The Prudent Pantry: Eight Cheap and Easy Ways to Eat Your Vegetables
By annika.barrantiGuest Blogger(view all posts by annika.barranti)
at 9:55AM Sunday September 26, 2010
under
Stuff We Like
Saturday's New York Times had a wonderful article in the Health section on
America's relationship with vegetables. Or really, our lack of a relationship. It would seem that only 23% of meals contain even one vegetable! On a one-woman mission to counter-act that statistic, every meal I've made lately has revolved around or been made up entirely of vegetables. (
Not on purpose, though--I just cook this way.)
The article quotes a New Yorker, Melissa MacBride, as saying, "
An apple you can just grab. But what am I going to do, put a piece of kale in my purse?"
Maybe you can't do that, but there are plenty of ways to get more vegetables into your diet.
- Baby carrots. That new ad campaign isn't entirely nonsense –they're a great snack! NO, they aren't like junk food, but they're tasty on their own or dipped in hummus or ranch.
- Don't like carrots? How about sugar snap peas? I like those for dipping too, and they're so flavorful that I often find I've munched on a few handfuls by themselves. And they don't actually contain any sugar.
- Salad. Hey, don't look at me like that. Ditch the pre-bagged stuff if it bores you (or just goes bad) and get some hearts of romaine or arugula or baby spinach. Then add some fun stuff, such as: celery, grated carrots, bell pepper, red onion, fennel, black olives, mushrooms (my husband's favorite!), and/or alfalfa or bean sprouts. Throw on some nuts, cheese, or grilled tofu or chicken and you have a complete meal. If you fancy up your salad, you can simplify the dressing—just use a splash of oil and vinegar! (See also my post on easy side salads for more ideas!)
- Soup. There are tons of delicious vegetable soups. Pick up a copy of The Enchanted Broccoli Forest from the library for ideas, or grab a carton of Minestrone at the grocery store if you're in a hurry.
- Tomatoes and avocados, while both technically fruit, make wonderful additions to sandwiches (try them together on a grilled cheese!) and nutritionally you can count them as veggies. Or make salsa and guacamole and grab some tortilla chips for dipping!
- Put veggies in your breakfast omelet, or order them on your pizza or in your quesadilla. Spinach is amazingly delicious in all three! Don't like spinach? Order your favorite.
- Bring your own lunch to work! This one is so hard for some people. I know--when I had an office job I never brought lunch. But those vegetables in your produce drawer won't go bad if you eat them!
- Order sides. Even at a fast food restaurant, you can usually get some sort of vegetable. McDonald's has salads (though nutritionally, you're better off skipping their dressings), and KFC has green beans, cole slaw, and corn on the cob. And if you go to a "real" restaurant, you'll have plenty of choices. But don't order something to be healthy if you won't eat it. Hate steamed broccoli? Get the candied yams. They might not be quite as good for you, but you'll actually eat them.
How do you get your veggies? Sorry, French fries don't count. Believe me, I wish they did!
Annika Barranti is a writer living in Los Angeles and blogging at Through the Looking Glass. She and her husband are raising two children and trying to eat well on a tiny budget.
I've found that the reason people (including me) hate most vegetables is because we hated the way they were prepared. Tossing veggies in olive oil and salt and roasting them in the oven will make a believer out of anyone (I got my dad to eat BRUSSEL SPROUTS.)
Oh, except for carrots. CARROTS ARE THE DEVIL. (Carrot cake gets a pass.)
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I totally LOVE soup for getting more veggies in my meals. That is by far the easiest way to go, as far as I'm concerned! Salsa is also another good way to sneak extra veggies in...and it makes a great, flavorful salad dressing as well.
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OMG. I can't believe I never thought of putting salsa on salad. You guys know i am taking notes, right?
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We always have carrots, tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers, and add one or more of them to whatever we're cooking - pasta, sandwiches, shepherd's pie...
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I'm always tossing extra veggies into pasta sauce when we have pasta. (Usually spinach.) I also love to add broccoli slaw to my salads - all that pre-chopped broccoli and carrots makes it super easy and has an added crunch. And for my kids, the way I prepare boxed mac and cheese is the same way I was taught to by the parents of the kids I babysat 20 years ago: add the frozen peas and carrots in with the noodles as it boils. My girls have been known to eat the peas and carrots (and sometimes turkey hot dog pieces) before they eat the pasta.
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I like salsa on my scrambled eggs for breakfast. I am also a huge fan of quiche, which is one of those things that sounds difficult, but can be super-easy. I press a springform pan with crescent roll dough, saute up whatever vegetables I have have on hand, and dump them in and a couple whipped eggs on top and bake for twenty minutes. Best part? Leftovers are also good cold.
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I agree about snap peas! I put regular peas into my pasta all the time. Even just cutting up a handful of flat leaved parsley or basil and throwing it on top of pasta is yummy. I also love using butter lettuce leaves, radicchio, or endive instead of bread when I have tuna or egg salad. It feels fancy, too.
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I'm another fan of salsa or guacamole on EVERYTHING. We also eat a fair amount of veggies with eggs. What's leftover in the refrigerator? Chop it up and use as frittata! No spoilage! Goes great with white wine! Win, win, win! :)
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Bags of frozen mixed veg. Easy and not way pricey and frozen at the peak of freshness, right? Year round availability, they don't go bad. And they're stir fryable, among other things.
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We will add a handful of kale or spinach to our smoothies. Add's a little extra to our snack drink.
I will also add spinach to my pizza with a little pesto. When we make homemade mac and cheese I always add 'broc and Califlower to it. My kids never know that they don't go in mac and cheese.
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