We all know that we need to eat more vegetables.
I don’t think I need to tell that they’re disease fighting, energy boosting, hot-bod creating super heroes do I?
But drama in the veggie department is the number one complaint I get from clients. Either they don’t like them or it’s a constant fight to get their kids to eat them.
Now, I love vegetables and think they are delicious. Yes I said delicious. I actually enjoying cooking and eating them. But for those of you who don’t, this post is for you. These tricks work great for kids –and picky grownups too.
5 tips to sneak more veggies into your diet.
1. Bake with them.
Add grated zucchini, and carrots to muffins and loaf recipes. Try this one here. Use pureed pumpkin, sweet potato or beets in brownie recipes. Delicious, cuts the fat + sugar down and super moist.
2. Hide them in a tomato sauce.
Add carrots, zucchini and even spinach to your sauce while cooking. Blend it all together and nobody will know.
3. Add them to your smoothie.
Add a handful of spinach or chard to any smoothie recipe. Your smoothie will still be delicious. I promise. You can checkout a recipe here.
4. Hide them in a lasagna.
Who doesn’t love lasagna? Through in some spinach, artichokes, squash, whatever. This is a great way to sneak them in, especially for kids. (Side note: please use whole grain pasta and go easy on the cheese.)
5. Learn to make them less boring.
If you boil, or microwave (ahh! please never microwave!!) vegetables, not only will they lose nutrients, but they are bland, boring and tasteless. Sorry, but when people tell me their family won’t eat vegetables, they are usually prepared this way. Gross, I don’t want to eat them that way either. Try roasting or grilling them. Steaming is great too, but dint forget to add the flavor. One of my favourite dishes is steamed green beans drizzled with a zest citrus dressing.
In the comments below, please share your favourite tips + tricks to sneak in more veggies?
Ana xo
Catherine Marrion says
18 April, 2012 at 19:59Hi Ana, I love this recipe from my sister, Patricia Fell. It involves a lot of olive oil and some anchovies, so people who are oil-averse or vegetarian may not like it, but it’s really yummy, easy to prepare and uses an entire cauliflower (you asked for ways to get people to eat veggies).
CAULIFLOWER PASTA
1 lb. pasta (4 for main, 6 for 1st course) penne rigate
1 ½ lb. cauliflower, cleaned and stripped, cooked in 4 – 5 qt. water
(reserve water to boil pasta)
In big frying pan:
½ c. olive oil; 2 finely chopped cloves garlic;
1 tin flat anchovy fillets with oil
¼ tsp. chopped (not ground) hot red pepper
Saute til garlic begins to colour and anchovies melt (with help from
Spoon or fork)
Mash cauliflower in the oil mixture and cook for a few minutes more.
Check the salt. Remove from heat.
Cook pasta in cauliflower water til al dente.
Drain and mix with sauce.
Garnish with chopped parsley to relieve cat vomit appearance.
Not usually served with cheese but if you must: pecorine rather than
parmigiano as the sharpness goes well.
Ana says
19 April, 2012 at 09:34Great recipe Catherine. Thanks for sharing. I will try this with some whole spelt pasta.