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Delicious veggies...sans cheese?
Aoi Tsuki
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
I am thin, but not healthy, largely because my diet is shit. I grew up eschewing anything that started its life growing in the ground, off a vine, etc., i.e. NO fruits or veggies but Granny Smith apples. Well, I'm 23 and safely out of the dinnertime power struggles that made me so stupidly anti-veggie in the first place, and I can just see my kids ten years from now: "Why the hell do we have to eat our peas? Mom never eats hers!" And my then-husband will side with them, the bastard, and I'll have to eat the damn peas anyway and then spank the kids for swearing at the dinner table.
I've perused the "healthy veggies" threads of H/A Past, and I got a lot of good info out of it, but none tailored to this one quirk of mine, as I've never met anyone else whose culinary mind was stuck in first grade. My aim here is to make myself eat better, and while I've no issue with brown rice, lean meats, etc., they're (generally) more expensive than decent vegetables--besides, I'm approaching the age where people are less likely to offer me pizza than a nice spinach lasagna, and I can't always discreetly pick icky-looking chunks out of it and drag them to the side of the plate without someone noticing. The only bit of advice I've gleaned from friends has been to drown whatever I try to ingest with Velveeta, which would necessitate carrying a jar of it to in-laws' houses/dinner parties/lunch with the President, and fuck that.
TL;DR: How to make veggies taste good without dousing it in delicious, delicious hot cheese? Also, good "starter" ones?
I've perused the "healthy veggies" threads of H/A Past, and I got a lot of good info out of it, but none tailored to this one quirk of mine, as I've never met anyone else whose culinary mind was stuck in first grade. My aim here is to make myself eat better, and while I've no issue with brown rice, lean meats, etc., they're (generally) more expensive than decent vegetables--besides, I'm approaching the age where people are less likely to offer me pizza than a nice spinach lasagna, and I can't always discreetly pick icky-looking chunks out of it and drag them to the side of the plate without someone noticing. The only bit of advice I've gleaned from friends has been to drown whatever I try to ingest with Velveeta, which would necessitate carrying a jar of it to in-laws' houses/dinner parties/lunch with the President, and fuck that.
TL;DR: How to make veggies taste good without dousing it in delicious, delicious hot cheese? Also, good "starter" ones?
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other than that, nothing beats a good roast. splash some olive oil, salt and pepper over a tray of pumpkin, potatoes, sweet potato, honey-drenched carrots, onion halves and a bulb of garlic - bake it up until everything's crisp and yummy. if you still have an avid hatred of vegetables after that there's no recipe around that can save you
but yeah. start at home. wean yourself onto vegetables by cooking some really nice meals. once you've come to appreciate veggies when they're good, the worst they can do when they're bad is bore you
edit: oh, on the corn front, try a squeeze of lime juice, followed by a dash of mixed cayenne pepper, salt and pepper. healthier than butter and it tastes amazing. and don't boil the stuff, use the barbeque if you have one!
Onions are where it's at. Just start throwing them into everything.
Also, try steaming vegetables. I
In the meantime though, stir-fry is a great way to add flavour without unhealthiness. Ginger, soy sauce, chilli, fish sauce, lemongrass, honey, etc etc - there's a million different ways to do a stir fry. I think I've posted my method here before but it may have been pruned, so try getting a small cup and mixing a teaspoon of crushed garlic, several teaspoons of soy, and a teaspoon of grated fresh ginger (the dried stuff can be used in a pinch but is really most suitable for baking) together, and stir that through any kind of stir-fry.
Also, my mum found a great one for jazzing up steamed greens like broccoli/brussels sprouts: Steam them as normal, but while they're steaming, put some oil and crushed garlic and a small handful of pine nuts in a frypan and toast them over a moderate/low heat for a few minutes. Combine everything in a bowl and toss it together. Its pretty much the only way I like broccoli :P
I know tons of people that go a long time without eating or drinking something (IE Red Meat or Soda) and when they come back to it, they just can't stand it.
Take some asparagus, and try to get it younger so the stalks are an even thickness or cut the bottoms off until it is mostly the same thickness, and wrap the heads in foil. Toss in a little bit of balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and pepper and grill. Grill until it is fork tender and then toss again in the vinoil mixture. Consume. Sans foil.
Its basically green perfection.
If you at all like fruit smoothies, you can get quite a lot of nutrition from them. Throw your favorite fruits (peeled, of course) into a blender, add some carrots in, maybe some honey, and some ice, and blend it all together. You can do this with milk, too; milk + ice + bananas + blueberries is my favorite sort of breakfast in the world.
You've a point, if to a somewhat defeatist end. I often have trouble with the consistency of what I'm eating as much as the flavor, i.e. corn is too mushy. Steaming/stir-frying may help crisp things up a bit, and if not, I can always go the drown'd-in-dressing route (hell, it's not calorie-cutting I'm after, just veggies).
Smoothies? Hm. Are apples too firm to work well in those? I've seen/tasted/enjoyed plenty of strawberry mixes, but I loves me some tart apple flava.
However, sweet corn.. awesome. Growing up a good part of my life in New Jersey, they had absolutely awesome sweet corn. If you can find it, it just needs to be boiled and it needs nothing else, but many butter/salt/pepper it for additional taste.
