16 Creative Ways to Eat More Vegetables
My husband and I enjoyed a 3 week vacation in Croatia this summer. For the first part we were traveling on a small yacht with 20 couples. The boat had a great chef and it was wonderful to enjoy the local, fresh foods. I can admit that the Cuddle Fish (like a squid with creepy suckers) Risotto cooked in it’s own ink (yes, it was black) was an eating adventure but not my new favorite food. But I do love trying new things while traveling. Daily breakfast included fresh made croissants, pancakes, eggs, bacon, sausage, yogurt and fresh cucumbers and tomatoes. I have never eaten cucumbers or tomatoes for breakfast but I enjoyed it every day while traveling. And I realized “WHY DON’T WE ROUTINELY EAT VEGETABLES AT BREAKFAST?” (I realize tomatoes aren’t really vegetables but I count them as veggies).
This week I was listening to a podcast with Chris Wark (author of Chris Beats Cancer) who is now a 20 year survivor of stage 3 colon cancer. His regimen upon diagnosis was to eat only raw fresh fruits and vegetables-15-20 servings a day. We only “require” 5 servings per day for this competition but many experts say you should be shooting for at least 12 servings.
Including vegetables in your meals is extremely important. Veggies are rich in nutrients and antioxidants, which boost your health and help fight off disease.
Additionally, they’re beneficial for weight management due to their low calorie content.
Health authorities around the world recommend that adults consume several servings of vegetables each day, but this can be difficult for some people.
Some find it inconvenient to eat vegetables, while others are simply unsure how to prepare them in an appetizing way and fit them into a daily deal plan. (The national average is 1-2 servings per day)
Let's look at some unique ways you can incorporate vegetables into your eating plan, so that you never get sick of eating them.
Brianna Elliott RD from Healthline shares the following suggestions:
1. Make veggie-based soups
Soups are an excellent way to consume multiple servings of vegetables at once.
You can make veggies the “base” by pureeing them and adding spices.
Furthermore, it’s simple to cook veggies into broth- or cream-based soups.
Adding even a small number of extra veggies, such as broccoli, to soups is a great way to increase your intake of fiber, vitamins, and minerals.
2. Experiment with veggie noodles
Veggie noodles are easy to make, and a great way to get more veggies in your eating plan. They’re also an excellent low carb substitute for high carb foods, such as pasta.
They’re made by inserting vegetables into a spiralizer, which processes them into noodle-like shapes. You can also:
- shred them
- slice them with a mandoline
- just cut them up as you please
You can use a spiralizer for almost any type of vegetable. They’re commonly used for zucchini, carrots, spaghetti squash, and sweet potatoes, all of which come packed with extra nutrients.
Once the “noodles” are made, they can be consumed just like pasta and combined with sauces, other vegetables, or meat.
Besides spiralized vegetables I love spaghetti squash itself being used in place of pasta. I just pierce the skin and throw the whole thing in the oven for an hour at 350 degrees.
3. Add veggies to sauces
Adding extra vegetables to your sauces and dressings is a sneaky way to increase your veggie intake, especially if you have picky kids.
While you’re cooking sauces, such as marinara sauce, simply add some veggies and herbs of your choice to the mix, such as chopped onions, carrots, bell peppers, and leafy greens like spinach.
Pureeing roasted root vegetables can make for rich sauces with an Alfredo-like feel. Think carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, turnips, purple yam, beets, and kohlrabi.
4. Enjoy cauliflowers new faces
Cauliflower is extremely versatile. You can rice it, roast it, stick it in a stew, puree it for silky goodness, and make it into a pizza crust.
I especially enjoy the frozen cauliflower rice from Trader Joe’s with Indian sauces.
5. Blend into smoothies
Smoothies make for a refreshing breakfast or snack. Green smoothies in particular are very popular for hiding loads of leafy greens in fruity packages.
Typically, they’re made by combining fruit with ice, milk, or water in a blender. However, you can also add veggies to smoothies without compromising the flavor.
I love the power greens (spinach, kale, chard) from Costco and I freeze the entire bag as soon as I get it home.
Just 1 loosely packed cup (25 grams) of spinach contains more than a full day’s recommended amount of vitamin K and half of the recommended amount of vitamin A.
In addition, frozen zucchini, pumpkin, beets, avocado, and sweet potatoes work well blended into smoothies.
6. Add veggies to casseroles
Including extra veggies in casseroles is an efficient way to increase your veggie intake. They add bulk, texture, and taste all at once.
Casseroles often combine meats with vegetables, cheese, potatoes, and a grain, such as rice or pasta. As you might expect, traditional casseroles are typically very high in refined carbs and calories.
They’re especially common around the holidays when vegetables may be less popular than other dishes.
Luckily, you can reduce calories and carbs in your casseroles by replacing the grains with veggies, such as broccoli, mushrooms, celery, or carrots.
