Roasted asparagus! I do use a bit of olive oil on it, but I just clean the asparagus and put it in a cassarole dish. brush a bit of olive oil on it and sprinkle on dried onions and salt. Bake at 375 for maybe 30 minutes. The heads of the asparagus stalks get crispy and delicious. My sisters and I eat this like french fries- with our fingers right out of the baking dish!
I also like to stir-fry veggies- any kind of stir-fry mix from the frozen section of the grocery store and then put homemade marinara sauce on them.
Vegetable soup is always good, too. With a tomato base. Use tomatoes, carrots, celery, green beans, pinto/kidney beans, cabbage, onions, peas, lima beans, zucchini (adds color, bulk, and an extra veggie to your soup without changing the flavor!), whatever veggies you like. If you are avoiding starches, just leave out the corn and potatoes- it's still delicious. Make it vegetarian with a veggie bouillion or my favorite way- roast a chicken, let the drippings cool in the fridge so the fat floats up and you can skim most of it off. Then use remaining broth and the meat from the chicken as your soup starter. Add tomato juice and your veggies and cook for a couple hours!
Chili is a good way to get beans, zucchini, peppers, and tomatoes, too. Made with lean ground turkey or chicken (instead of beef), chili is an amazing powerhouse food. High in protein and fiber, low in calories and fat (my recipe comes in around 330 cals/5g fat for 2 cups of hearty chili), and is a total comfort food for me.
If you like brussel sprouts, have you tried roasting them? I loooove them. I wash them, and cut them in half. Spray a little PAM in a big metal pan and arrange all the brussel sprouts cut side up. I put on some garlic salt/fresh ground pepper, and then drizzle a little olive oil.
Preheat oven to 400. Cook for 20 minutes, then flip then cook for 15-20 minutes (depending on the size of the sprouts, sometimes they can use a little longer, but I don't like them to get too dark).
I also love to roast cauliflower. I put the cauliflower in a huge baggie with curry and spices then shake shake shake. Roast for 30 minutes - YUM.
I never ate Kale until I read that it was so good for you. So, I tried putting it in a stew. I spray a pot with olive oil spray, chop a large bunch of kale, dump in the pot with a bag of baby carrots, and stir them for a few minutes until the kale wilts. Then, I put in some chicken stock if I have some otherwise water, add a can of beans unrinsed(I like pinto or great northern) and some pre-cooked chicken strip (like Perdue Shortcuts). Cook until carrots are tender. The great taste of the kale was really unexpected. The longer this sits, the better the flavor. The entire pot has about 800 calores and of course lots of calcium, potassium, and protein. You could also use spinach or swiss chard.
I use steamer bags in the microwave all the time. That way if I'm determined to find something to eat I can pop in brocoli, green beans, asparagus, summer squash, ears of corn, cauliflower and steam them with no mess and no pot to clean. I use spray butter for a little flavor.
I don't like to cook and I like fairly plain food with not much except a little salt.
Raw summer squash, cauliflower, broccoli, are good with Ranch dressing dip. The newer low-calorie versions taste almost like the real thing. Sometimes for a snack I put some cherry tomatoes, a few wedges of Laughing Cow cheese, some slices of raw summer squash, and a few crackers in a bowl and graze on this.
I saute zucchini and onions and some minced garlic and eat it with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.
you can also add (I use wheat) pasta to that and it's really good with some garlic salt, basil and crushed red pepper for a smidge of spice.
I LOVE zucchini.
The other night I made a zucchini lasagna with cheese and veggie sausage crumbles. it came out really good! USed zucchini in place of pasta, sliced long and thin just like lasagna. yum yum.
ROASTED with chunky sea salt, fresh cracked black pepper and olive oil!!! Squash, yams, cabbage, brussell sprouts, cauliflower, garlic etc etc. I eat all veggies. And I LOVE them roasted. Did I mention roasted?
I love cutting up red pepper, mushrooms and onions and frying them in a little olive oil for a few minutes. Then I take an egg, mix it with abit of water and pour it over the veggies. I call it an omelette, but it's not really. I have that for breakfast.
One of my absolute favourite recipes with lots of wonderful veggies is this one: (from Leane Ely's Saving Dinner the Low Carb Way). (You could skip the bits in orange and just do the veggies)
Pork Chops and Squash
serves 4
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
4 boneless pork chops, about 1/2 inch thick
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
1 onion, chopped
2 yellow squash, sliced
2 zucchini, sliced
1 tomato diced (I use 1/2 of a 14 oz can)
1 teaspoon basil
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon butter
On a dinner plate, mix together the flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Dredge the chops both sides in this mixture.
In a skillet, heat half the olive oil over medium high heat. Add in the pork and cook five minutes a side or until cooked through. Remove from skillet and keep warm.
Add the remaining oil to skillet, and then add the onion, squashes, tomatoe, basil, salt and pepper. Saute until the vegetables are crisp-tender. Remove from pan and keep warm.
Add the chicken broth to the skillet and, with a wire whisk, whisk up the brown bits. Turn up the heat and allow the broth to reduce by half. Add the butter and whisk to blend. (I skip this step).
Add the veggies and the pork chops back to the skillet and warm. When everything is nice and hot, place chop first on a plate, then some veggies, and finally spoon a little sauce over the top. Serve.
I have found the wide world of veggies an interesting challenge. There have been a couple of threads that have really helped me. Right now some of my favorite veggies are stir fried cabbage, and baked sweet potatoes, and simply steamed green beans and almonds.
Here are the threads that I was telling you about:
i like to make fries from sweet potato or butternut squash. just cut them up into chunky wedges and parboil for about 3 mins until slightly tender. then lay them on a baking tray, spray with low cal cooking spray, sprinkle with cajun seasoning (or whatever others you like) and mix it up. spray again, and then put in a hot oven until they are crispy. devine.
also love grilled aubergine. i like to use aubergine slices and portobello mushrooms in burger buns instead of meat pattys. add a sprinkle of half fat cheddar, ketchup and very low fat mayo. yum.
I make my brussel sprouts just like Glory and they are divine. HAd them this past weekend in fact while having company over and they were all swooning over them. I also roast string beans (one of my absolute favorites) cauliflower, asparagus, broccoli. I love butternut and acorn squash, spaghetti squash, zucchini. Cabbage. Mushrooms. Salads of all type. The list is endless.
I think steaming veggies can get a little boring. I urge you to not only try new vegetables, but new METHODS of cooking them - like roasting. Definitely check out that thread that time2lose pointed you to. There's some great ideas in there.
How do you keep the roasted veggies from drying out--without adding a 1/4 cup of olive oil?
I've been quite disappointed by my efforts so far!
I can assure you my veggies are not dried out and I can also assure you I'm not adding 1/4 cup of olive oil.
What veggies have you tried and how are you roasting them?
I used to spray a roasting pan with cooking spray. Now I take about 1 tsp of olive or canola oil and put it on the tray and spread it out with a pastry brush. Then I place my veggies on, and it's usually an enormous amount, ENORMOUS, and spray generously with the cooking spray and then roast away. DELISH.
Do give up on roasting! Keep experimenting. It does take a knack that you will eventually get the hang of.
Thanks for all the ideas. Glad I will be eating Breakfast here in a few cause now I'm Hungry. I will look up the Links and I am gonna try some of these great ideas.
Veggies
