Wednesday, August 18, 2010

I want to eat more veggies?

ok. first off i am a meat eater. but i want to add more veggies to my meals. mainly for the fact that they are good for me and our family doesn't see nearly enough of them. that is my fault as i am the mom and primary dinner maker.





the problem is i just don't like some veggies. Like Onions, mushrooms, olives, and my husband hates tomatoes, but will eat them as sauce. OR i just haven't had them because i don't know how to make them.





so i am reaching out to the vegetarian world for some advice.





What is your advice to get a die hard meat eater to LIKE eating their veggies? a recipe to try or a dish to make. even just giving me the name of something you think i might like and i can look it up on food network.





thanksI want to eat more veggies?
Yes, growing your own makes a huge differnce carrots taste like a carrots, go figure! The next best thing is to find a local farmers market. Store bought are unbelievably bland. Although I do eat a spinach leaf salad regularly and I use the pre wash store packaged.I want to eat more veggies?
I AM a vegetarian, but live in a house full of carnivores (lol), and have a hard time getting them to *like* veggies. Sometimes, there are veggies that I have a hard time eating too. I've recently started disguising them and mixing them with other things. Have you looked at the cookbook by Jessica Seinfeld, Deceptively Delicious? I believe there's another one called ';The Sneaky Chef'; that's good. Another way would be to make shakes or smoothies and sneak in a vegetable or two.
I'm like you - I am so picky about my foods.





You know what helps? Trying new recipes that use those foods that you are. I hated onions...until I had them carmelized.





Also, try growing some vegetables in a garden. I don't know why, but I always wanted to eat my veggies once I picked them myself. If you don't have a green thumb or the space, make trips to your local farmer's market to get some great fresh foods - fresh carrot, broccoli, spinach, asparagus, etc. are REALLY great.





I never liked tomato until I had it fresh. There's no going back.





The other thing is to just try to add it into recipes. I add shredded zucchini into my cookies, tomato in to my cake, egg plant into my spaghetti, pumpkin into my chili, etc. Just try it out. You never know until you try. The best thing you can do is start with the veggies you like and learn how to incorporate them into what you eat.





Story: my husband HATES squash. One day while he was working outside, I made my own spaghetti sauce using fresh garlic, tomato, a little oil, minced onion (the only way I'll eat it), and minced squash. It turned out great, and he never knew.
The 3 things to check are:


A. What veggies


B. How prepared/cooked


C. How paired (what with?)





Mushrooms, and olives are some pretty distinct flavors that a lot of people will just never like no matter how they're done, and that's all A.





My friend HATES artichokes,.. but I made a Grilled cheese with artichoke sandwich and he loved it. B and C came into play here. The artichokes I used were only lightly marinated, whereas he'd only had them in heavy oil. C. I pan fried them with a pat of butter getting them slightly browned up before putting them in the cheese for the sandwich B. and it was delicious! He went on to get artichoke on his pizza later and now realizes he like them.





Much like your husband, I personally HATE raw tomatoes but love salsa, soup, ketchup, diced in and cooked with pasta etc..


The big thing is EXPERIMENT, get some veggies at the store and whip up small easy to experiment with portions of things to see if you like them. If you want to get really experimental go to an international store and get some veggies that you're never heard of. Once you make some really small dishes you can get the yay or nay, and if they like it you can make the big verions and you haven't wasted a lot of food.





Some dishes just MUST have veggies:


Kebabs,..chunks of meat with chunks of veggies cooked on skewers let everyone pick the veggies they want.


Stir Fry, bits of meat and a ton of veggies, and the flavors mix up perfectly.


If all else fails, simple veggie laws are:


Almost all veggies will pair with some kind of cheese or cheese dip.


If you dice it up and put it on a nice toasted bread (preferrably with cheese) that's usually good. And if all else fails, bread them and deep fry them! (kinda defeats the helth benefits but yum!)





Veggie soup w/or w/out meat, and a good gazpacho with just a dollop of sour cream is the ultimate on a hot summer day.





Bell Peppers - Red/green/yellow/orange sliced into strips with just a thin layer of cream cheese! Each has a different flavor and they're delicious raw or cooked in pastas/stir fry etc..





Onions - there's a huge variety of onions, some will make you tear up at 20 paces and some are so sweet you can eat them like an apple. I love to take a sweet onion, slice the whole thing, put it in a little dish made from aluminum foil and cook it on the grill while we're making other things. Put a little butter in there and a dash of your favorite sauce (A1-teriyaki-worshtishire-soy, whatever. The onions carmelize in it and are a perfect topper for burgers or baked potatoes alike.





Once you find a veggie you think you like,..come back here and ask for recipies, you'll get a ton of them back.
Have you considered trying soups?





My favorites are:





Cream of broccoli (I use broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, spinach, 1 potato, and veggie broth, then puree it), it's incredibly tasty.


Sweet Potato/tomato soup (sweet potato, canned diced tomatoes, and a can of lentils thrown in).


Also consider trying a cream of tomato soup with a bit of cheddar melted on top. You can also sneak sweet potatoes into this.


I won't recommend cream of mushroom or french onion, but both are great.





Also I enjoy doing veg chili (kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, broccoli, carrots, peppers, tomatoes).





Stuffed roasted red peppers is another one of my staples. Stuff them with a combo of rice, shredded potatoes, peppers, carrots, peas, tomatos, zucchini, garlic. You can also throw a bit of cheese on (yes, my theory is that a bit of cheese is great at masking veggies for kids.





Tacos are also a fun option, fill with roasted peppers, black beans instead of meat, or veggie ground round soy fake meat, lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, salsa, mmmm mmm good.





I also like making risotto. It's easy, and you can pile pretty much any veggies you have in your fridge. I tend to use peppers, onions, broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, peas, but pretty much any combo works. Also throw in some tomato sauce/puree, and some cheese to mask the veggies.





I also always make sweet potato fries rather than regular.





And, in terms of sweet potatoes, A baked sweet potato, with a bit of butter and cinnamon is an incredibly yummy treat.
We have th same problem. I have a die hard carnivore husband who just refuses to eat veggies when they are cooked.





He doesn't mind raw veggies, like salads.





One thinbg that I have been able to get him to eat are grilled vegetables. I use zucchini, eggplant, peppers. Slice them on an agle so that you have nice strips, toss with salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, and grill them on a ridged pan on the stove for just a few min per side. You can also bake them in the oven in a shallow baking dish.





They are a yummy side dish, very healthy and low in fat, and they taste great in sandwiches.





But, like the other posts have already said, the only asnwer is to try new things. Use sites like Epicurious.com or allrecipes.com and make a habit of trying 1-2 new things every week. Some will be successes and some won't, but there is no magic bullet.





Someone once told me that if you eat something 10 times, you will start to like it.
ALL vegetables taste good with melted cheese. there is no exception to this rule.
Steam them and use different flavorings like curry, dill, garlic, butter ( light of course ) and you can also steam them in broth.
Here are some ways:





1. Pinch your nose and chew/swallow the vegetable





2. You can try V8 Juice which is vegetable juice





3. Buy the Vegetable Juice that TASTES like fruits but it is really vegetables...





Good Luck!!!





And remember: Vegetable make you healthy

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