7. Cook a veggie omelet
Omelets are an easy and versatile way to add veggies into your meal plan. The eggs add lots of good nutrients too.
Cook up some beaten eggs with a small amount of butter or oil in a pan, and then fold them around a filling that often includes cheese, meat, vegetables, or a combination of the three.
Any type of veggie tastes great in omelets and you can really load them up for lots of nutrition. Spinach, onions, scallions, bok choy, mushrooms, bell peppers, and tomatoes are common additions. Here are some to try:
8. Prepare savory oatmeal
Oats don’t have to be sweet. Savory oatmeal can add more veggies into your morning.
While it’s great with fresh fruit, raisins, or cinnamon, you can also add in eggs, spices, and lots of veggies.
9. Try a lettuce wrap or veggie bun
Using lettuce as a wrap or certain veggies as buns in place of tortillas and bread is an easy way to eat more veggies.
Lettuce wraps can be a part of several types of dishes and are often used to make low carb sandwiches and bunless burgers.
Additionally, many types of veggies, such as portobello mushroom caps, sliced sweet potatoes, halved red or yellow peppers, tomato halves, and sliced eggplant make excellent buns.
Lettuce wraps and veggie buns are an easy way to reduce your calorie intake, as one lettuce leaf contains only one calorie.
10. Grill veggie kebabs
Veggie kebabs pack lots of flavor onto a party-ready stick.
To make them, place chopped vegetables of your choice on a skewer and cook on a grill or barbecue.
Bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and tomatoes work well for kebabs.
11. Swap to a veggie burger
Veggie burgers are an easy swap for heavier meat burgers and can be topped with even more vegetables.
Veggie burger patties can be made by combining vegetables with eggs, nuts or nut flours, and seasonings. Sweet potatoes and black beans are also commonly used to make veggie burgers.
Note that not all meat-free burgers are full of veggies. Watch the labels to find some that have veggies as their main ingredients.
You can take these recipes a step further by wrapping your veggie burger in a lettuce wrap, instead of a bun.
12. Add veggies to tuna salad
In general, tuna (or chicken or salmon) salad is made by blending tuna with mayonnaise (I replace this with plain greek yogurt) but any type of chopped vegetable can be added to increase the flavor and nutrient content.
Onions, carrots, cucumber, spinach, and herbs are common additions. But you can also add cucumbers, grape tomatoes, olives, red peppers, artichokes, shallots, and parsley.
13. Stuff some bell peppers
Stuffed bell peppers are made by stuffing halved bell peppers with cooked meat, beans, rice, and seasonings, and then baking them in the oven.
If you like them raw and crisp, you can add in layers of cream cheese, sliced chicken or turkey, and seasonings for a cold dish.
Bell peppers are a rich source of many vitamins and minerals, especially vitamins A and C
You can increase the nutrition content of stuffed bell peppers by including even more extra veggies. Add in some onions, spinach, or riced cauliflower.
14. Add veggies to guacamole
Guacamole is an avocado-based dip made by mashing ripe avocados and sea salt together with lemon or lime juice, garlic, and additional seasonings. But you don’t have to stop there.
A variety of vegetables taste great when incorporated into guacamole. Bell peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and onions are good options. Plus, guacamole makes a delicious topper to salads and baked sweet or white potatoes.
15. Blend veggies with meatloaf
Meatloaf can also be a vehicle for more vegetables. It’s usually made with a combination of ground meat and other ingredients, such as eggs, breadcrumbs, and tomato sauce. It’s then molded into the shape of a loaf, which is where it gets its name.
You can add just about any type of chopped vegetable to meatloaf, including onions, bell peppers, carrots, zucchini, and greens like spinach.
Additionally, you can make “meatloaf” that’s completely veggie-based, including chickpeas, carrots, onions, and celery. The chickpeas will replace the meat and still feel hearty.
16. Dinner for Breakfast
When my youngest son was in high school he had an early morning religious class he attended (began 6 am) . He was happy to eat anything for breakfast so a veggie casserole, leftover vegetable soup etc. began his day right.
The bottom line
There are so many ways to add vegetables to everyday food items. Some can sneak right into recipes without a lot of drama (like spinach) and some add color and flavor in ways you’d never expect (like beets and sweet potatoes).
Adding to a dish is great, but sometimes veggies can become the star.
Tip: If you don’t like a certain vegetable that you’ve only tried boiled, give another preparation method a try. So many people who hate boiled Brussels sprouts end up loving roasted or sautéed sprouts.
By making veggies a regular part of your eating habits, you’ll significantly increase your intake of fiber, nutrients, and antioxidants.
I wish I could challenge you all to eat 15-20 servings of vegetables a day but instead lets begin here. FOR EVERY DAY YOU EAT AT LEAST ONE SERVING OF VEGETABLES AT EVERY MEAL YOU CAN CLAIM THE 5 POINTS TOWARD OUR WEEKLY BONUS POINTS.
