i wanted to thank you ladies for this veggie thread as it propelled me to make pasta primavera last night with: diced tomatoes, edamame, zucchini, red peppers, red onions and artichokes with organic whole wheat rigatoni. i forgot to add the mushrooms.

this was an awesome dinner!! so thanks for making me think about veggies!!

What veggie is next? :)

I'm thinking ARTICHOKES or OKRA

Any votes?

I'm voting for artichokes since I like them - if eating the ones in glass jars count. Like eggplant, I don't know what to do with the fresh ones.

As for your other suggestion okra Well... several of us (myself included) listed Okra as the vegetable we'd never eat --- so to the rest of you who like a good challenge, maybe you could convince us otherwise? After artichokes of course :D

Not sure if we're doing fruit too but I like mixed fresh berries mixed in with LF vanilla yogurt. We often have that for dessert.

I also find that I've been buying fruit with good intentions and at the end of the week find that it's going soft on me. So I bought some small wooden skewers, chopped up fruit and made fruit kabobs this week. I have blueberries, strawberries, melon, pineapple. I made about a dozen and put them on a platter in the refrigerator. In the morning I grab 2 to take with my other food to work and they're so pretty it makes me feel like I'm having a fancy snack. The chilled fruit tastes good too. I've even got my husband eating them. Gives me a fruit serving for the day and no more wasted fruit.

I have yet to have my eggplant for last week! I bought it a couple days ago before work, and I kept forgetting to take it take home. Last night I did remember but forgot my list of ingredients at home.... I'm gonna grab the list today and make it tonight. If its any good I'll post it. As for the next veggie....okra...hmmm I don't think I've had it and definitely wouldn't know what to do with it. Artichokes I've done canned...not sure how to cook it fresh...I'm game for anything.

Happy2bme-my latest craving is pink lady apples with blue bunny no sugar added light vanilla creme yogurt....so yummy! It kinda reminds me of the fruit salad at McD's minus the walnuts. I'll have to try it on other fruit as well!

dream - that's a great idea with the apples and yogurt - never thought about combining the two but I'll bet it makes a yummy mock taffy apple salad!

I think the only way I would eat okra is in gumbo, but I'm willing to try either okra or artichokes...I just can't do the fresh artichokes, they are too much of a pain in the @##!!!

:D:D:D You guys are funny and make me smile! :D:D:D

I think we should TRY artichokes, FRESH and the jarred kind (in water for our health!) Fresh are EASY! I DARE YOU to try them! All that *** about steaming them and etc, is just not necessary, they turn out just fine in a plain pan of water with a lid.

Buy the smallish/medium ones, Trader Joes has 4 packs right now for cheap if you have one near you. Farmer's markets will have them later in the summer. California-ites (hint, hint:lol:) should have them now! Baby chokes are completely edible and another great option.

Take a sharp knife and trim off the lower part of the stem, then cut off the top 1 1/2 inches of the artichoke. Use kitchen shears and cut the pointy tips off the lower leaves that the knife slice did not take off, IF you want, you don't have to, the only reason recipes advise it is so you won't poke yourself. After they are cooked they are soft. Alternately you can pull the bottom leaves off after they are cooked.

Fill a large bottom pan (12 inch or more diameter) with about 3 inches of water and bring to a boil. Put the artichokes in stem side down and simmer for 25-40 minutes depending on the size of your artichokes. Cover pan with the lid on if you wish. When you can pull the inner leaves off easily they are done.

Use tongs to remove from the pot. I line a plate with a towel and put them stem side UP on the plate to drain for a bit. Serve.

I usually put out an empty bowl for the scraped leaves on the table and extra spoons for when you reach the choke. Eat like this: Pull a leaf off, dip in sauce if desired and pull the inner spoon shaped part of the leaf against your lower teeth to scrape off all that vegetablely goodness. Depending on the sauce, your kids will definitely eat them! They are loads of fun and an interactive healthy thing to eat with the fingers. Discard the scraped leaves in the bowl. When you get to the center soft leaves around the choke use the spoon to take them off the choke/stem head and scrape off the fuzzy-hair like stuff in the middle too. You can eat the whole choke (the middle bowl like part that all the leaves were on) and the stem it is the BEST part!

Now, the sauces! YUM! You can eat the leaves plain, or with any kind of sauce you can imagine.

