Incorporating Vegetables and Vegetable Recipes
Vegetable can be scary if you don't know what to do with them. Here are some ideas of how you can use them. Ask your friends what they do too! You'll notice that I got some of these ideas from my friends!
Tips:
- Plan vegetables into your meal ahead of time. Planning and grocery shopping accordingly will make all the difference!
- Try a brand new vegetable each month.
- Vegetables can easily be added to sauces. Add some steamed broccoli to Alfredo sauce or throw some zucchini into your spaghetti sauce. Wa-la!
- Open a can of pumpkin and add some to your morning oatmeal, along with nutmeg, cinnamon, agave. It tastes like pumpkin pie! Store extra pumpkin in a Tupperware in the fridge. (Idea contributed by Genevieve Pierce.)
- Include vegetables as a snack during your day. Raw carrots, cauliflower, bell peppers, and more are yummy with a dip like ranch dressing. You could also make something like ants on a log: celery with peanut butter and raisins on top.
- Make a lettuce wrap. Put vegetables, cheese, chicken (whatever you like) inside a large piece of lettuce. Wrap it up and enjoy!
Be like these adorable little guys. Make an easy salad! Just chop up some lettuce, wash it, and add tomatoes, carrot slices, nuts, dried fruit, or anything you like. Throw a little dressing on it and you've got a delicious, fresh salad.- Add chopped vegetables to soup recipes or canned soup.
- Put shredded zucchini or carrots into breads and muffins. Add raw and bake as usual or look up a recipe.
- Add shredded vegetables to meatloaf as well. Add zucchini, carrots, onions, mushrooms or green beans when you add the bread crumbs and egg. No need to pre-cook the vegetables.
- Replace noodles with noodle shaped vegetables (Idea contributed by Erin Johnson).
- Add vegetables to a sandwich: spinach, cucumber, lettuce, tomato, etc. (Idea contributed by Erin Johnson.)
- Put cheese sauce over your vegetables. Make a basic white sauce and throw in whatever kind of cheese you like. (Idea contributed by Alex Draper.)
- Make a garden vegetable pizza. Put on zucchini, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, bell peppers and any other vegetable that you like! You can use any sauce, but regular tomato sauce is great! (Idea contributed by Emily Snow.)
- Fry zucchini and bell peppers in a little cooking oil. Spread hummus on a tortilla and wrap the tortilla around the vegetables (Idea contributed by LaNae Valentine.)
- Add chopped vegetables to your scrambled eggs in the morning.
- Make a smoothie with vegetables in it. (Idea contributed by Alisha Atoa.)
- Make a taco salad with lots of vegetables in it. (Idea contributed by Alex Draper.)
- Toss vegetables with olive oil. Sprinkle garlic salt and pepper over them and bake (Idea contributed by Cathenia Draper.)
Recipes:
Green Smoothie Recipes. Below are some ideas of ingredients that you can try in your green smoothie. If you're not familiar with making green smoothies then check out the detailed recipes.
- Spinach with banana; spinach with mango, kiwi, and peach; spinach with chocolate protein powder and mint
- Avocado with blueberry
- Kale with parsley and berries; kale with pineapple and banana, kale with ginger, any fruit, and cinnamon
- Romaine lettuce with any kind of fruit
- Cucumber with spinach and apple; cucumber with celery, apple, and lemon juice
Spinach Banana
Ingredients:
- Half a ripe banana
- 1 cup milk
- Fresh baby spinach (1–2 handfuls)
Directions:
Toss it all in the blender with a couple ice cubes. J
Avocado Blueberry
Ingredients:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1 banana
- ½ ripe avocado, pitted and sliced
- 2 heaping cups spinach
- 1 T. agave
- 1 cup ice (Note: If you use frozen blueberries, you can skip the ice.)
Directions:
Put it all in the blender and blend until creamy.
Kale with parsley and berries
Ingredients:
- ½ cup flat-leaf parsley (stems and leaves)
- 4 kale leaves – center ribs removed
- 1 cup frozen berries
- 1 banana
- 1 tsp. ground flax seed
Directions:
Put it all in the blender with one cup of water. Add more water if needed.
Cucumbers and ginger
Ingredients:
- 1 small cucumber
- Handful of spinach
- 1 apple (remove core)
- 1 T. minced ginger
- Juice of one lime, freshly squeezed
- 1 T. Honey or agave
- 1 cup water
Directions:
Partly peel the cucumber (remove about 60% of the peel). Put all ingredients into the blender and blend until desired consistency is reached. Add more honey/agave if needed.
Other Recipes
Maple Dill Carrots
Ingredients:
- 3 cups peeled and sliced carrots
- 2 T. butter
- 2 T. brown sugar
- 1 ½ T. chopped fresh dill (or half as much dried dill)
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ tsp. black pepper
Directions:
Place carrots in a skillet and pour in just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat; simmer until water has evaporated and the carrots are tender. Stir in butter, brown sugar, dill, salt, and pepper.
Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients:
- Zucchini (as many as you like, I use 2-4 small ones)
- Box of stove top stuffing
- Small can sliced mushrooms
- Cheddar cheese, shredded
Directions:
Cut zucchini in half, length wise. Boil zucchini halves in water until cooked but not super soft (about 4- 5 mins), then carefully remove from water and allow to cool enough to touch. Remove seeds and surrounding middle parts (middles) of zucchini halves with a spoon. Cut middles into small pieces. Put these in a bowl and add mushrooms and enough stove top stuffing to equal the middles. Mix together and put back into zucchini shells. Top with cheddar cheese. Place on a cookie sheet and broil in the oven until cheese is melted (watch carefully!).
Source: Adapted from BYU SFL 110-Food Preparation in the Home
Grilled Vegetables Skewers
Ingredients:
- 8 wooden or bamboo skewers
- 2 zucchinis
- 2 yellow squash
- ½ pound whole, fresh mushrooms
- 1 red onion
- 12 cherry tomatoes
- 1 fresh pineapple
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 ½ tsp. dried oregano
- ½ tsp. salt
- 1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
Directions:
Soak skewers in water for 10-20 minutes. Slice the zucchini, squash, onion, peppers, and pineapple into about 1 inch pieces. Alternatively thread vegetables and pineapple onto the skewers. Whisk olive oil, basil, oregano, salt, and black pepper together. Brush over vegetables. Cook skewers on a preheated grill, basting with olive oil mixture as needed, 10-15 minutes.
Source: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/grilled-veggie-skewers/
Swiss Vegetable Casserole
Ingredients:
- 1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- ¼ tsp. ground black pepper
- 1 16-oz. bag broccoli, cauliflower, carrot frozen vegetable blend, thawed
- 1 cup French fried onions
- ½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
Directions
Stir the soup, sour cream, black pepper, vegetables, 2/3 cup onions and ¼ cup cheese. Place in a 2-quart casserole dish. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes. Remove and stir. Top with remaining onions and cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes until cheese is melted.
Source: http://www.campbellskitchen.com/recipes/swiss-vegetable-casserole-27341
I really hope that you've enjoyed my vegetable posts and that you feel more comfortable with eating and cooking vegetables! If so, I have accomplished my goal. :)
Additional Sources: