Vegetable consumption is generally inadequate. In actuality, 90% of Americans fail to consume the suggested 2-3 servings each day. (A serving of veggies is one cup. It is 2 cups for raw, leafy vegetables like salad greens.
It’s crucial to include veggies in your meals.
Vegetables are full of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that improve your health and stave against disease.
They also contribute significantly to weight loss and weight maintenance.
The high fiber content of vegetables helps you feel fuller. Additionally, eating more low-calorie veggies leaves less room in your stomach for higher-calorie, less-healthy items.
Even if you don’t like veggies, you could not have tasted them in the appropriate way.
Without significantly changing your existing cuisine, we’ve put together a list of strategies that might assist you in increasing your intake of vegetables.
1. Serve raw vegetables at every meal.
Almost everyone enjoys cucumber slices, string beans, cherry tomatoes, carrot and celery sticks, and/or green pepper strips.
They are nutritious, almost calorie-free, have a pleasing crunch, and they can significantly reduce your intake of the main course’s higher calorie content.
Make it a habit to always set a dish of raw veggies in the middle of the table, regardless of the meal.
2. Add vegetables to your breakfast.
It’s simpler to include veggies in a savory breakfast; for example, you may serve eggs over sautéed leafy greens.
You may add tomatoes or mushrooms to your cooked eggs, or you can go creative and make an omelet or frittata that is stuffed with vegetables. Start your morning off right with a healthy breakfast packed with vegetables!
3. Cook a veggie omelet.
Adding vegetables to your meal plan is simple and adaptable when you use omelets. Eggs also contribute a ton of beneficial nutrients.
Eggs are cooked in a skillet with a little butter or oil after being beaten, and they are then folded around a filling that frequently consists of cheese, meat, vegetables, or a mixture of the three.
Any sort of vegetable tastes fantastic in omelets, which may be loaded up with a variety of healthy ingredients. Common additions include bell peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach, onions, scallions, and bok choy.
4. Make veggie-based soups.
Multiple vegetable servings can be consumed at once by eating soups.
Vegetables can be the “foundation” by being pureed and spiced. Additionally, adding vegetables to soups with a broth or cream base is an easy process.
Increase your diet of fiber, vitamins, and minerals by including even a few additional vegetables, like broccoli, in soups.
Here is an easy recipe:
- 1 medium onion, finely diced, should be sautéed in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium skillet until soft.
- Cooked veggies and onion should be combined in a blender or food processor and pureed until smooth.
- Puree should be returned to the pan and diluted with stock or low-fat milk.
- Simmer and adjust seasoning.
5. Snack on vegetables.
And we’re not talking about French fries and potato chips. Your between-meal snacks should make you feel full so you won’t be peckish when dinner rolls around. They can also aid in meeting your daily requirement of vegetables.
Consider eating hummus-dipped carrots or cucumbers, peanut butter-dipped celery, or a small cup of vegetable soup.
6. Turn vegetables into noodles.
Making vegetarian noodles is simple and a fantastic way to increase the amount of vegetables in your diet. They’re also a great low-carb alternative to dishes heavy in carbohydrates, like spaghetti.
Vegetables are processed into noodles-like forms using a spiralizer to create them. Also possible:
- shred them
- slice them with a mandoline
- just cut them up as you please
For nearly any vegetable, a spiralizer may be used. They are frequently used with foods like sweet potatoes, zucchini, carrots, spaghetti squash, and other nutrient-dense vegetables.
After being prepared, the “noodles” can be eaten like spaghetti and paired with sauces, other vegetables, or meat.
7. Order your weekly pizza with extra vegetables.
Ask for the artichokes, broccoli, spicy peppers, mushrooms, spinach, garlic, peppers, and other exotic veggies that many takeout pizza businesses now offer in place of the standard pepperoni and onions for the sake of your health and digestion.
Probably one of your favorite foods is pizza. Nothing surpasses it! Pizza may be improved by include herbs and vegetables, which may also help reduce the guilt associated with indulging in a treat.
