How to Eat More Veggies for People Who Hate Veggies

The importance of food cannot be stressed enough. We really are what we eat and this shows up in our body and health. Have you been feeling lethargic? Do you get sick often? Many of these things are linked to what we eat. We need to be mindful of what we put into our bodies. As we get older we tend to start thinking about eating healthier as the truth of our own mortality stares back at us in the mirror. But how about not waiting until we are old to start eating healthier? How about starting now? One way to do that is to increase the amount of vegetables and fruits that we eat. Personally, I love fruits, but I have never been a fan of vegetables. However, I know their importance, so I try to eat them when I can. There are some simple and fun ways to increase your vegetable intake. Here are a few tips I got from friends on how they have been getting their daily dose of vegetables and some recommended recipes.

Salads and Stir Fry Veggies

The first tip is from Paulette from Ottawa. She lives a busy life as a business consultant and though she is not a vegetarian, her favorite meal is a good salad and a quick, vegetable stir fry. She says one of the easiest ways she has found to include vegetables in her diet, especially with her busy lifestyle, is to prepare them as salads and stir fries. And I must say I concur. It is such a quick and easy way to get your vegetables in for the day. I usually have my salads or stir fries for breakfast because it is my biggest meal for the day. My go to stir fry includes greens and some eggs. Paulette's recommended stir fry recipe is from the Recipe Critic. This is their Honey Garlic Chicken Stir Fry, a delicious one pan meal filled with veggies and chicken, and coated in a delicious, savory honey garlic sauce.

Honey garlic chicken Stir fry

Ingredients

· 2 tablespoons olive oil

· 1/2 bundle asparagus cut into pieces

· 4 ounce mushrooms sliced

· 1 small yellow squash sliced

· 1 small zucchini sliced

· 1 red bell pepper cut into chucks

· salt and pepper

· 1 pound chicken cubed

· 1/4 cup soy sauce

· 1/4 cup honey

· 1 teaspoon sesame oil

· 1/2 cup chicken broth

· 3 cloves garlic minced

· 2 teaspoons cornstarch

· pinch of red pepper flakes

Salads

My vegetable salads have been fairly easy as well. When I feel for a pre-done, delicious salad, I some times order from one of my favorite restaurants, but other times, I do it myself. My salads still have meat in them sometimes, but it is my way of getting some vegetables into my diet, and they are so delicious. They vary from a mix of vegetables with cut up pieces of boiled eggs or sometimes I include other goodies such as bacon strips and diced chicken breasts. See the recommended recipe for the chicken, bacon salad below from Carl's Bad Cravings website. But remember, you can always substitute certain ingredients for the ones you prefer. There is no hard rule for making a salad!

Chicken Bacon Ranch salad

INGREDIENTS

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (2-3 breasts)

1 tablespoon olive oil

LEMON PEPPER RANCH CHICKEN MARINADE

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/2 tablespoon lemon juice

3 tablespoons ranch seasoning dressing mix

1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning

1/4 teaspoon salt

GARDEN SALAD**

1 5 oz. package Earthbound Farm Baby Spinach Spring Mix

1/2 small head romaine lettuce, chopped

Fresh corn from 1 ear of corn

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 cup broccoli florets

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 small cucumber peeled and chopped

1-2 Avocados, sliced or chopped

4-6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

EASY JALAPENO RANCH

3 tablespoons ranch dry seasoning dressing mix

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1/4 cup milk

1 jalapeno, seeded, deveined, roughly chopped

EASY CHEDDAR CROUTONS

5 slices sourdough bread, cubed (roughly 5 cups)

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Smoothies

Another fun way to have your vegetables for those of us who just don't like vegetables, is to drink them. Yes, I mean have a smoothie. Smoothies can be very delicious once it it is done to your preference and liking. Nikki from Texas shared that once she discovered the joy of smoothies there was no going back for her. She is very health conscious and exercises everyday. She likes to have a smoothie everyday after each workout. There are a few benefits to drinking smoothies as well. The most obvious is that it helps you to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables which are good for your health. But it also helps with your fiber intake and can help with weight loss, if that is one of your goals. One smoothie can be a meal replacement, so it helps you to cut down your calorie intake. One of my go to healthy choices this year has been a green smoothie a few times for the week to start my day. I put a little ginger in mine to give it a little extra kick. Nikki's smoothie recommendation however, is a good whole almond, banana smoothie, another love of mine. She shared a simple recipe with us from Bon Appetit. Simple but very tasty.

