32 replies to this topic

[smc0617]

does anyone have any good suggestions on how to add fruits and veggies into your daily diet? i try to eat them, but sometimes fall a little short. any suggestions?

[SoCold]

If it's the flavor that bothers your (which is my biggets problem with most veggies), try boiling them in a pot. Becareful not to cook too long, as vital nutrients will seep in to the water.

Boil until they are tender, but still retain there color.

When you eat them, the taste will be reduced significantly - almost 60-70%.

[Adam82]

Also, if you boil them, you can always drink the water afterwards to get all the nutrients. It makes a kind of broth that tastes surprisingly good, especially on these cold, winter days.

[SoCold]

Also, if you boil them, you can always drink the water afterwards to get all the nutrients. It makes a kind of broth that tastes surprisingly good, especially on these cold, winter days.

Good idea!

Also, if you do try this and the water doesn't taste well to you (as I learned the hard way), try adding spices such as thyme and oregano to your mixture.

Oh, and if you add salt, add it when you are eating the vegetables rather then cooking them.

[smc0617]

wow...thanks for the suggestions. i'll have to try that. thanks again.

[lollypolly]

Also, if you boil them, you can always drink the water afterwards to get all the nutrients. It makes a kind of broth that tastes surprisingly good, especially on these cold, winter days.

Good idea!

Also, if you do try this and the water doesn't taste well to you (as I learned the hard way), try adding spices such as thyme and oregano to your mixture.

Oh, and if you add salt, add it when you are eating the vegetables rather then cooking them.

Eating the vegetables then the water.... why not just eat the whole thing as a soup?

[alternativista]

Also, if you boil them, you can always drink the water afterwards to get all the nutrients.

Except those that were destroyed by cooking, like the vitamin C.

I can't imagine wanting to boil fruits, but apples are great sliced and briefly sauteed in a little butter and sprinkled with cinnamon. Really helps when you are craving some kind of baked dessert. They are good baked too, of course, but when sauteeing, you can be more careful about how much you cook them.

When you eat them, the taste will be reduced significantly - almost 60-70%.

If the taste is gone, then so are many of the nutrients.

Try sauteeing them with spices which are very beneficial.

[BuddyShiznit]

1) Take fruit in hand.
2) Place fruit in mouth.
3) Chew.
4) Repeat.

[FightingTheGoodFight]

Smoothies! Check out the geen smoothies forum on this site.

[Jenstar]

You can grate vegies finely and include in meals like spaghetti bolognese sauce, lasagne, meatballs, tuna pasta bake, shepherd's pie. Finely grated cauliflower goes great in cheese sauces. I do all these things for my fussy toddlers who won't eat vegetables. As for fruit, you can put small cut up pieces when you make jelly or in custards, on top of cereal and of course in smoothies or make your own juices. Fruit salad and ice-cream is nice.

[Danny©]

does anyone have any good suggestions on how to add fruits and veggies into your daily diet? i try to eat them, but sometimes fall a little short. any suggestions?

Grated carrots are great with some vinegar, extra virgin olive oil and salt
You can have 2-3 carrots for meal

Tuna salad is another tasty and colorful dish.
Take a can of tuna an pour it in a bowl. Add 3 tablespoon of sweet corn, 2 tablespoon of black olives without kernel, cherry tomatoes in halves, julienne onions, diced carrots, zucchini and peppers (boiled in salted water for 5 minutes and drained) Dress with a lot of extra virgin olive oil, salt and marjorie.

We make a dish called frijones which is made in this way:
Take a pan and melt some butter. Add onions which have been cut into large pieces.
When the onions are more brown but not burned add zucchini cut into large pieces, eggplants cut into large pieces and pepper cut into large pieces. Let all the veggies roast and add one tablespoon of concentrate tomato and 2 glass of hot broth. Add salt and pepper and let the veggies cook till they're tender but not excessively.

Making a salad is pretty easy. You need though a large bowl.
Take an head of lettuce and cut it in half.
Place the half head in a cutting board and with a large knife cut into narrow stripes.
Place the stripes in the bowl and add round slices of cucumbers, slice of tomatoes or halves of cherry tomatoes. Mix EVO oil with vinegar thoroughly in a small cup and pour half this mixture on the salad from an high height (i.e. the hand must be far from the bowl so the seasoning is better distributed) then mix well with two forks, add the remaining EVO+vinegar and add salt from an high height and mix again.