8. Start each dinner with a mixed green salad.
Additionally, serve it before to the main meal. More veggies will be consumed, and by filling your stomach with a nutrient-rich, low-calorie salad first, there will be a little less place for the higher-calorie foods that come next.
9. Blend into smoothies.
Smoothies are an excellent method to increase your vegetable consumption and “trickle” yourself into consuming a few more servings.
Smoothies are a cool breakfast or snack option.
Green smoothies in particular are incredibly well-liked because they cram a lot of leafy greens into a delicious package.
They are often produced by blending fruit with ice, milk, or water. However, you may also incorporate vegetables into smoothies without having the flavor suffer.
Greens and puréed butternut, cucumber, and zucchini should always be included in smoothies. You won’t even taste it, we guarantee!
10. Add veggies to casseroles.
Increase your consumption of vegetables by adding extra vegetables to casseroles. They simultaneously contribute flavor, texture, and bulk.
Meats, veggies, cheese, potatoes, and a grain, such rice or pasta, are frequently included in casseroles. Traditional casseroles often include a lot of calories and refined carbohydrates, as you might imagine.
They are particularly prevalent around the holidays, when other foods may be more in vogue than veggies.
Fortunately, swapping out the grains in your casseroles with vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, celery, or carrots will lower the amount of calories and carbohydrates they contain. Particularly well known and much-liked is a healthier version of green bean casserole.
11. Follow the golden rule.
Your dinner plate should have half veggies on it. The remaining space on the plate may be used for lean meat or fish and a nutritious carbohydrate.
Experts claim that this is the ideal balanced supper.
12. Add veggies to sauces.
If you have fussy children, a cunning approach to up your veggie consumption is to add more veggies to your sauces and dressings.
Simply toss in some chopped vegetables and herbs of your choosing to sauces like marinara sauce while you cook it. Examples include onions, carrots, bell peppers, and spinach.
Roasted root vegetables may be pureed to create thick sauces that have an Alfredo-like texture. Consider kohlrabi, beets, purple yams, turnips, carrots, and sweet potatoes.
To create the most colorful dinner ever, try roasting beets with pesto.
13. Move your vegetables to the top shelf of the fridge.
They will keep just as long in a bag as they would in a vegetable crisper if they are properly sealed. More significantly, they will now be noticeable and alluring.
Maintain as much accessibility as possible for quick-to-eat foods, such as small carrots, red and green capsicum strips, broccoli florets, tomatoes, and cucumbers.
14. Roast your vegetables.
Here is a fantastic side dish that is simple to prepare, delectable to consume, and remarkably healthful. Additionally, it is pleasantly sweet and keeps well as leftovers, allowing you to prepare big amounts and spread them out over the course of the week.
On a baking sheet, spread out strong root vegetables such parsnips, turnips, carrots, and onions in a single layer.
Olive oil should be drizzled over the dish before adding sea salt, freshly ground pepper, and fresh or dried herbs. For about 45 minutes, roast at 220°C, turning once, until tender.
15. Grill your veggies.
You’re losing out if you solely cook meats on your barbecue. Grilling is a terrific way to prepare peppers, courgettes, asparagus, onions, aubergines, and tomatoes.
Typically, all you have to do is brush them with olive oil and grill them. Every few minutes, turn them, and when they begin to soften, remove them. Alternately, skewer portions and flip them regularly.
Final Thoughts
Vegetables may be added to common meal items in a variety of ways. Some ingredients may be included into dishes without much fuss (like spinach), while others provide color and taste in unexpected ways (like beets and sweet potatoes).
Although it’s excellent to add vegetables to a dish, occasionally they may take center stage alongside the sandwich or rice.
Advice: Try roasting a certain vegetable if you don’t like it when you’ve just tried it boiled. Many individuals who detest boiling Brussels sprouts come to like roasted or sautéed sprouts.
Making vegetables a regular component of your diet will greatly boost the amount of fiber, minerals, and antioxidants you consume.