Many peas/beans are great. I love sugarpeas...they taste great. Also, like it has been suggested above. Steam your veggies, many a tasty veggie has lost everything there is to lose in boiling. It's an old fashioned way to cook them and it really destroys almost all flavor.
I have eaten this corn, it is wonderful!
Try nearly everything you can - even if you don't like a lot of them, you might find one or two you like.
For myself, I've found few vegetables that taste better cooked. Ruins a lot of the texture and flavor.
Not universal, just my opinion.
See if you can find a few vegetables that taste good au naturel!
...and if that fails, just start throwing little bits of them into everything you cook
Basically the only way I get vegetables is by throwing them into everything I eat. You don't necessarily have to eat a full serving of vegetables all by its lonesome. Work them into more foods you eat and it'll be easier on your palate.
Actually, it could also be the opposite - stronger-flavoured veg are probably really unfamiliar and very strong flavours for her.
In any case, I'd recommend something that doesn't have overwhelming veggie flavours, but still contains lots of veg. Something like a minestrone-style soup made with chicken stock as the base, with lots of blander veg like baby peas, carrot, onion, celery, leeks, beans, corn, brocollini, zucchini, spinach (if it's not too bitter for you), etc.
Dice the carrots, onion/leeks, celery, and finely chop some garlic and cook them over medium-low heat in a heavy-based pan with olive oil until soft. Then add your stock/water, bring to the boil, add the rest of the veggies, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 20min-half an hour. The veggies should be tender, but still colourful, and not disintegrating. Stir some freshly-chopped herbs through after it's cooked.
Just make sure it's well-seasoned (you don't want it to be bland) and absolutely full of veggies. Also, since the stock is the base of the dish, it should be as good as possible. Stock cubes won't cut it. Use those tetra-packs of stock, or better yet, use home-made stuff. Splash some olive oil over the top before you serve, or you could even grate some parmesan over it to ween yourself off the cheese
Soups are really flexible. You could add pasta like risini, chickpeas, croutons, etc to it, and pretty much whatever other vegetables you want/can get your hands on can go in there. If you absolutely can't live without meat, throw some shredded, cooked chicken breast in towards the end of cooking, or fry off some salami/bacon with the onion - although the stock should be meaty enough for you.
Some general veggie tips - go to a greengrocer, and ask him/her what's good, what's in season, and how to check for freshness. Don't forget to salt your veg - either directly if they're cooked, or with dressing if they're raw, but be careful not to over-salt - salt is a flavour enhancer, not replacer. Sharp, citrus flavours generally go well with raw/lightly-cooked veg, and fresh herbs like chopped parsley/basil go really well with pretty much all veg.
As a general rule, veggies are blander if boiled/steamed, and more flavourful if fried/roasted/grilled, so if a vegetable tastes too bland for you, try frying it, and if it's too strong, lightly boil, steam or blanch it. A lot of vegetables have a high natural sugar content, and their flavours are really enhanced by frying off in oil. The french miripoix is a good example of that, and is a classic base for lots of dishes - onion, celery and carrot diced and fried or sauteed until glossy, soft and slightly sweet. As far as tinned veg goes, avoid them if you can - although tinned tomatoes are good, and in some cases better than fresh, and tinned beans/chickpeas, etc are way more convenient than dried. As far as frozen goes, fresh is better, but if you're just boiling, then they're fine. More old-fashioned cookbooks (from the 70's, say) tend to have lots of recipes for veggies that are geared towards the carnivore, so you'd probably do well to get your hands on one of them and work your way through the book.
But, pretty much, just force yourself to eat everything. It won't hurt you.
Man everything tastes way better with onions.
Grilled onions with lemon and salt by themselves are delicious.
Another obvious thing that comes to my mind would be adding tomato sauce to dishes.
Fresh peas, right out of the pod, make for a nice snack or garnish.
WRT tastebuds though, its worth pointing out that your perception of tastes does change quite markedly as you age - kids don't like greens because they really do taste more bitter to a child than to an adult (the same applies to a whole range of foods, actually). Your tastebud function does change a bit as you age, so things you remember as awful are likely to seem much nicer now, if not awesome, even without attempting to retrain yourself.
And I second the roast veggies - they are delicious.
The other good thing might be a simple tomato based pasta sauce - just throw some veggies in.
Don't make a meal ALL vegetables, because that would be boring and probably won't encourage you to enjoy them, just incorperate them into meals you already like.
personally, I found boiled asparagus (with lemon and olive oil) and beets to be some of my favorites. Salad is definitely a great way to get used to your veggies, too. I found I could incorporate vegetables I really hated (Tomatoes) into a salad and it would help me get used to it without being too overwhelming. Just try to stick with vinaigrettes, if you start dousing your salads with creamy salad dressings you'll start to lose the healthy side of things pretty quickly.
Just remember to buy what's in season, try lots of different vegetables, and explore different ways to cook them. BBQ is one of my favorite ways to eat onions and peppers. Just try your best to make it fun for yourself and I'm sure you'll do great.
My favourite is cauliflower or celery. If you steam veggies, oyster sauce is good for dipping to add some more flavour.
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
You should also try as many different fruits as you can, as well. Strawberries, grapes, raspberries, bananas - taste great and good for you.