Help me eat more veggies

[Pedal Wench]

Trek, you crack me up.

I add veggies to everything. A handful of fresh, bagged spinach on every sandwich, wilted down to nothing in pasta sauce (kids won't even notice it in the sauce), soup, in the beans for your burritos, whatever.

I also use the bags of shredded cabbbage (sold as cole slaw without dressing next to the bagged lettuces) and add to soups or anything else I'm cooking. Start them first, and it cooks down to nothing but adds so much goodness and fiber -- it makes a can of soup a meal if you use enough -- I'll use almost a whole bag in a can of soup for dinner for one.

[Smilie]

Thanks for the recipes Becky and Trek. (sounds like your dog has a gerbil bladder ) Eggplant is so weird looking that I have never bought any. You make the recipe seem so quick and easy that I shall have to give it a go. On the grill it would be good too.

[redrhodie]

I joined a community supported agriculture program this year, so I'm forced to eat lots of veggies. I highly recommend you look into it for next year (providing there's one in your area). The produce is all organic and local, and at this point in the season, it's comparatively inexpensive. Going to the farm and picking the food yourself is fun, too. Nothing better than cherry tomatoes right from the vine!

I find myself making things like ratatouille, stir fries, lots of salads, pasta primavera. I hate to cook, so I usually eat out a lot. Not this year! I haven't visited the local burrito shop in weeks! I still hate to cook, but since I've picked some of the food, and watched it grow, I can't watch it go bad. I've bonded with it. Cute little cucumbers--I'm gonna eat-cha.

My other tip is spinach from the salad bar. It's cheap and ready to eat, and I add it to quesadillas, sandwiches, omelettes, cans of chili. Easy.

[limewave]

In fall and winter, I really enjoy oven roasted vegetables. Just about any root vegetable works. A spray of olive oil, a dash of sea salt--and roast in the oven. YUM>

[arielmoon]

Those recipes look good and I bet I can veganize them!

I do the weekend prep thing too! I make a few cups of whole grain rice add some steamed some baby carrots, broccoli, and/or yellow squash from my garden, some nutritional yeast (adds a cheesy flavor) and some spices. I divide it into several portions in glass containers for lunches at work. When I get to work I do not refrigerate or microwave, I simply eat it. (I am weird in addition to being vegan, I dont use plastic containers or use a microwave).

I also do the frozen veg shortcut too and my fave is froz peas in my salad. Cherry tomotoes from my plant are the bestest in there too!

[jillm]

When we joined the csa I ended up making a LOT of soup and freezing it. (We'd get so many greens in the spring I'd just lightly sautee them and puree with lemon juice, ginger and a little chicken stock... and gulp it down!) Here are a couple of good zucchini soup recipes I found. (I think when I made them I added tofu to protein it up a bit)

Zucchini cilantro soup http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...DER-SOUP-10481

Zucchini basil soup
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/fo...IL-SOUP-242831

Epicurious, recipezaar, and foodnetwork .coms all are excellent sites.

[Trek420]

Thanks for the recipes Becky and Trek. (sounds like your dog has a gerbil bladder ) Eggplant is so weird looking that I have never bought any. You make the recipe seem so quick and easy that I shall have to give it a go. On the grill it would be good too.

Not gerbil bladder, she just likes it that I'm trained to come to the door on request.

Eggplant is great, grilled, baked, mashed in dip, puree in soup, Japanese eggplant in stir fry turns the most beautiful color. I plan on leftovers tonight with of lemon cucumbers marinated in Japanese wine vinegar.

[Dogmama]

Two slices of sprouted grain bread (or any dense whole grain bread)
Light cream cheese - spread on both slices

Veggies:

Shredded carrots
Cucumbers
Sprouts
Red bell peppers
Roma tomatoes (add before serving so bread doesn't get mushy)
Spinach, lettuce, other greens
???

The cream cheese is a good "sticker" for the shredded carrots & sprouts so they stay put. You can also sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

You can substitute garden-type cream cheese, onion & chive - whatever floats your boat.

[OakLeaf]

Seasonal recipe from the garden/farmer's market. This is adapted from a recipe that called for chard and dill instead of kale and shiso. Out of season, one could easily use frozen limas (in which case the cooking time would be about the same as the greens for large limas, or somewhat shorter for baby limas). Light sesame oil or other vegetable oil could be substituted for the butter to make a non-dairy recipe. Simple and delicious!

1 very large bunch red kale (about 1-1/2 lbs)
1 qt unshelled lima beans
2 small onions (or 1 medium-large)
3 tbsp butter
1/2 cup red shiso leaves (aka perilla, beefsteak)
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper

Shell lima beans
Coarsely dice onions
Wash kale and cut into strips
Mince shiso

Heat butter in a large Dutch oven or similar pot. Saute onions until translucent. Add lima beans and water, bring to simmer and cover. If butter is unsalted, add some salt now. Approximate cooking time based on size and age of limas, subtract the approximate cooking time of the greens.

Add greens and herbs, stir to mix, cover and simmer until limas and greens are tender.

Serve with rice or other whole grain.

Serves two very hungry people or three who didn't get a long ride in!

[chutch]

Two slices of sprouted grain bread (or any dense whole grain bread)
Light cream cheese - spread on both slices

Veggies:

Shredded carrots
Cucumbers
Sprouts
Red bell peppers
Roma tomatoes (add before serving so bread doesn't get mushy)
Spinach, lettuce, other greens
???

The cream cheese is a good "sticker" for the shredded carrots & sprouts so they stay put. You can also sprinkle with sunflower seeds.

You can substitute garden-type cream cheese, onion & chive - whatever floats your boat.

This would be great to alternate with my pbjs!

[malkin]

Last year we got a lot of winter squash and I started putting it in lots of unusual places. We've picked a couple of them up at the farmers' market already- they look like little pumpkins. A dollop of cooked squash will brighten up plain bean burritos.

[pardes]

When I was a kid, Mom used to disguise parsnips by mixing them into the mashed potatoes. Yuk. It's not that I mind parsnips for their own sake. But a parsnip parading as a mashed potato should be illegal.

Grow your own vegetables and you'll WANT to eat them with pride and benefit from their fresh flavor. I usually grow tomatoes (my very favorite food) and they end up costing about a million dollars a pound in supplies and labor but oh my but they are gooooooood.