Ingredients

1 serving

1 frozen peeled banana, broken into 3–4 chunks

1 cup almond milk

1 tablespoon almond butter

1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)

Preparation

Combine banana, almond milk, almond butter, and almond extract, if using, in a blender and puree until smooth.

Baked goods

I love to bake. So when Sandra from New York made this suggestion as a way to increase our vegetable intake, I was all too happy to oblige. She says a good way to get yourself and others to eat vegetables is to bake goodies that include vegetables. You can do a casserole and put various vegetables in it or a strudel. One of my favorites is a scrumptious vegetable patty which is a variation of the famous Jamaican beef patty. I found a recipe similar to the one I have been using here. You can see it below.

Ingredients

½ yellow pepper, cut into small dice

1 medium carrot, cut into small dice

200g (about ¼) potato or butternut squash, cut into small dice

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander leaves

2 spring onions, finely chopped

75g canned sweetcorn, drained

50g vegetarian orange cheese (such as vegetarian Double Gloucester), grated

1 tsp sea salt

For the patty pastry

225g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1½ tsp ground turmeric

110g cold butter, cut into small cubes

1 small free-range egg, lightly beaten, to glaze

Veggie-Based Soups

For the soup lovers out there, a good way to start eating more vegetables is to put them in a delicious soup. Janine who works in Toronto says this is a great way to consume multiple servings of vegetables at once. Janine is a chef in Toronto and she says requests for more vegetarian offerings including vegetable soups has increased recently. She says, you can puree the vegetables as a base for the soup or you can add the vegetables in a broth. Either way you can add your spices to your liking and just like that you have a delicious vegetable soup. Pumpkin soup is my Dad's favorite and now it is mine. It is also a popular choice for Saturday dinner for Jamaican families. There are different ways of doing Jamaican pumpkin soup but you can never really go wrong with it. A simple recipe can be found here on Jamaican Life and Travel website.

Ingredients:

1 lb. chicken (Chicken optional)

4 tbsp lime juice

1 lb. pumpkin

2 corns

2 medium Irish potatoes

1 lb. yellow yam

1 medium carrot

1½ cups counter flour

¼ tsp salt (dumplings)

1 packet Cock Soup Mix (Grace or Maggi)

2 stalks scallion

1 sprig thyme

1½ tsp salt (for soup)

10 whole pimento berries

1 whole scotch bonnet pepper

Water

Recipe Instructions:

1. Clean and wash chicken in a solution of lime juice and 4 cups water. Dispose of solution and rinse further under running water. 2. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and set aside. 3. Peel pumpkin, Irish potatoes, yellow yam, and cut into bite size pieces, cut each corn in three pieces, dice carrot, and set aside. 4. Combine flour, ¼ tsp salt and water, mix well and knead to make a smooth dough: Cover and set aside. 5. In an appropriately sized soup pot, place pumpkin, Irish potatoes, yellow yam, and carrot in water about 1 inch above the level of the food. Add 1½ tsp salt and allow to boil for 10 minutes. 6. Divide dough into six equal parts and make dumplings: Add to the boiling soup. 7. Add chicken, thyme, scallion, Cock Soup mix, pimento berries, corn, and Scotch bonnet pepper to boiling soup: Cook for about 35 minutes on medium to low heat. 8. Stir the soup occasionally, testing if salt suits your taste, adding water if necessary to ensure that the soup is at least at the level of the food. 9. Remove Scotch bonnet pepper before serving.

Conclusion

Vegetables are a very important part of our diet. They have many health benefits that our bodies need. People who eat more vegetables and fruits as a part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables are very important for the overall maintenance of the body. So if you are one of the unfortunate ones like myself who do not like vegetables very much, it is important to find creative ways to include it into your diet. So try some of these suggestions from people just like yourselves and let me know how it goes. Food is a key part of a healthy life, so lets try to make it fun.