Your favorite vegetables

[Night Elf]

I once tried to work in 5 servings of fruit and veggies a day. I lost momentum. I never got to 5 servings. So my favorite vegetable right now is yellow squash. I love that I can eat it raw or sautee it with a bit of onion. What's another vegetable I might like that is easy to fix as a snack? I don't mean in a salad. I don't want to eat a salad every day. I just want one vegetable that can be a snack between meals.

 

I do not like brussel sprouts. 

[Laura Corin]

Carrot sticks, raw sugar snap peas, raw celery for snacks.

 

Cauliflower roasted with olive oil, cumin and coriander is great.

[marbel]

Celery, cucumbers, fresh raw green beans.

 

Agree with Laura about roasted cauliflower.  Roasted asparagus is also delicious.  

 

 

[AmandaVT]

Good raw snacking veggies: carrots, bell pepper, celery, snow peas, cucumber (all great dipped in hummus)

 

Good cooked snacking veggies: roasted cauliflower, roasted broccoli, kale chips

 

Tricks to eat more veggies - add them into your regular meals. Soup is a great one, I load it up with veggies. Always add in frozen spinach, chopped tomato, onion, celery, carrot and then whatever other veggies I have on hand. Grate carrots into pasta sauce. Finely chop onion, celery, carrot and saute with garlic and add to meatloaf. Lots of onions and peppers on taco/tex mex night. As the weather gets more fall-like, lots of roasted veggies. 

 

My mom has disliked veggies her whole life. Her mom used to put the veggies on first, which meant cooking canned veggies until they were gray. My mom was a step better - she would pick 7 packages of frozen vegetables and microwave one each night as a side with dinner. Overcooked them, no butter or seasonings. It's taken me a few years of experimenting as an adult to find ways to figure out how to make them taste good!

 

[Laura Corin]

Soups are also good.  Today I have snacked on 120 grammes of snap peas, will have veggie and bean soup for lunch with an apple, will snack on a couple of little oranges in the afternoon and will be well on my way to five a day.

[Pink and Green Mom]

I like roasted cauliflower as a snack.  I cut up a head of cauliflower, then drizzle with olive oil, sea salt and pepper.  Bake at 425-450 for about 10 minutes, turn, and then 10 more minutes, turn, and then 10 more minutes until it is a bit crispy.  I usually then toss it with some Whole30 compliant buffalo sauce.

[Zinnia]

I love roasted cauliflower. so much I will eat leftovers cold out of the fridge (not common for me). I also like mashed cauliflower a lot, but not cold. ;)

 

Stir fried okra. Do you like it fried? I get a cast iron skillet hot, add a tsp of oil, then stir fry until it's soft and dark in apots. Roasted works, too, but fried is easier. Sprinkle with salt. This is soooo good.

 

I eat a lot of cut up tomatoes and cukes this time of year. Tomatoes, onion, cukes, and bell peppers in Italian dressing. Sometimes i add bread for a quick panzanella or pita chips for fatoush. Tomatoes and cukes with cottage cheese. Cukes sprinkled with salt. Cukes in a quick pickle (vinegar, water, salt, sugar)

 

Carrots and ranch. Broccoli steamed with butter.

 

I like eggplant, but that seems to be something people love or hate. I roast it and eat it mashed with a bit of lemon juice and salt, or I will roast cubes, or I shallow fry slices until browned (it takes a fair amount of oil...maybe a T per eggplant).

 

I like zucchini cooked with onions or as fritters.

 

Cabbage is good. I like it cooked until soft with butter or ketchup (weird, but my dad did it, and it's good). I like it raw, thinly sliced. You can make it into coleslaw or eat it with more of an Italian dressing.

 

The only vegetable I feel "meh" about is fennel. It's pretty strongly flavored, and I don't love that. I love all the others. ALL the others.

