Vegetable Haters Will Be Asking For More
Many of us need more veggies in our diets but we’re bored of their bland taste. What if we told you there are ways to jazz them up that you'll crave more? Whether you’re a picky eater or a green goddess, here are some tips and tricks to enhance your vegetables.
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1. Spice It Up!
Whether you crunch them raw or cooked, simply adding spices to your veggies will enhance their flavor. Sprinkle your vegetables with your favorite spices and toss them with a little olive oil. Add your red spices like cayenne for some heat, or paprika and chili powder for a flavor explosion. You can use your mixed spices like cajun spice mix, garam masala, or even steak seasoning to amp up your veg.
2. Make Them Fries
If you’re not a vegetable lover, turning them into fries might help. Of course, this works wonders with potatoes but you can also go beyond the spuds. Root veggies like carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, and yucca root can be sliced into sticks, tossed in oil and seasonings, and roasted in the oven. Heck–– dip them in ketchup if you must.
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3. Treat It Like Pasta
Question for a pasta lover who needs more vegetables: have you ever tried a spaghetti squash? Cut one in half, lightly brush with oil, and place on a baking sheet in the oven. It’s called spaghetti squash for a reason–– after roasting, the flesh becomes noodle-like, perfect for smothering your favorite pasta sauce and toppings with.
4. Laidback Parmesan
Vegetables like eggplant and zucchini are the best ingredients for an easy alternative to a chicken parm. Skip the fuss–– simply slice them up an inch thick and place them in a roasting dish with breadcrumbs, tomato sauce, and parmesan cheese.
5. Add A Touch Of Sweetness
A little sweetener goes a long way. When you roast veggies like sweet potatoes, cauliflower, beets, and squash with a bit of sugar, you’re in for a treat. Try a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, or sprinkle them with brown sugar or coconut sugar and salt. You’ll be amazed by the sweet and savory flavor enhancement.
6. Make Them Chips
For a healthier alternative, you can turn vegetables into your favorite snack. If you make a disgusted face when you see kale, let us change your mind. Try baking kale in the oven with some salt and pepper and it becomes a tasty salty treat.
7. Dip Them!
You can eat any vegetables raw if you dunk them in a delicious dip. From hummus to baba ganoush, there are many recipes out there for all kinds of veggie dips. Plunk your carrot sticks into buttermilk ranch, garlic aioli, or creamy tzatziki.
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8. Toss In Sauce
If you smother your veggies in a special sauce you won’t even notice you’re eating so healthy. Try a Dijon mustard glaze if you’re feeling fancy or your favorite BBQ sauce if you’re a grill master. For more sauce-spiration, try peanut satay, pesto, or sweet chili.
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9. Balsamic Vinegar.
Balsamic vinegar is a vegetable's best friend–– that’s why it gets its own heading. Balsamic mixed with oil, honey, and desired seasonings makes a mighty salad dressing. You can simply toss your veg in it before sauteing or roasting. Take it up a notch by drizzling vegetables with balsamic reduction and your taste buds will thank you.
10. Salt & Citrus
These two ingredients are a perfect match and powerful flavor enhancers. Squeeze lemon or lime onto your raw veggies or juice them up in the frying pan. Like soups and curries, salt and citrus are used in many vegetable dishes to bring out their flavor.
11. Patties & Fritters
Sneak vegetables into delicious meals. With veggies like corn, sweet potatoes, onions, and more you can whip up hearty burger patties or fritters. Dress them up like you would with any burger or plunk them into your favorite dip.
12. BBQ Them
Throw the veg on the barbie! Make vegetable skewers out of mushrooms, peppers, red onions, and tomatoes, or simply just grill them. Our favorites are corn on the cob or portobello mushrooms grilled to perfection.
13. Make A Skillet
You can probably toss any vegetables you have lying around in a frying pan. For a one-pan dish, dice them up and throw them in with proteins like tofu, nuts, meat, or eggs. You’ll have a well-balanced meal in no time.
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14. Yes, Cheese!
Cheese is always the answer (or cashew cheese if you’re vegan). If you’re baking vegetables, shred mozzarella or cheddar all over them when there are 10 minutes left of cooking time. Crumbled feta or goat cheese is a salad’s best friend and your favorite cheese probably pairs well with any veggies.
15. Creative Salad Toppings
Whoever said “No great story ever started with salad” never tried these toppings! Salad doesn’t have to be tasteless and boring–– you’re the artist and your bowl is your canvas. Amp up your greens with nuts, seeds, pickled onions, berries, raisins, cheese, apples, olives, sundried tomatoes, roasted chickpeas–– the list goes on!
16. Batter Them
If you’ve never tried battered cauliflower tacos you need to stop what you’re doing and make them right now. Cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and zucchini are our favorites. You coat them in batter and crisp them up in the oven for a tasty crunchy taco filler or snack of their own.
17. Saute All Day
If you need to increase your veggie intake, there’s no better way than sauteing your greens. From spinach and kale to Swiss chard, you can saute them in a pan and throw them in anything. Try sauteed veg in your pasta sauce or add them to a casserole.
18. Herb All About It
Herbs are magical. They add so much flavor and contain plenty of nutrients. You can use fresh or dried herbs with any vegetables. For inspiration try dill, mint, and lemon together, or blend a mix of oregano, basil, and thyme.
19. Mash Them
Whether you’re a kid or a grownup, who doesn’t love mashed potatoes? There are other mashing alternatives you can also try like turnips, sweet potatoes, and squash. You can sneak veg like kale or corn into your mashed potatoes too.
20. Stuff Them
Portabellos and bell peppers are the best for stuffing. Impress the family–– stuffed peppers look gourmet but are very easy to make. Recipes for stuffings are plentiful but our favorite is a Spanish-inspired rice and black beans.
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