[Betsi]

I'm really trying to eat more vegetables, but I'm running out of ideas.

What's worked so far:
I've been snacking on carrot sticks, cuke slices, baby tomatoes, and that sort of thing. I've made salads for meals (topping with a little chicken or tuna). I've found that frozen spinach in the microwave with a tablespoon of Gourmet Garden squeeze spices is really fast and tasty.

But I could really use more ideas! What do you do to grab a fast veggie?

[luckymommy]

I like to buy cole slaw mix and I add some cilantro and dill, olive oil and lemon juice. It's yummy!

[meowee]

Cole slaw mix . . . especially the one made with broccoli . . . makes a great base for a simple stir fry and is also terrific tucked into an egg-white omlettte.

One of my favourite raw vegetables is cauliflower. It's also great cooked too and if you overcook it and mash it up it's a great substitute for mashed potatoes.

[nelie]

Salads - I eat a lot of them
Cut up/fresh veggies - I eat a lot of raw veggies, new favorite is raw peas
Veggie salad - cut up whatever veggies you like, toss them together in a bowl with red wine vinegar (or balsamic), a little olive oil and various spices. Cucumbers/tomatoes/onions go real well as well as summer squash/tomatoes onions. I've experimented with various veggies and they all generally taste good this way.
Lightly steamed veggies - Fresh or frozen, you can do a couple things, either use a microwave steamer (I have one) or cover with a slightly damp cloth (I've never tried with fresh, only frozen) and microwave for a couple minutes
Veggie/fruit smoothies - Every morning I have a spinach smoothie with frozen fruit, it is really good
Roasted veggies - Fresh or frozen can be placed in a single layer on an oven plan/dish which has been lightly sprayed with olive oil, put in oven at 400 for 20 or so minutes (varies depending on veggie). You can also put them in foil as well and put in the oven and even add a little water to do oven steaming/roasting.

That pretty much covers 99% of my veggie consumption

[nolachick]

I found that I was eating way a lot of fruit (I precut a bunch of different fruits and put them in a ziploc bag to bring to work and snack on all day) and hardly any vegetables so I started also bringing a ziploc bag of vegetables to also snack on -- I buy the prewashed bag of carrots, cauliflower and broccoli and dump some in a ziploc. Then I get a small container and put some of my favorite salad dressing in it. During the day when I get hungry I just take out the veggies and dip them in the dressing and eat them. I make myself finish the bag by the end of the day. Now I feel like I am getting my vegetables every day. I am thinking I am getting more of the nutrition benefit from them too b/c I am eating them raw (at least I hope I am).

[Get n healthy]

I like to snack on:

Cucumbers
snow peas
green peppers
pepperoncini peppers
broccoli

just as quick grab veggies.

[WebRover]

Frozen veggies in the microwave - If you buy them in the plastic bags, it's easy to take out just what you want for a serving and close up the rest tightly for another time.

Coleslaw mix with low-fat blue cheese dressing.

Chopped cabbage as a salad base.

Chopped cabbage heated in the microwave.

zuchinni, mushrooms, yellow squash, bell pepper , either sliced in slabs or chunked and put on skewers, brushed with olive oil & seasonings, either grilled on the grill with whatever else you're grilling, or broiled in the oven.

onions, peeled, sprayed with olive oil (mister) and wrapped in foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour at 350 while you're baking chicken pieces or anything else. If you're baking the main dish anyway, they take very little time to prepare.

Apples can be baked the same way - core, put raisins & cinnamon in the center, wrap in foil and bake.

Other good raw veggies are colored bell peppers (red, yellow, orange), snowpeas/sugar snap peas, celery.

Buy bags of veggies prepped for stir fry - put in a microwave safe covered dish and put in the microwave. (broccoli, cauliflower, snowpeas)

Shredded carrots, raisins and low fat mayo.

[Betsi]

Thanks everyone, keep em comin'! I picked up some portabella mushroom caps at the store tonight - any tips on something light and easy for these?

[BlueToBlue]

I like to put thinly sliced cucumbers and spinach on my sandwiches. I also sometimes saute thinly sliced onions and peppers in a little cooking spray and add those to my sandwiches.

