My Top 10 Ideas to Help You Eat Your Veggies!
The nutrition information available to us today is one big confusing mess. I fully acknowledge that. It can be so difficult to figure out just what to eat to keep your cholesterol and blood pressure down, while keeping your fiber and antioxidants high. But there are about two things no one can refute that do wonders for your body: drinking lots of water and Eating. More. Vegetables.
You know this: eating more vegetables every day is one of the easiest ways to improve your health. And yet, so many of us Americans just don’t do it. We’re eating far less than even the recommended amounts (and I consider recommended amounts of most things the bare minimum). Most resources will tell you that adults need about 4 – 5 servings of vegetables a day (a serving is a half-cup of raw or cooked chopped veggies, or a cup of raw, leafy greens). But I say to hell with measuring out your veggie intake—because that’s just no fun and it just doesn’t seem to be motivating. According to the CDC, a scarce 9% of American adults are getting in these recommended amounts.
So let’s just say, make a goal to get more. Start out by planning how to get just one more serving of veggies in your day. And then graduate to maybe one and a half more. And then two… and…you get the drift. And start incorporating a variety of vegetables in an array of colors, which amps up the health benefits even more because those colors are doing way more than looking pretty (more about that here). (All with the caveat that not every veggie is for everyone, so please listen to your body.)
Whether you’re someone who has just never liked eating their veggies or you’re someone who finds it a difficult habit to remember, or you’re someone who loves veggies but only eats the same ones over and over, my Top 10 list below is for you! Use it to help get you motivated on this improved veggie journey, my Healthy-Curious friends.
My Top 10 Ideas to Help You Eat Your Veggies!
Think of ways you can be sneaky with yourself. I often tell people with kids who won’t eat their veggies to disguise them in something else (but this works for adults as well): a couple of handfuls of spinach that’ll wilt into the spaghetti sauce, a zucchini bread, finely chopped mushrooms in a meatloaf or a handful of kale in a morning smoothie. Who cares if you’re tricking yourself into getting your veggies? You’re getting them—that’s what matters.
2. There’s always room for more. With whatever dish you’re making, ask yourself if there’s an opportunity to add just one more serving. Similar to my tip above about adding a couple of cups of spinach to a bubbling spaghetti sauce and letting the heat wilt it down, think about tossing in a handful of frozen peas at the tail end of boiling pasta or adding a couple cups of sweet potato or butternut squash into a chili. Not only are you increasing the dish’s nutrients, you’re not having to cook more things—you’re just taking advantage of a dish that’s already going.
3. Does the thought of having a salad for lunch bore you? Maybe it’s because you’re thinking of salads with the same old, same old ho-hum veggies. No one wants a salad of the sad iceberg lettuce with a tasteless wedge of tomato and dried shredded carrot. So think about which veggies you can add in to make your mouth water, and add those to the grocery list if necessary. Make yourself a salad that you crave. (Read my post on that very thing here.) To set yourself up for even greater success, wash those greens as soon as you get them home from the store or market, put them through the salad spinner to dry them well, chop up those veggies and pre-pack a couple of salads for yourself to have on hand. Your future self will be so grateful.
4. Along these lines, slice up some red bell peppers or cucumbers or have a bag of baby carrots or sugar snap peas in the fridge, along with a healthful yummy dip, like your favorite hummus, this tahini sauce or a homemade guac that will get your mouth watering. When your stomach starts to growl at 3 p.m., having something you actually crave with the bonus of having it ready to grab and go will give you a much better chance of choosing veggies over a bag of chips or crackers.
5. Swap out your grains or pasta with veggies for a few meals. Do you have spaghetti night on the menu? Then how about serving your sauce over zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash? Or maybe serve an already veggie-rich stir fry over cauliflower rice. Or one of my favorites: sheet-pan chicken or shrimp fajitas served over this zingy red cabbage slaw.
6. Throw in the veggie kitchen sink. Use some extra time over the weekend to make a big batch of veggie-rific soup, like this one, then save half in the fridge for lunches or dinners this week and freeze the other half (the link above gives great instructions for how to do just that). This way, you’ve got just enough veggie soup to keep life interesting and convenient, and you’re doing your future self a huge favor by having healthy, homemade freezer meals waiting for you.
7. Don’t overlook the frozen section. Because frozen veggies are frozen at the peak of harvesting, they retain most of their nutrients. Plus, they can be pretty budget-friendly and they keep for a long time, unlike that bag of fresh spinach, so they come through in a pinch. Frozen produce like cauliflower, peas and green beans are great for throwing into a soup, pasta dish or curry. Frozen spinach, after it’s been thawed and drained, is the star of the show in this delicious egg bake.
8. Experiment with a couple of methods of cooking just one veggie. I recently taught a “Cabbage: 3 Ways” class, which proved that depending how you slice them, how you apply (or don’t apply) heat, which aromatics you use alongside them, veggies will wow you with their incredibly diverse and scrumptious outcomes. I often roast my veggies, but it’s so fun to find out what happens when you try them raw, sauteed, blanched or steamed.
9, Choose a vegetable that you’ve never tried before that looks interesting to you at the store or market and prepare it simply—going back to my favorite idea of roasting, for instance. Have you ever tried roasted fennel? It’s one of my faves.
10. Give an old enemy another chance. How many of us grew up HATING Brussels sprouts? It’s no wonder: our parents and school cafeteria workers used to boil them within an inch of their life—making them all mushy and stinky. Or how about canned asparagus? The worst! Whose idea was that?? Well, those were the olden days. Go look up a recipe for broiled asparagus, or sauteed Brussels sprouts or roasted cabbage. Don’t let your veggie hang-ups of the past continue to haunt you. Face an old fear and try them again. Our palates change, cooking styles change (thank goodness). Embrace evolution and ingenious new methods and get back on that veggie horse.
I hope this list gave you some veggie inspiration, my Healthy-Curious friends. Remember, you deserve to eat real (and really good) vegetables that give your mind, body and spirit energy and vitality to keep you healthy for years to come.
Comment below if you’ve found some motivation from this list and let us know where your veggie journey is taking you. Happy eating!
xoxo Julie