DH's favorite is:
2 T Best Foods Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
2-3 T Lemon Juice (depending on the consistency you want)
1/2 clove garlic or a squeeze of liquid garlic
Whisk together and add pepper if desired.

My best friend's kids eat them PLAIN, she boils them with a T of Olive Oil and salt and peppers the top of the artichokes in the pot.

I like Balsamic vinegar plain or mixed with a couple spoonfuls of FF yogurt and salt and pepper or Italian spices. Or the first recipe with 1 T of mayo and the rest 2T yogurt.

Raspberry vinegar with FF yogurt and black pepper.

Any kind of Ranch-type or French-type salad dressing you like.

Of course melted butter--not super diet friendly, and frankly it is too greasy for me.

I will post some pictures and more cooking tips in a second.

BY the way, I ate my other eggplant "steaks" last night for dinner reheated and they were still FANTASTIC. So flavorful with that sauce!

PS, below is another great product that I use in place of squeezing a lemon, it is very good! Located in the freezer section with the juices. I learned this tip from a chef, the thawed bottle keeps about 6 weeks but I use them up in 2-3 weeks. Super easy for adding lemon juice to recipes or salad dressings. Minute Maid Frozen Lemon Juice.

happy2bme I love your fruit kabob idea! Very creative and festive.


I think we should post any and all fruit and vegetable tips here! The point is to get us eating more of them and MAYBE dare to try something new!

It is for fun and it is good for our bodies :carrot::cb::broc:

dream710 I'd love to hear what you do with your eggplant! Apple and yogurt thing sounds yummy!

trooworld and happy2bme I never would have believed I liked Okra until I had it prepared in tomato sauce with lemon juice. No slimy, no furry, no nothing but good!

The little tiny okra :rofl:

OK, those of you who eat jarred artichokes already what do you do with them? And do consider TRYING a fresh one in the next couple of weeks, you might be surprised!

thank you Manick for the very detailed instructions and recipes. I'm definitely trying that one.

Is there a way to store the fresh parts kind of like you get in the jars of water? Or which parts would you use - the inner parts? Not sure I'd eat an entire one at once but I do like to add them in my salads.

Ok, ok. I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt here because your posts so far have been delicious. I live in the land of fried okra - here try this :stir: It's ok to eat maybe 2 pieces but I really don't need the fried stuff. As for the boiled okra - here's what I'd do with it :kickcan: even risking Mom yelling at me for wasting food.

But I will go on faith and try your recipe.

More Artichokes and pictures
 

For those of you who want to see more pictures of preparation and a great method of prepping baby artichokes,here is a great site:

All About Artichokes

Loads of yummy-looking dipping sauce, some low fat!

Many of these are quite easy to modify for lower fat versions, gorgeous pictures! Ideas about uses, put them in pasta, salads, egg dishes, omelets, savory pies, casseroles, rice, couscous, quinoa, whew...who knew? Of course my favorite is plain with a nice sauce. Makes any dinner sort of special and unique.

You could store the baby ones, cooked, in a covered container in the fridge or just put the 1/2 of a large one you don't eat back in the refrigerator for a couple days. I often cook 4 big ones, serve 2 for dinner and keep 2 for a couple nights later. Pop them in the microwave for about 1-2 minutes if you want to heat them up again. They are fine served at room temp, or cold, or warm. Its all personal preference. They are really versatile and pretty hardy. I keep them in plastic ware or even a zip loc bag in the fridge after they are cooked. You can put a paper towel in with them to absorb extra condensation if you wish.

On the big ones, you could pull out the inner core and choke and stem to put in salads (take off the fuzzy hairs from the choke) but not the leaves unless you could easily pull them out of the salad to scrape the petals. (For instance you could put a ring of leaves around the edge of the plate and then put a yummy chicken or tuna salad or etc in the middle, that would be cool. The whole leaf of the bigger ones is not entirely edible usually as there is too much fibrous stuff remaining. If you cook fresh baby chokes they are incredible in salad, pasta, eggs, etc.

(Uses canned artichokes. Good for gatherings.)

Artichoke Spread

1 cup light mayonnaise (can use Hellman's or mayo of your choice)
1 cup low-moisture, part-skim shredded mozzarella
1 tsp garlic powder
28 oz canned artichoke hearts, without oil
1 cup reduced fat parmesan cheese

Mix all ingredients together and place in an oven proof dish. Bake at 350º for 20 minutes or until mixture bubbles. Serve warm with crackers.

Serves 12