A couple of other ideas:

Soup
You can make soup really easily with pre-chopped veggies. All you need is:
- pre-chopped onions
- turkey sausage
- canned fat free chicken broth
- pre-chopped stir-fry veggies
- spices (whatever you want, some to try are oregano, basil, fennel, carraway, thyme, poultry seasoning, etc.)
- salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onions with the turkey sausage (squeeze it out of the casings and discard the casings) until the turkey sausage is cooked. Add the chicken broth, spices, salt and pepper, and veggies and simmer until the veggies are done.

Yogurt Vegetable Salad
This salad makes a great snack and is very filling!
- 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chickpeas
- 2.5 oz diced cucumber
- 1.5 oz halved cherry tomatoes (or roasted red pepper if fresh cherry tomatoes aren't available)
- 1 tbps minced fresh basil or mint

Mix it all up and eat. This makes 1 serving at about 85 calories.

[PhotoChick]

I'll third or fourth or whatever the cole-slaw mix. I use Kraft light Asian sesame dressing on mine and it's yummy.

Baby spinach is a staple for me. I'll slice chicken breast over baby spinach, add it to sandwiches and pita pockets, saute it in a little olive oil and garlic, chop it really fine and add it to soups or sauces. I must keep the spinach industry going!

Celery, carrots, cukes, and raw bell peppers for dipping in hummus or tzaziki sauce.

Cauliflower - I love it broiled with a sprinkling of paprika over it, or mashed with a bit of yogurt or lowfat sour cream, or a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and some panko bread crumbs and broiled.

Broccoli - it's my standby veggie - steamed lightly in the micro with a sprinkle of lemon pepper or a 1/2 a wedge of laughing cow cheese melted over it.

Green beans - also steamed lightly in the micro. Also with maybe a sprinkle of lemon pepper or garlic buds. If I'm feeling particularly decadent and have the calories left at the end of the day, I'll steam it and then do a quick saute in a teaspoon of butter and some crushed garlic.

Zucchini and yellow summer squash - I slice them in planks, baste them with Kraft balsamic vinaigrette and grill them or put them on the George Foreman grill.

.

[wisher]

IMHO the 2 best ways to eat veggies are grilled and roasted! I use a little of the spray olive oil and then sprinkle on whatever seasonings I want. It adds SO much flavor and is super easy to do.

One of my favorites is simply asparagus with a little olive oil and fresh cracked pepper and sea salt then grilled or roasted. So simple yet so delicious!

[luckymommy]

Mushrooms are great! I like to fry up some onions with some spray, then fry up the mushroojms w/ them and then, I add some cilantro. It is SO delish!

[Betsi]

Originally Posted by nelie

Salads - I eat a lot of them
Cut up/fresh veggies - I eat a lot of raw veggies, new favorite is raw peas
Veggie salad - cut up whatever veggies you like, toss them together in a bowl with red wine vinegar (or balsamic), a little olive oil and various spices. Cucumbers/tomatoes/onions go real well as well as summer squash/tomatoes onions. I've experimented with various veggies and they all generally taste good this way.
Lightly steamed veggies - Fresh or frozen, you can do a couple things, either use a microwave steamer (I have one) or cover with a slightly damp cloth (I've never tried with fresh, only frozen) and microwave for a couple minutes
Veggie/fruit smoothies - Every morning I have a spinach smoothie with frozen fruit, it is really good
Roasted veggies - Fresh or frozen can be placed in a single layer on an oven plan/dish which has been lightly sprayed with olive oil, put in oven at 400 for 20 or so minutes (varies depending on veggie). You can also put them in foil as well and put in the oven and even add a little water to do oven steaming/roasting.

That pretty much covers 99% of my veggie consumption

Hey Nelie, I forgot to ask you if you could tell me a bit more about your veggie/fruit smoothies. I've never really made smoothies, so if you could explain a little bit more - about how much of each thing you put in there, and how long to blend for, if there's anything besides fruit and spinach you add, etc - that would be great!

[nelie]

Betsi - I have a vitamix which is a pretty big blender but I've also made these smoothies in a magic bullet type thing (Macys brand version). When I did that, I just stuffed as much spinach as I could into it.

Basically I throw in a few big handfuls of spinach into the blender (4-6 cups), 1/2 frozen banana, 1 cup of frozen berries and water. Lately I've been adding hemp protein powder as well. That is basically it.