Hey everyone! I'm not usually a big veggie eater. I love broccoli and I eat it with every meal recently. As much as I love it, eating the same thing everyday like that gets boring. So, I'm trying to broaden my palette and need some advice.

Keeping in mind that I like broccoli, is there anyone out there that could tell me some great veggie ideas? I'm open to lots of things, and hoping I can try and fit a variety into my diet. Hopefully they're easy to make as well, since that would make me more apt to make and eat them!

Any suggestions?

I'm not technically allowed to eat green veggies. . . hrm, but I do. (Don't tell my neurologist.)

Anyway, though, my biggest find are the Steamfresh bags in the frozen aisle. Their Asian Medley mix is out of this world. My fiance and I have tried every bagged veggie mix they make and love them all. Also, their frozen brussel sprouts are incredible - and I thought they tasted a bit like broccoli w/o the texture.

Just put the bag in the microwave for 5 minutes and then you have the perfect side to your meals.

I simply love my veggies and credit them with helping me to shed the pounds and now to keep those pounds off. Here's a link to a wonderful thread, loaded with great ideas.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...ake+vegetables

I personally like ratatouille a lot. Eggplant, zucchini squash, bell peppers, tomatoes, a little bit of olive oil and Provence herbs, and there, you've got yourself a nice batch of tasty vegetables that on top of this carry a little scent of summer. (And it's not very hard to make either.)

Try out new strange veggies. You'll be surprised the kind of stuff you like when you have to cut out junk food.

Okay, I am very intrigued! Why is this?

I used to hate almost all veggies with a passion. While I am still not totally in love with them, I now try to eat several servings of veggies a day.

One of the things that I have found most helpful to get to me to enjoy the veggies on my plate is to prepare them in a really delicious way. No offense to my mother, who is an otherwise great cook, but when I was growing up, veggies were almost always overcooked, limp and soggy. Now I usually am in charge of making the veggies with dinner and I make sure they are still fresh and crisp when they get to the plate. Especially steamed green beans and asparagus, these are two of my FAVORITE foods, but are easy to overcook, which gives them a really gross taste.

Depending on your eating plan this may or may not be helpful. But I like to add just a SMALL amount of real butter or olive oil to veggies, along with pepper and other seasonings that I like (onion powder, garlic, or Mrs. Dash type-blends). I usually measure out like 1/2 tsp butter or 1 tsp of olive oil, melt it on the veggies then toss them around with the seasonings. This does wonders to improve the taste. Like I said, this may not fit into your eating plan, but if it does, it can really make those veggies taste delish!

I also liike to mix eating cooked and raw ones for variety. My favorite raw: arugula, carrots, jicama, bell peppers, grape tomatoes.

Also I recommend mixing a few together for texture/flavor variety. Green beans and arugula, tomatoes and bell peppers, tomatoes and artichokes all work well together. I also recommend mixing raw and lightly cooked veggies in the same meal for texture contrast. Also try using salad dressing, vinaigrette or citrus juice for seasoning.

Last tip: sneak them into something else: put salsa on your protein, sneak in some broccoli or peppers or eggplant in your pasta sauce, make a puree of arugula and cheese or arugula and capers or roasted peppers and capers for a pesto-esque sauce for pasta or protein.

Good luck.

If you like broccoli, you'll probably like broccolini -- have you tried it? I like it better than broccoli. The stems are just as good as the florets. I think it has a milder flavor and is more tender. Very good sauteed in a small amount of olive oil with some garlic, a pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lemon at the end.