Stuffed veggies are very nice.
You mix ground meat with an egg and little cooked ground brown rice. Add salt and pepper. Use the mixture to fill peppers cut into halves, zucchini and eggplants cut into halves and digged at the center, onions cut into halves. Put in a large pan and add abundant oil and some salt. Let the veggie roast for 5 minutes and then add water to cover them at 3/4. Let the water evaporate and the veggies are ready when they're al dente but cooked.

We make a very good vegetable broth that we call "passato"
You take a carrot, a zucchini, a fennel, a stalk of celery, 4 leaves of lettuce and 1 onion and all the leftovers of your previous eaten veggies. Let them cook slighlty with olive oil and half teaspoon of vinegar in a narrow and tall pot. After 5 minutes add 1-2 liters of water and let the veggies cook till they're very very tender. Add salt. When the water has almost completely evaporated mix the veggies and liquid in a blender till all the pieces of veggies have been dissolved. Add more water to the cream of veggies and adundant butter. Let it cook for another 5 minutes and serve.

A basic way called "trifolatura" to make almost all veggies very tasty is this:
Take a pan and put it on the stove on a rather strong flame.
Pour abundant olive oil and add 1 slice of garlic, a bunch of parsley, 2-3 leaves of sage and let the oil heat. At this point you just have to add the already cleansed and cut veggies. For example narrow round slices of zucchini. Or finely cut narrow stripes of cabbage. Or mushrooms or asparagus or leek. When you add the veggies the water of the veggies will react with the hot oil and will start crackling. This is good as it seals the veggies and give them flavours. When the veggies are well toasted you add broth and let it evaporate. Add salt and cook al dente.

You can make a veggies rich ragu' by changing the proportion of ingredients.
Take 3 carrots, 2 onions, 2 stalks of celery.
One by one ground them coarsely ... the veggies must not be blend.
Put a large pan on the stove on a slightly strong flame.
Pour abundant olive oil and a piece of garlic on the pan and let it heat.
Pour the ground veggies and let them roast on an high flame.
Add 150 grams of ground meat and separate it well on the pan with a fork.
When the meat is browned add half glass of wine and let it evaporate completely.
Pour 250 grams of tomato sauce and 1 liters of water. Add salt.
Let the ragu' simmer till the water is mostly absorbed and the consistence is that of a sauce

[samariah]

great ideas danny

[smc0617]

wow...i can't believe all the great ideas. thank you all.

[Lilo]

i bought a juicer two weeks ago, so every day i make a juice comprising of carrots, cucumber, celery, beetroot, ginger, fennel and whatever else i can lay my hands on. carrots and beetroot are sweet so it tastes really delicious. i tried smoothies for a while but didn't like the taste all that much, so i couldn't stick with it. i'll rather get my fibre from wholegrains. the only bad thing is that you need at least 20 min to prepare and clean.

[smc0617]

i'll have to try that..thanks.

[Jolian]

Add them in a stir-fry. Stir-fries are relatively quick on the stove (10-20 minutes, depending on the quantity that you're making), and most of the work is in the preparation, which isn't that hard as long as you know how to wash, clean, and chop veggies. If you're worried about salt, don't add soy sauce. If you take a very small amount of canned anchovy fish and cook that when you add your garlic/ onions/ ginger/ whatever until the fish dissolves, you actually get wonderful umame flavor without the saltiness of the soy.

Grilled veggie kabobs (bell peppers, yellow and green squash, red onions, and mushrooms brushed with oil) were a hit with my family.

Also, buy seasonally: it's cheaper and it tastes so much better. Lots of people complain that fruit or veg can taste really bland. Sometimes it's because they buy them when the produce are out-of-season.

[smc0617]

grilled veggie kabobs...yum!! i'll have to try them. thank you for the suggestions.

[Cecelia]

i bought a juicer two weeks ago, so every day i make a juice comprising of carrots, cucumber, celery, beetroot, ginger, fennel and whatever else i can lay my hands on. carrots and beetroot are sweet so it tastes really delicious. i tried smoothies for a while but didn't like the taste all that much, so i couldn't stick with it. i'll rather get my fibre from wholegrains. the only bad thing is that you need at least 20 min to prepare and clean.

Someone told me that if you juice in "batches" that you can freeze it, then just defrost as needed.

[Lilo]

i drink my veggie juice immediately, exposure to light and oxygen decreases the vitamin and enzyme content.

[Glennart]

Boil em mash em stick em in a stew!