anything. But squash and peppers cooked up together or add some diced tomatoes in with whatever you are cooking. Greek green beans are green beans cooked with tomatoes, garlic, oregano, etc. I use to hate green beans until I went to a Greek festival and had them.

    Try spaghetti squash with some diced tomatoes, Italian seasonings. Many use this like they would pasta noodles.

    I love steaming veggies so they still have a little crunch. Then I use the low cal spray butter, some S&P. If you are using a steamer or steaming bags.... add a garlic clove to season it.

    Veggie stirfry with soy sauce, minced garlic, minced ginger and a little honey....... eat it with or without rice/quinoa. I use onions, peppers, squash, broccoli, bean sprouts, celery, snow peas, etc. I love it with some whole wheat pasta noodles but it just depends on if I'm eating carbs or not. I have just thrown in extra bean sprouts to act like noodles for me.
  • eight6eleven
    eight6eleven Posts: 11 Member
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    Since the weather is heating up, I roast mine in the toaster over instead of the regular oven. Here are some some my and husband's favs:

    Roasted Carrots with Dill:
    Toss cleaned or baby carrots in a little olive oil, and season w/ pinch of salt and dash of dill weed. 400 degrees for about 30 min, stirring occasionally.

    Roasted Root Veggies:
    Carrots, parsnips, white turnips, red potatoes (1/2 lb of each). Whole head of garlic, peeled and separated into cloves. 1/4 C Extra Virgin Olive Oil. 2 T chopped fresh thyme. Salt and pepper, to taste. Prep your veggies, toss with the EVOL and sprinkle w/ thyme. Roast 425 for 10 minutes, THEN REDUCE oven to 350 and let roast 35-45 min longer. Stir occasionally. They'll be all nice and carmelized and tender. Season with S&P.

    Broccoli w/ Soy, Rice Vinegar and Sesame Seeds
    Brocc, 1 lb. 2 T peanut oil. 1 T sesame oil. 1 clove garlic, chopped. 1 T sesame seeds. 1 T soy sauce. 1 T rice vinegar
    Preheat to 475. Arrange brocc in a single layer on a baking sheet and season with S&P. In small bowl, stir peanut and sesame oils and garlic. Brush brocc w/ mixture. Roast, turning once, until stems are "crisp tender" and heads begin to brown, about 10 min. Remove pan from oven, sprinkle with sesame seeds and roast 5 min longer. When done, remove from oven and put brocc on a serving platter and drizzle soy sauce and vinegar over it. Serve warm.
  • daffodilsoup
    daffodilsoup Posts: 1,972 Member
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    Roasted or sauteed with garlic!
  • aimforhealthy
    aimforhealthy Posts: 449 Member
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    Mrs. Dash! They have a bunch of really good-tasting no-sodium no-preservatives seasonings that I add to a bunch of salads and roasted/steamed veggies. They're really good!
  • fmbomzo
    fmbomzo Posts: 382 Member
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    Trader Joe's 21 Seasoning Salute is good on most veggies. I saute in olive oil and spray on a little margarine at the end if needed. Blanch your vegetables in hot water for like 2 minutes and then saute them. It preserves the flavor and texture.

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