Ideas: Sneaking in More Vegetables
 

What are some of your favorite ways to sneak a few extra vegetables into your diet?

I often serve pasta sauce over sliced bell peppers (any color) instead of over pasta. (I sometimes add a few noodles to the top.)

When I make pasta salads or tabouli, I alter the recipe so that for every one grain serving, there are two vegetable servings.

I saw a suggestion on a 3FC thread of using a portabella mushroom cap for the "crust" of a mini-pizza! I thought that sounded so delicious.

How do you get your daily vegetable quota?

Throw spinach leaves in practically everything, they wilt into nothing.

That's sounds good! I think I should try it later.

I just ate a whole bag of spinach, with some olive oil and garlic. <3 yum!

When I make chili it doesn't have just the regular meat, beans, onions and peppers, I also add zucchini, carrots, corn, pretty much anything.

Another good idea for cream based soups (like potato chowders) is to omit the cream/milk and puree cooked cauliflower until completely smooth and use that as your thickener, it's delicious!

When I'm making anything italian (which usually calls for peppers an onions) I also add in zucchini and summer squash, both of which don't alter the flavor because they're so mild tasting.

And lastly I eat a lot of salad and stir fry and make sure that my meat to veggie ratio is at least 1 to 2 or even better 1 to 3!

I always just add lots more veggies to any given recipe. I try to make most things veggies with a bit of other stuff, instead of other stuff (rice, bread, whatever) with a little veggies in it or on the side.

I would also add very thinly shredded carrots into marinara sauce. They don't have any negative taste and kind of make a good texture for the sauce.

I also LOVE to make carrot kinpira ... so spicy and good and ridiculously easy to make!!! (Search carrot kinpira bento in Google to get the recipe I use)

Hmm, here's one I haven't thought of in a while but used to do: carrot cake oatmeal (or I've made carrot cake pancakes using the same principle). Basically, I'd just mix old fashioned oats with water and throw in some finely grated carrot, microwave it until done, and then throw in a few raisins, some cinnamon, maybe some crushed pineapple if I had it handy, a few chopped pecans and some splenda.

Thanks for your responses!

I've heard of spinach going into fruit smoothies, too. I haven't tried this, but something to consider.

smh, funny, I was just browsing bento boxes and came across kinpira the other day.

The shredded carrot in oatmeal sounds good!

A question about the spinach in smoothies - does a regular old blender manage to process spinach into a smoothie without bits of spinach still in it? I'm thinking about texture.

I'd imagine the spinach would pulverize pretty easily, but it's going to be a bright-green smoothie. Here's an example: http://madcapcupcake.wordpress.com/2...-smoothie-yep/

I kinda like the color :)

Try sprouts in scrambled eggs - its good.

I super pack my pasta with 3/4 veggie portions and 1/4 of pasta.

Carrot goes well into recipes that contain minced meat or liver. Just grind fine and add to the meat before you shape it into balls or patties or sauce. Or put into lasagna or taco filling or sauce or anythign else where you'd use meat.

also, I find it that mashed veggies taste alot better than mashed potatos alone. And it is relatively quik to make if you cut the carrot and turnip pieces and cauliflower small before boiling. Then mash when they are soft and mix with mashed potato. And add milk if it is stiff.

Wow! These are great Ideas! I'm definitely gonna try them. Especially the Spinach Smoothie. Do you taste more spinach or more banana in it?