Vegetable Nutrition:
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OK, I'm sure you got the memo that you need to eat your vegetables. You know they're nutritional powerhouses and you know they're the perfect weight loss food.
I don't want to waste time telling you what to do... (this one's a no brainer)
...I'd like to spend time helping you do what you know.
You may have great intentions to eat your veggies...
...you stock your cart with vegetables only to find them long forgotten in "the rotter" (what I call the bottom drawer of the refrigerator) at the end of a week.
If you're feeding your local landfill an adequate supply vegetables but find yourself falling short of the recommended servings...
...it's possible you're simply a well-intentioned veggie eater.
| recipe! | |||
| Vegetarian Spaghetti Sauce with Red Lentils | |||
 | courtesy of Tried and Tested Vegetarian Recipes | ||
| Vegetarian recipes need never be bland or boring again! | |||
Well-Intentioned Veggie Eater:
- I like them, but I don't know how to prepare them.
- Clean and prep takes too much work.
- I'd eat them if someone would just cut them up for me.
- Fresh is best and if I can't have fresh, why bother?
- They go bad too fast.
Get Your Vegetable Nutrition:
Solutions for the Well-Intentioned Veggie Eater
- Buy a tray of precut veggies from your supermarket every week and keep it in the refrigerator at eye level. In sight...in mind. Enough said.
- Make vegetables a priority. Are they simply absent by default?
- Try one new vegetable recipe/week.
- Buy 1-3 different veggies every week. Over time, you will have variety. It isn't necessary to have 10 different veggies in one week.
- Take a cooking class devoted to vegetables or indulge in a vegetable or vegetarian cookbook.
- If you frequently dine out, take advantage of the fact that someone else will gladly cook your veggies for you...consider ordering a double portion and taking the leftovers to use the following day.
- Make a large salad (2-3 days' worth) at your local grocery or natural food store and eat from it for a few days.
It's possible you may be the other type of vegetable eater...
...one with no good intentions at all...
...what I call, a Vegetable Hater.
I have good news for you if you're a vegetable hater: You're probably not as bad as you think. Every self-professed vegetable hater I've met usually has a few vegetables he/she will eat or at least tolerate.
Get Your Vegetable Nutrition: Solutions for the Vegetable Hater
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- Start with the veggies you like, even if it means eating the same veggie every day.
- Have large portions of the ones you like: If you are limited to liking only asparagus, eat a 1 1/2 cup portion...that's 3 servings even though it's a single veggie!
- Sneak it in: Puree vegetable and add them to foods (especially sauces and soups). Ex: Add pureed carrots or sweet potatoes to tomato sauce. Sneaking spinach into brownies is another one of my favorites!
- Grate or chop a vegetable into tiny, almost undetectable bits. Carrots, for example look like flecks of cheese this way and can be sprinkled on pasta.
- Spice it up. Strong flavors like garlic and ginger help divert taste buds.
For more ideas on how to sneak veggies in, see 2 of my favorite books:
The Sneaky Chef
Vegetable Nutrition: How Much To Eat?
The more the better of course, but aim for a minimum of 3 servings/day. Remember, you can get all your servings in at one time if you eat a big enough portion of a single vegetable.
1 1/2 cups of asparagus = 3 servings.
Eat your veggies!! Don't you hate it when you realize Mom was always right?
More on fruit and vegetable nutrition.
More weight loss.
Back to Personal Nutrition Guide Home.
