Veggies are honestly one of my favorite foods to eat, but they never used to be. It took a lot of playing around with how to prepare/cook them so that I actually liked them.
Now, there's nothing I love more than a good mix of roasted broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, and sweet potatoes.
Veggies often get a bad rep in terms of taste because when we were younger, most of the ones we were fed were flavorless, steamed & soggy vegetables. Gross.
Healthy food doesn't have to suck. It's all in the technique & how your flavor your veggies.
Regardless of whether you love, like, or hate veggies, here are 8 ways to sneak more veggies onto your plate that aren't salad:
Grate them
I love broccoli slaw. I use it a lot for a salad base instead of lettuce *just a personal preference*. I love to mash some avocado into it with a little lime juice…SO good! But you can grate broccoli stems to make your own broccoli slaw, and do the same with carrots & have yourself a mixed slaw.
I like to throw it in the microwave for a minute or two to steam, then mash the avocado into it, top off with some roasted veggies, a little lime juice, maybe a little drizzle of maple mustard…YUM.
Rice them
Swap your typical rice for riced veggies instead. With a food processor, you can rice so many different veggies, but some of the best for ricing are cruciferous veggies like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. And if you don't want to do the dirty work of ricing the veggies, you can buy them already riced either frozen or fresh. All you have to do is steam & strain, flavor to your tasting or add to whatever you're making & you're good to go!
Spiralize them
Just like ricing veggies, a lot can be spiralized, too. Most commonly are zucchini and squash. So you can get more veggies into your diet by using spiralized veggies in place of spaghetti. All you need is a spiralizer, or you can cut them into spaghetti yourself, steam for a few minutes and you're all set!
Make them into fries
It's always wild to me how good 'fries' can be made at home using just a potato and an air fryer *or oven works if you don't have an air fryer*. I prefer to use an air fryer because it's easier & they turn out way crispier! Just cut up a white or sweet potato into 'fries', drizzle a little bit of extra virgin olive or coconut oil over them & toss *optional*, then put the fries into the basket, bake in the air fryer at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, and viola...crispy, 'fries' free of processed crap & over-kill oils. Dip them in some organic ketchup or guacamole, or eat them as is! You can also do this with carrots, zucchini, etc.
Lettuce or collard green wraps
Replace your tortillas with lettuce wraps or collard green wraps. Simply add everything you’d normally put into your tortilla into a lettuce leaf or collard green. You'll save a lot of calories with this replacement too!
Add to smoothies
Spinach & kale are probably what come to mind when adding veggies to a smoothie, but you can really add anything, like cucumber, zucchini, and the growingly popular cauliflower rice. Just toss it in with your other ingredients, blend it up, & enjoy the boost of veggies that you likely won't even taste. ;)
Add to soups
Soups are definitely one of the easiest ways to sneak more veggies into your diet. Add any veggies to any type of soup & let them cook with everything until tender.
I love making a big batch of vegetable soup to have on hand all throughout the week or to freeze and have whenever. Saves so much time & great to have pre-made for when you're in a hurry!
Hide in desserts
For those with a sweet tooth, like myself, or for those trying to disguise veggies for their kids or significant other *also like myself* HA, I saved the best for last.
Zucchini muffins, carrot cake, pumpkin bread, etc. all have hidden veggies in them. Search for a healthy recipe for any of those and you'll get more veggies into those diets!
OR, try out my Vegan Sweet Potato PB Brownies.
We all know that our diet is especially important right now, so I hope you take it seriously and make sure you're getting enough real, nutritious foods into your body.
That's one of the easiest things you can do to stay healthy!
xo Mackenzie.