Avoided vegetables all day? Here are 5 ways you can eat more tomorrow
Posted by kathryn in A Balanced Diet and Vegetables
How many servings of vegetable did you eat today? If it’s not at least the standard five serves then your health is missing out.
Here are five ways to quickly and easily boost your intake tomorrow.
1. Buy some hummous
Hummous is made from chickpeas – a vegetable. Full of protein, carbohydrate and fibre, chickpeas are also a wonderful source of antioxidants and general nutritional goodness.
While you can only use legumes as one of your five vegie serves, they are an easy ingredient. With legumes there’s no chopping, washing and peeling. And if you use tinned beans, then there’s no cooking required either.
Hummous is one of the easiest ways to add more vegetables to your day. It’s ready-made, full of flavour and can be used in different ways to other raw and cooked vegies.
- For breakfast: Spread hummous on your toast, instead of butter or jam. If you top with slices of tomato or cucumber you’re getting close to a full serve of vegetables at the start of the day.
- For lunch: Use hummous as a base for your sandwich. Again if you add in plenty of salad, you’ll be getting a couple more serves of vegies.
- For Snacks: Steer clear of junk food in the afternoon, instead munch on crackers with hummous and tomato. Or take some vegie sticks and use the hummous as a dip.
- For dinner: Put a dollop of hummous on chops or steak; spread through mashed potatoes instead of butter and milk; or whisk in some extra lemon juice and olive oil, and use your hummous as a sauce.
2. Add more vegies to your lunch
Regardless of whether you’re a sandwich, pasta, sushi or burger person, there are always opportunities to get more vegetables into your lunch.
You can add raw salad vegetables to a sandwich. If you’re not a fan of the bog standard salad options, then try rocket, baby spinach leaves, grated carrot, raw onion or dried tomatoes.
Whatever you buy ask for more vegetables. Doesn’t matter whether it’s noodles, pasta, a kebab or burger – you can always ask them to add more vegetables. While it may be deviating from the menu, most places will oblige.
When buying lunch frequent phrases I use are “could you add double the tomato? Can I have fewer noodles and more vegetables? Could you fill half the container with salad? Can I skip the rice and add more beans?” Richard has been known to liken me to Sally Albright but it’s rare for cafes and take-away places to say no.
3. Add English spinach to dinner
Here in Australia we call spinach “English spinach”, to differentiate it from silverbeet, or chard . . . which is quite confusingly often sold as spinach.
I love the thick, juicy leaves of silverbeet. Most weekends I’ll buy a couple of bunches and wrestle them into the fridge. However, unless you’re using them raw, which isn’t everyone’s taste, they take a bit of cooking.
In contrast English spinach wilts, at the merest mention of heat. Which makes it very useful. You can add handfuls of English spinach to whatever you’re making, knowing it will cook quickly and reduce down into the sauce. And while it doesn’t change the bulk or quantity of what you’re eating, it does boost the nutritional value of your meal.
I frequently use English spinach in my Life etc Ten Minute Kitchen recipes, because it cooks so quickly. I encourage clients to add spinach to pasta sauces. Plus I often add these green leaves to other peoples’ recipes. For example I’ve added handfuls of English spinach to Ricki’s tagine, Wendy’s burritos and when making almost any risotto.
Whatever you have planned for dinner, add a large handful of English spinach and you’ll be getting at least one serving of vegetables.
4. The wonders of roasted cherry tomatoes
Another technique I often use is quickly roasting cherry tomatoes. Toss them in a bit of olive oil, put them in a hot oven, and they roast in less than 10 minutes.
Quickly cooked, this method brings out their sweetness. Plus as they heat up some of the tomatoes will burst, oozing out a delicious juice. Which can be used as a fantastic tasting, easy sauce. Toss these roasted cherry tomatoes through pasta, with some fresh basil and spinach. Drizzle over barbecued or panfried meat. Or mix with olives and lemon zest and serve with fish or chicken.
Roasted cherry tomatoes are delicious and an easy way to add some extra vegetables to your day.
5. Look for opportunities
Aside from cooking and taste issues, one of the main reasons people don’t eat more vegies is they just don’t think about it. If you plan your meals around pasta, meat or fish, it’s easy to forget about the vegetable component.
However if you pay attention and look for opportunities, there are many, many ways to increase the quantity and variety of vegetables you eat. But you have to be tuned in to vegetable possiblities and you need to be motivated to do this. Here are my suggestions.
- If you’re having breakfast out, order side dishes of grilled tomatoes, cooked mushrooms and spinach
- Choose a side salad or vegetables, instead of chips
- Cook some onions and garlic, to go with your evening steak or chops
- Add a tin of tomatoes to a soup or stew
- Choose the vegetarian option occasionally
- Pick a tomato based sauce instead of cream
- Add some frozen peas to dinner
- Have some vegetable soup as a snack
- Make a side dish to go with dinner
There are huge benefits to your health, if you can eat more vegetables. They are low in kilojoules, but dense with nutrients. And if you’re not getting enough, you do not have a healthy diet. So stop putting it off and stop procrastinating. Make a commitment and from tomorrow start eating more vegetables.
How are you going to eat more vegies tomorrow?
Chickpeas photograph by Zinius, salad sandwich photograph by Svacher, spinach photograph by marymactavish, cherry tomatoes photograph by Quite Adept, cooking onions photograph by Iamamusing.