[Rosie_0801]

How about carrot? Want some of mine? I have about three kilos fermenting on my bench just now and I'm going to need someone to help eat them.  :huh:

 

I do like Brussel sprouts. Roasted with balsamic vinegar. Mmm. People who boil them should be flogged with wet noodles.

[J-rap]

I'm not a good veggie snacker, because they never satisfy any craving the way veggies do at dinner, hot and roasted.  (And I love them, then!)

 

But, I do get raw veggies during the day as a smoothie.  I like kale or spinach, carrots, ginger, and a little fruit to sweeten it just a bit.  I add a little yogurt or coconut milk if I have it.  I just drink it all down at once.  

[zoobie]

Jicama is a different snacky vegetable. You can get it pre-prepped at Trader Joe's. Cucumbers and sugar snap peas are good raw. Some veggies taste much better blanched and chilled over raw. You can prep ahead and snack for days.

[teachermom2834]

I do not like many veggies. The ones I eat, I eat raw. I haven't figured out how to cook them and enjoy. (I grew up very unhealthy and veggies are a challenge). The ones I eat are celery, all colors of bell peppers, sugar snap peas, and cauliflower. I make myself a big bowl early in the day and snack on it. I have found that the only way this happens is if I grocery shop and before putting them away I wash and chop them so they are ready to go. I do find that I am enjoying them more and more so I think it is an aquired taste for me. I also like all kinds of leafy greens so I eat salads and the extra veggies are all ready to throw in.

 

It sounds weird but I really like celery even plain. I sometimes keep a container of diced celery prepped and I will grab a handful. I like the crunch and that gives me a healthy alternative if I just want to snack on something with no effort.

 

I am working to up my veggies and try new ones so I am watching this thread!

[Laurie4b]

I snack on veges with hummus or guacamole (technically a fruit, but I count it as a vege since it's not a sugary fruit) . Favorite ones are cherry tomatoes, green or red peppers, cucumbers, carrots. 

 

I also like seaweed but realize that is a long shot for you!

 

I will cook a small sweet potato in the microwave as a snack and eat it with cinnamon. 

 

 

I start the day with veges at breakfast. I make a frittata by heating some frozen chopped spinach in a saute pan. I might add other veges such as onions, garlic, tomatoes, but spinach is the main one. (Alternately, I will do this with leftover veges from the night before chopped finely.) When it is hot, I crack an egg or two on top of it and break them up with a fork. I put a lid on it and heat it on med to med low until it's cooked through. This makes it fluffy like a frittata. I eat it with guacamole but you could also top with cheese. If you like omelette type things, you can also cook them in a muffin tin. Those last about 4 days in the fridge. They also freeze. So you can have eggs and veges without cooking them every morning. 

[Night Elf]

Ok, thanks for the ideas. I did recently get celery and it was meh. It was better with a light smear of peanut butter or chicken salad. 

 

I can't remember the last time I had a cucumber. I think I'll try that.

 

I used to eat sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. I forgot about them. 

 

I do have baby carrots in the house. DH takes them to work but I'm not a huge fan of the taste.

 

I like green bell peppers but no other colors.

 

SO, the next question is this. What is a portion? In order to get in 5 servings, how much do I have to eat? For example, there is no way I can eat a whole tomato or cucumber. 

[Night Elf]

 If you like omelette type things, you can also cook them in a muffin tin. Those last about 4 days in the fridge. They also freeze. So you can have eggs and veges without cooking them every morning. 

 

How do you cook eggs in a muffin pan?

[marbel]

I forgot about red pepper strips.  I like them in a simple dip of Greek-style  yogurt with some seasonings - an Italian seasoning blend is good, and/or a bit of diced sundried tomatoes.  Dill is a classic.  

 

Little tomatoes with salt!  

 

 

[Loesje22000]

How do you cook eggs in a muffin pan?

Dd makes omelet muffins

[marbel]

How do you cook eggs in a muffin pan?

