The message to eat plenty of vegetables and fruit everyday is spreading across the world and many experts agree that vegetables and fruits have major health benefits. Your main goal is to eat more vegetables everyday. In South Africa for example the goal is to eat at least 5 different servings of fruit and vegetables a day. You can try cooking your vegetables a different way each time, but there are simple ways to add veggies to your meals:
Serve Crudites:
At mealtimes you can put a plater of raw veggies on the table. For example: cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, celery, and/or peppers. Serve them with something different each evening: like a salsa, dips, vinaigrette, low fat or fat free cottage cheese, a low fat mayo, or reduced fat sour cream.
Salads:
Have a salad with your meal and it is so quick and easy to prepare. Just take a bunch of mixed salad leaves, through in a couple of cherry tomatoes, a few slices of cucumber and an apple. You will have a healthy salad in no time. It is a great way to serve as a starter or a side dish especially in summer times.
Roasted Veggies:
Veggies are absolutely fantastic when you roast them. Take a variety of veggies like parsnips, turnips, beetroots, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms, courgettes, onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes or sundried tomatoes and cut them real chunky add a splash of Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar or Herbed Vinegar, whole cloves of garlic (try keeping the skins on) salt and pepper and a few sprigs of fresh herbs like Rosemary and Thyme. Pop into the oven for 40min and Bob's Your Uncle..you have this really awesome and very nutritional dish. I even through in an apple or two to give it a bit of sweetness.
Stir Fry:
Stir Fries are one of the healthy options of cooking your veggies, as you don't need to cook them long and you keep all the nutrients. Choose a choice of veggies like cabbage, baby corn, courgettes, carrots, peppers, sugar peas, onions, mushrooms, and/or beans cut them into bite size pieces. Heat a frying pan with Canola Oil and add your veggies. Turn your veggies constantly until cooked (Firm and Tender) - season with salt, pepper, thyme, soya sauce, honey, ginger, or even sesame oil.
Puree into Soups:
Instead of adding a just plain water to your soup try adding pureed potatoes, carrots, pumpkin, squash, cauliflower, or broccoli or any other veggie that can be made into a delicious soup. For a very basic soup recipe try the following: In a medium saucepan saute a large onion, just until transparent. Combine the onion with a choice of cooked veggies in a food processor until smooth. Add to the saucepan and thin the mixture with either lowfat milk or stock. Season with herbs and spices.
Grate into Mince:
You can enhance the flavour and give a boost of nutritional value to your mince meat mixtures by adding a cup of raw grated veggies. You can use carrots, courgettes, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, or sweet potatoes.
Sauces:
Sauces or salsa are wonder with chicken, pork, pasta or lamb. You can a sauce or salsa from tomatoes, mushrooms, onions, peppers or leavy green veggies.
Omelettes:
Fill an omelette with the following veggies to give it some awesome flavour and increasing the nutritional value: onions, peppers, mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, courgettes. Try something different and add courgettes and combine it with goats cheese.
Meats:
Stuff you veggies in chicken or inside a rolled up fillet of beef, pork or poultry, surround them with roasted meats.
Try something different:
Instead of making the same sauce for lasagne, try adding some cooked spinached or grated carrots. When making soups, stews or casseroles, lessen your amount of meat and increase the veggies.
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