04 November, 2008
Comments
Don’t buy hummous, make hummous! It is so easy, delicious and you can control exactly how much oil and tahini you add. I have a cheap little blender I use to shred up a bit of garlic and onion, add tinned chickpeas, blend a bit, throw in a tablespoon or two of tahini and a tb of olive oil, and spice to taste – if I’m not adventurous I use black pepper, if I have it I use fresh parsley and I’ve even used coriander and chilli with good results. If it’s too gluggy add a bit of lemon juice or water. I have difficulty eating the popular brands of hommous now that I can do it myself. Seriously, you won’t look back.
Okay, now I feel guilty and will make a batch of hommous in my Thermomix – I’ve really no excuse not to as it is so quick to make and I have chick peas, tahini and lemons in the kitchen.
But how do I convince an hysterical 18 year old who is doing her yr 12 exams that she needs to attend more to her diet? She eats almost NO fruit or veg and, because she feels no immediate problems from this, she refuses to believe that she needs to change anything. On the other hand, as she is so sure that she knows EVERYTHING, then she should get very good marks on her TER, right??!
lots of good ideas – but what bugs me is the outrageous prices that places often charge for salads and side vegetables – I have particularly encountered this recently with brunch ‘fry-ups’ where I want lots of side vegetables but cafes charge $3-4 for each stingy portion (although the brunch tastes much better for the sides). One definite advantage of home cooking where it is much easier to serve a few more vegetables.
What great ideas, Kathryn! I also add chopped greens (English spinach and others) to many casserole dishes, pasta sauces, and, of course, breakfast smoothies. I’ve been attempting to add greens to more meals and had a few ideas. . .now, I have a few more. Thanks! (Oh, and to answer your question: I made collard rolls filled with pepper and millet pilaf—yum!).
Getting my 5-a-day isn’t a big problem for me, but I only just discovered the wonder of roasted cherry tomatoes! Believe it or not, I actually learned this one from the English who eat tomatoes and mushrooms with their full english breakfast. Another great addition to your standard eggs-and-toast breakfast is steamed spinach, especially with poached eggs.
I’m with Ms.45 – definitely make your own hummous! It really is dead easy and you can add other flavours to get another hit of veggies too; mashed pumpkin, roasted tomatoes or your favourite Kathryn – beetroot!
Great suggestions! I just started eating hummus (we spell it differently in the US) and I no longer eat mayo or even light mayo on my sandwiches. Here’s another tasty/easy recipe:
3/4 cups water
3/4 cups tahini (sesame paste)
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
Juice of 3 lemons
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 (15-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
Throw it all in a food processor and enjoy.
As a dinner party appetizer, put a bowl of hummus in the center of a platter and serve with whole wheat pita wedges. Fill the rest of the platter with the following items so guests can make mini sandwiches:
-Sliced unpeeled cucumbers
-Grape, cherry, or sliced plum tomatoes
-Finely chopped green onions , including green parts
-Pitted kalamata olives
-Crumbled feta or goat cheese
-Red peppers, cleaned, sliced into ½ inch wide strips
These are great suggestions! When I first made eggplant parm, I just used eggplant and sauce. But last time I made it, I added portobella (sp?) mushrooms and spinach and it was very tasty! I’m all for adding more veggies. That roasted cherry tomatoes tip is a great one, I’m definitely going to try that.
You’re all shaming me with your home-made hummous. It’s one thing I rarely make – but you’re right I should be making my own.
Amanda, doing year 12 exams is a tough time for everyone – student and their family. I wouldn’t push too much with her diet at this time. Yes vegetables will help her feel better, yes eating well is important for her health, but sometimes you have to back off. Make the food you have control over as good as possible. But if she’s stressed out, now is possibly not the time for nutrition instruction?
And . . . did somebody say beetroot!
My sympathy goes out to Amanda. My daughter was in Grade 12 last year and my son is in Grade 12 this year. For their entire childhoods I have demonstrated good eating and made healthy food available to them, but that still didn’t convince them to eat their vegetables. I stopped ragging on them years ago and guess what? My daughter is in college now and eats just like me! Took her long enough, but she realizes that the reason some of the other girls in her dorm are overweight, have no energy, and don’t feel good is because of their unhealthy diet. She now reports all the salads and vegetables she eats on a daily basis and has even given me credit for being a good role model…this is after years of being a cranky and hysterical teenager. We’ll see if my son does the same! Hang in there.
Great post Kathryn – my veg intake has def improved over the last few months but still have some work to do so thanks for the tips – since increasing my vegies I have so much more energy and really notice it if I have a couple of low veg days… I often wonder how people get by on so few serves… A few of my staples – each week I buy a massive bag of baby spinach and rocket – which I can use at breakfast, lunch and/or dinner – plus have been making soup, freezing it and generally having as a morning or afternoon snack (the spring vegetable soup in your ‘spring food guide’ is awesome!!!) – plus I ALWAYS order a side of veg now when out for dinner. One question though… are brussel sprouts really that good for you – and is there a way of making them any more interesting than steam/blanching them?
I always cram absolutely loads of veggies into every meal. I love to mix them up and justy take a big portion to snack on throughout the day too. On a slightly different but related note, I spoke to someone today who eats meat at EVERY meal, can you believe that? So unhealthy! I’m surprised he isn’t obese. Anyway, he was amazed I was eating a meal that was entirely veggie, saying he only eats veggies as an afterthought to the meat – how sad…
Renee: Brussels are immensely good for you. Full, full, full of antioxidants. They are in the cruciferous vegies category, which also includes broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. They are nutritional marvels.
My favourite way with Brussels is cooked in Indian style recipes. But they’re also lovely roasted. There are some great Brussels ideas on the Jugalbandi blog.
Helen: meat three times a day, nope doesn’t surprise me at all – I’ve seen it many, many times.
Leave a comment