 

There are lots of recipes online for muffin pan omelets, frittatas, etc.   Here is one article:

 

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/quick-recipes/article/muffin-tin-eggs-breakfast

 

Here is another.  Note that it calls for kale, but you can  use anything you want.  Use the basic recipe as a formula and put in your own vegetables, cheese, etc (or none at all).

 

http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-breakfast-recipe-kale-and-goat-cheese-frittata-cups-166901

Edited August 8, 2017 by marbel

[Loesje22000]

The Belgic food guidelines advice 300 gram vegetables and 2 pieces of fruit (= your five servings I suppose)

To get my 300 gr. vegetables I needed to switch from vegetables at dinner only to vegetables at lunch to.

So lunch is salad / soup (depending on the season here).

 

As we are not perfect we use pre cut saladmixes, or 'make your own soup' boxes.

This way we eat everything we buy and don't have any leftovers.

[regentrude]

For snack in  bewteen, I like carrot, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas

[regentrude]

 For example, there is no way I can eat a whole tomato or cucumber. 

 

Get smalller tomatoes.

Seriously, cut tomato saved for later is not nice. But they come in all sizes, from grape tomato on.

[Rosie_0801]

I also like seaweed but realize that is a long shot for you!

 

Nori sheets are very snackable!

[Cosmos]

For snack in  bewteen, I like carrot, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, broccoli, cauliflower, snow peas

 

My dh takes in a tupperware full of raw veggies every day to eat for snacks and these are the veggies we use, though not broccoli so much. Also, we frequently use cabbage, cut into chunks. Not many people eat plain cabbage raw, but it's delicious and slightly sweet. Cabbage is one of his favorites and makes it in almost every day. (He doesn't take all of these every day, just a selection of 2-3 of them to fill the tupperware.)

[mellifera33]

 

 

I also like seaweed but realize that is a long shot for you!

 

 

 

If you have a Trader Joe's nearby, their seaweed snacks are great. The regular one in the green package and the wasabi in I think a blue package are excellent, the teriyaki is okay too but the combination of sweet and seaweed doesn't do it for me. My kids love it tho!

[Carol in Cal.]

Red cabbage is great raw as a snack.  It has a satisfying bite to it that makes me feel like I really ate something.

 

Radicchio is similar.

 

Serving sizes in those guidelines are typical 1 cup of loose leaves or 1/2 cup of solid stuff.

[gardenmom5]

for a quick snack - I adore sugar pea pods.   i also eat carrot sticks, or celery with peanut butter and cinnamon on it.

 

I like green beans . . .

[Tanaqui]

SO, the next question is this. What is a portion? In order to get in 5 servings, how much do I have to eat? For example, there is no way I can eat a whole tomato or cucumber.

 

In the US, a portion size is usually defined as half a cup, with a few notes: dried fruits have a portion size that's half that, raw leafy greens (like a salad) have a portion size that's twice that.

 

The thinking person will rapidly notice that a portion size will therefore vary depending on how you've chopped your fruit or vegetable, but that doesn't seem to bother too many people. Shrug.

[nixpix5]

Love crunchy snap peas. Those are my favorites next to raw carrots. I also really love purple cabbage raw and baby spinach.

 

I love broccoli cooked in a skillet and made spicy and love asparagus cooked.

 

I love the classics too potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans...

[Arctic Bunny]

Examples of serving sizes to get your 5-10:

 

https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/canada-food-guide/choosing-foods/vegetables-fruit/what-food-guide-serving-vegetables-fruit.html

[regentrude]

What is a portion? In order to get in 5 servings, how much do I have to eat? 

 

Why does it mattter? There is no scientific basis behind the recommendation for a certain daily amount of vegetables, because nobody knows where the optimum is. Thus, it is completely arbritrary to define "serving sizes" and mandate a specific number of such servings.

 

Just eat vegetables. More than you did before. 

Edited August 8, 2017 by regentrude

[Mom22ns]

Cherry tomatoes are my favorite for snacking. I grow super sweet yellow cherry tomatoes and even my veggie haters will eat them by the handful if I have them washed and ready sitting in a bowl in the fridge. 

