Eat Your Veggies… Any Way You Like Them!
June is National Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Month, so of course, as dietitians, we’re eager to bring more to this conversation. June is a fabulous time to celebrate produce, given the abundance of fresh and seasonal items widely available. This gives us a chance to explore new varieties and preparations, and generally increase our intake and reap the benefits for our health. Not everyone finds it easy to eat fresh produce often, and veggies can be especially challenging for some to reach the recommended daily servings. Let’s go through some strategies that just might make boosting our veggie intake, dare we say, fun!
Boosting Your Veggie Intake
Even if you find yourself thinking, “But I don’t like vegetables,” in most cases, you may be able to think of at least a few you don’t mind eating. Starting there, you might ask yourself, “How often do I eat them, and what do I like about them?” Maybe you primarily enjoy cooked and softer vegetables more so than raw and crunchy. Or sweeter vegetables more than those that are slightly bitter. Believe it or not, even the method of preparation can change the flavor of produce items quite a bit, such as how roasting brings out the natural sweetness in carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and beets (to name a few).
Ask yourself what veggies you’ve had in any of the following ways – raw, steamed, roasted, in salads, soups, stir-fries. Chances are, you haven’t had all vegetables prepared in every way, which means there may be options you haven’t tried that you would find enjoyable. Different preparations can change the texture for those who find this to be a barrier to eating more. If you haven’t tried preparing the vegetables you enjoy in different ways, this could be a great place to start to make your vegetable intake feel more varied. You might also consider combining one or two vegetables you enjoy with a new one and preparing them in a way you prefer. If you like carrots and green beans, you might consider roasting them with some cauliflower florets added to the mix.
Adding Flavor
The next step would be adding a seasoning or flavor element. Herbs, spices, sauces, dressings… the list goes on. They’re all wonderful ways to add flavor to our foods, yet you may not think to utilize them regularly when preparing vegetables. Or if you do, maybe you’ve gotten used to the same few and might benefit from switching it up. Many find spice blends, such as Italian blend, curry powder, Cajun seasoning, or taco seasoning, to be useful tools in the kitchen. Some aspects of these serve to enhance or balance the naturally occurring flavors in vegetables. Whether used in sauces or added directly when cooking, herbs and spices are a useful pairing you don’t want to overlook.
A step further would be to pair flavors you enjoy with cooked vegetables. Cooking allows the sauce or spice flavors to blend with the vegetables, creating a new flavor profile. Examples like this pizza stir fry can be paired with chicken or Italian sausage and even could be served in a hearty meatball sandwich! If Mexican cuisine is a family favorite, these spices pair wonderfully with bell peppers, onions, and zucchini, such as in this fajita style veggie recipe, which would be great for salads, tacos, or classic fajitas. And don’t forget the chance to add veggies, even at breakfast time, by sneaking them into smoothies or oats. As you begin to incorporate vegetables in new and different ways, you may notice patterns for the types you feel pair best with the flavors and preparations you enjoy. This will help you customize dishes to best fit your preferences.
Sneak Them In!
Getting even more creative, you might consider recipes incorporating vegetables in a ‘sneakier’ way. In this regard, the possibilities can only be limited by the imagination. Adding finely chopped vegetables to casseroles or meatballs means they are barely detectable by the eye and likely undetectable in flavor. Using this same technique with a pasta sauce (such as in our very veggie lasagna) offers a similar benefit, only this sauce can be prepared separately and used in different ways! If you really want (or need) to mask the flavor and appearance, you can try blending/pureeing vegetables into a sauce, soup, or skillet dish. For a cream sauce, cooked onion, garlic, and cauliflower can be blended to thicken, allowing for less cream while adding a subtle depth of flavor. Soups can be blended partially or fully to create a creamier texture that also hides vegetables.
Why Should We Eat Veggies, Anyways?
With so many resourceful ways to increase your vegetable intake, let’s briefly touch on why this matters. Or maybe even the question of whether you really need to eat fruits and vegetables (i.e., can’t you just take a multivitamin and fiber supplement?) While these products may offer some benefits, they do not replace whole, fresh foods. Getting vitamins and minerals through your diet provides a wider variety of nutrients and other beneficial compounds that may not be found in supplements. The truth is, we can’t perfectly recreate what happens in nature, because science and research will always have limitations. Though we can utilize supplements to fill gaps in certain cases, quality, quantity, and form are important. Some products contain too high amounts of individual nutrients or nutrients that may compete with other nutrients for absorption, leading to not getting enough. All this points back to why eating a variety of whole foods throughout the day is the best approach.
Increasing your servings of vegetables is a process that can take time. Outlining an actionable plan can be a small but consistent way to make progress. The goal doesn’t need to be to find a way to eat every vegetable (unless you want it to be!) but rather to expand the variety you eat and boost the overall nutrient content of your diet.
At Summerfield, we work with individuals every day who are transforming their nutrition and health behaviors to best support their unique needs and goals. We partner with our patients to explore challenges, strategize solutions, create a plan, celebrate successes, and offer accountability along the way. If having a knowledgeable professional to assist you on your journey sounds beneficial, contact us to schedule an appointment today!