Ok, so it's no secret that I am not a veggie lover. I eat lettuce, but don't love it. Carrots are ok. Corn on the cobb is ok if it has lots of butter. That's it. That's all I like. (Other than potatoes which with the way I make them barely count!) Because of this, I have no idea what vegtables go well with what meats and I have NO idea how to prepare them to maximize their flavor. So once a week, I am going to try a new vegtable and maybe I can build on my severly lacking vegtable list. So each week I will be bugging you for advice!

This week I have steaks and new potatoes that I plan on grilling. I plan on slicing up the new potatoes, adding a small amount of olive oil and salt and pepper and putting them in foil on the grill. What veggies (besides onions) would go well in this scenerio. In the foil or otherwise.

I hope I don't sound too dumb. But we simply do not eat/buy vegtables.

I think zuchinni (sp?) lends itself well to roasting.

Sandi -

Take it from the veggie girl, you need to go buy your a grill basket. It's a basket that you can throw all your vegetable in and throw on the grill without worrying about them falling down the grates. I love mine. I'm really into grilled asparagus lately, so I would toss them in a little oil and garlic and into the grill basket and on the grill. A couple minutes on each side and voila! A side dish.

Here's an example of one at william sonoma but I noticed yesterday that my grocery store carried them.
http://ww1.williams-sonoma.com/cat/p...1106&root=shop

I personally am a red pepper and onion nut!!! grill those with some spices and some garlic.. yummy!!!!

What makes a difference for me is how the veggie is cooked! Steam them if possible! don't over cook! - use spices too!

I am just lazy with veggies - but nothing tastes better then veggies cooked right with some spice!

Let us know what you try.

Dana

peppers!!!! potatoes, onions and peppers are a classic italian combination and if you add a few italian touches, you'll be all set: a little oregano or basil. a little garlic. oh. and the red, orange and yellow ones taste better than the green ones, IMO. so, i'd suggest using a little of each or what you can find.

or, skip all of that and drizzle a little low fat italian salad dressing before you seal up the cute little foil packages.

zucchini is great on the grill [along with those large mushrooms and onion halves], but they get really watery in those foil packets.

Broccolli is wonderful with steak on the grill. This is especially true if you use a charcoal grill. They have found that the broccolli counteracts (it is an anticarcenogen) the bad effects of the meat grilled with charcoal.

You may also want to buy some butterbuds. I like the sprinkle kind but you can also get the type that is to be mixed with water. I swear, it could pass for melted butter. Makes some pretty passable sauces for those veggies you can't get down any other way.

BTW, congratulations on your efforts to increase your veggie consumption. They are so good for you and are so low in calories!

Don't congratulate me yet..I haven't eaten any!!

Hubby really turned his nose up at the pepper and onion idea. He is my other problem. He doesn't like veggies either. ESPECIALLY if they are crunchy. At least I like fruit, he doesn't like much of that either!

Part of liking veggies is *learning* to like veggies. To your husband, I'd say... "gee darn, this is what's for dinner, if you don't like it, cook your own." But that's just me. I personally LOVE broccoli, carrots, zuchini, green beans, raw spinach in a salad, cauliflower, onions... I don't care much for green peppers, but sweet red ones lend a really different flavor that I'm slowly coming to appreciate. I think it's a lot like teaching kids about new foods, just keep introducing them, and eventually, they'll develop a taste for them! Well, some of them anyway!

Fresh green beans, fresh mushrooms. A little garlic pepper. Mmmmmm.

Also, corn is not a veggie. Neither are potatoes. They are starches. The food has to be fresh & yummy to be worth eating, for me. (A fat food snob? *gasp* No! *snicker*) I will only eat frozen peas. You let them thaw & they are great thrown into salads, pasta dishes, etc. I also like frozen green beans, asparagus, chopped spinach, and baby broccoli florets. It's very important broccoli florets only. I HATE the stems. But the florets rock my block! About the only veggie I will eat from a can is green beans & even that is grudgingly & I have to drain them & then rinse in a colander to get all the salt off.

How my mom got me to eat raw veggies as a kid was to cut them up & serve them w/dill dip. Broccoli florets were "trees" and cauliflower was "flowers", carrot sticks, radishes, green, yellow & red peppers, zucchini, etc. To this day, though, I won't touch celery. Even the smell of it makes me nauseated.

Sandi, if nothing else, pick up some V8 juice in the small blue cans. One small can is one serving of veggies. It's better to have the fiber & bulk that the actual food would offer, but V8 juice is better than nothing. If you mix it w/seltzer it's a yummy drink w/lunch.

Glad to hear the V8 is a good option! I bought some at the store this week.

If you like V8, try grilled tomatoes with your steak and potatoes. Or toss raw tomatoes with a little vinagrette.

If you don't like the skins, boil a pan of water. Put the tomato on a big spoon and lower it in for a few seconds. It should loosen the skin and let it slip right off without cooking the tomato.

I love tomatoes and onions, and how I got myself into eating greens (since I knew they were so good for me, but I wasn't used to the taste and texture) was by cooking up a can of diced tomatoes with some onions, then adding just a small a handful of frozen greens. The greens were almost ignorable, and I could happily eat the tomatoes. But each time I made it, I increased the amount of greens. Now it's half-and-half tomatoes and greens, or even more.

As to broccoli stems... My husband hates the stems, but I'm too cheap to just throw them out. So I peel them and chop them and throw them in a pyrex measuring cup with some water and a bouillon cube (or some good stock if I have it) and microwave until the broccoli is tender. Then I use my wand blender to puree the broccoli, add potato flakes to thicken, a teaspoon of cream cheese to give it a little creaminess, and salt/pepper/spices to taste. Voila! Quick and easy broccoli soup. (You can do this with other veggies, too. Curried carrot soup is a fave.)

Hope that helps.

Yellow summer squash is a favorite of mine on the grill with butter. I also like it steamed. If you like shrimp stir frying zucchini,yellow squash, mushrooms and shirmp makes a very nice dish and i next time i am going to add some cauliflower and broccoli too.

I personally like already peeled baby carrots in with my meat and tators. They are fast and really yummy! One trick my kids have learned with raw veggies is that they like to dip them in fat free ranch dressing...it helps cover the taste they wouldn't otherwise like. Keep trying different ones, you'll get used to them soon!

Oh, I remembered another veggie tip. This helps "sneak" them into things. It takes some preparation, but once you do it, you'll have them on hand to add to other recipes.

Take about five carrots, five stalks of celery, an onion, and a clove or two of garlic (I often add a handful of green beans, too). Use your food processor to mince them up super-fine. Mix it all together. Sautee in batches in a little oil or butter (or use cooking spray if you avoid fats).

Once the cooking is done, place a couple of tablespoons of the mixture in each section of an ice cube tray. Add a little water -- enough to make it all stick together. Freeze. Once the cubes are frozen, pop them out and put them in a Ziploc-type freezer bag.

I throw one of these cubes in the pan when I'm scrambling eggs (let it melt before adding the eggs). I'll add a couple to spaghetti sauce (especially the bottled kind) or soups. Use your imagination. It's very handy. If kids hardly notice, you should be able to ignore it, too. /grin

Sandi - I had a dream last night that I came over to your house and made a huge batch of grilled veggies for you... and your hubby liked green zucchini/summer squash but didn't like the yellow summer squash. It was really amusing.

My FAVORITE is to mix mushrooms, peppers, green and yellow summer squash, cherry tomatoes up and marinate them in fat free italian dressing. Cut up everything except the tomatoes before marinating. Then cook on the grill in a grilling basket. yum.