 

I don't really snack and we aren't big snackers, so I get my veggies in at meal times. 

[foxbridgeacademy]

Really easy to do up is pre-cut broccoli (either by you or bought that way), sugar snap peas, bell pepper sticks, celery, baby carrots.  I do 2 things with these.  I either eat them with hummus and or ranch or I stir fry (takes 5-7 minutes) with soy sauce and seasoning (I like Sprouts szechuan spice mix) I either use brown rice I've made previously or simply microwave a bag of frozen brown rice (birds eye from Walmart $1).  I often have chicken breast leftovers that I'll toss in the stir-fry or I get a low carb tortilla and put the chicken, veggies, and hummus in it.

 

If we did a poll then I'd have to say Red bell peppers are my favorite.  Them and sugar snap peas are the only veggie I can eat plain.

Edited August 8, 2017 by foxbridgeacademy

[Laurie4b]

Ok, thanks for the ideas. I did recently get celery and it was meh. It was better with a light smear of peanut butter or chicken salad. 

 

I can't remember the last time I had a cucumber. I think I'll try that.

 

I used to eat sliced tomatoes with salt and pepper. I forgot about them. 

 

I do have baby carrots in the house. DH takes them to work but I'm not a huge fan of the taste.

 

I like green bell peppers but no other colors.

 

SO, the next question is this. What is a portion? In order to get in 5 servings, how much do I have to eat? For example, there is no way I can eat a whole tomato or cucumber. 

 

A serving is usually a cup of raw  cooked vege. with the exception of greens. Usually 2 cups of raw greens is considered a serving---considerably less of cooked ones since they cook down so much.

 

  If you can't eat a whole serving, eat a portion of a serving. It's better than eating none at all and you may find that your liking increases enough to get to a whole serving. 

 

The recipes linked above are the way I do the egg/vege muffins though I use enough veges that only one egg will fit per muffin tin..

[rose]

If you didn't like the baby carrots don't write off carrots altogether. I think that those baby carrots taste strange and it seems weird to me how they go slimy when they spoil. Normal carrots don't do that. It makes me wonder if they're doused in chemicals. If you want to try them again try to pick little ones with greens on the end still or try some from a farmers market. Garden varieties are usually the tastiest. The ones in the grocery store are all of one variety that farmers grow because of how well they store but they're definitely not the best tasting.

 

Kolarabi makes a really yummy snack. It tastes like peeled broccoli stalk.

 

I really like fermented veggies. I'll snack on those.

 

Sometimes, especially when we're on the road, I'll buy a head of iceberg lettuce and my family will rip off chunks and polish it off quickly.

 

The other good ones that I can think of have already been mentioned.

 

[Zinnia]

Sometimes, especially when we're on the road, I'll buy a head of iceberg lettuce and my family will rip off chunks and polish it off quickly.

 

 

Our family are fans of pickles on the road. I will buy a jar, drain the juice, and they finish it quickly.

[MyLife]

Make some homemade gaucamole and eat it on cucumber slices.

 

ETA: Also bell pepper with hummus.

Edited August 9, 2017 by MyLife

[KungFuPanda]

When broccoli is fresh, I steam in in a pot with a little water and salt just until it's tender, then I put it into the blender, adding a wee bit of the cooking water, and process til smooth. It's sooooo good and creamy and yummy. It doesn't need chicken broth or cheese or cream . . . it's just good by itself.

 

Yesterday I made veggie korma. It had cauliflower, green beans, carrots, onions, and tomatoes in it. That might be my favorite way to get a lot of veggies at once.

 

I prefer chopped salads to leafy ones, and soups to salads. If you're a soup girl, make a vat of veggie soup and freeze in serving-sized amounts. (Don't freeze potatoes . . . add them when you reheat if you must have them.)

 

If you have a grill basket, veggies are super fast on a gas grill.

 

I love pickled veggies. I like most of them better than pickled cucumbers, but I really like those too.