I probably have mentioned this a few times here already but before I became a pescetarian, I was so terrible at eating vegetables. Besides a hefty plate of green cabbage and potatoes on a Sunday, they rarely entered my stomach. Then two things happened. Firstly, I moved to Berlin where eating out with work colleagues became embarrassing as each person commented on the vegetables always left on my plate. Secondly, when I made the decision to stop eating meat, I also made the decisions to eat more healthily and vegetables were the way to go. It wasn’t an easy introduction, but now I love to eat vegetables for the healthy, nutritious food that they are. I know that not enjoying vegetables is something which irks a lot of people, so I this post will features my tips to include more in your diet.
Bulk up the dishes you already enjoy – You don’t need to switch every meal to salad or a vegetable bake. Making spaghetti for dinner? Load up the sauce with onion, carrot and red peppers. It is easy to sneak vegetable into your favourite dishes without altering the taste in any way.
Eat them in sauces – The first, and most effective, way I began to eat more vegetables into my diet was to eat them in some tasty sauce. I began by eating them mixed with various curry sauces, until eventually I began enjoying them with just soy sauce or balsamic vinegar.
Try everything once but don’t force ones you really don’t like – I am one of those people who are guilty of stating they don’t like a certain food before they have even tasted it. When I became a pescetarian, I also decided to break that old habit and made a pact to try everything once. This has introduced a whole range of delicious food to my meals. However, if there was something I really did not like the taste of, I didn’t force myself to eat. I would have just ended up slipping in my old ways again.
Find different ways to cook them – A lot of people immediately think of eating raw vegetables when they think of eating them at all. Or even worse, soggy boiled vegetables. Remember, there are plenty of other ways to prepare vegetables – from frying in a low-fat oil to sauteing or grilling – which will give you food a tasty and unique flavour.
Add cheese – Let’s face it, cheese makes everything taste better. It does border on the more unhealthy side in large doses, but there are many low-fat cheese to choose from in the supermarket today. You can also opt to make your own cheese sauce from scratch if you are currently watching calories. My favourite is this Low-fat alfredo sauce.
How is your relationship with vegetable? Have you any recipes which can be passed along my way?
Joyful Antidotes 