Trying to Branch Out in Veggie Area

Hi,
I got a Rachel Ray Book the 30 min. meal. It has some great veg dishes and various others. Unfortunately some recipes may have more than 5 things, but I've tried a number of dishes and they are quick to make and very tasty. It has party dishes too to serve that are quick and easy....

If you like only a few ingredients that are good quality, you might try looking up recipes for 5ingredientfix on the food network. This girl makes every recipe with 5 ingredients or less.

I've always hated cooked vegetables so I knew i'd have a hard time raising a child who liked them. But he is a vegetable maniac, we just eat a lot of raw vegetables. We have a side of carrots or jicama and ranch dip, or tomatoes or cucumbers sprinkled with some seasoned salt or just plain sugar peas. Or skip the veggies and substitue fruit .. oranges wedges and pomogranites (in season) are a family favorite. I felt a little guilty 'cheating' on cooking a nice vegetable side but it gets eaten!

Once, he even chose carrots over chocolate chip cookies.

B.-

Which veggies do you like? It would be easier if I knew that to give recommendations! We don't do a lot of veggies in our house either. Here are some easy suggestions:

1. Cut up veggies and ranch (or another dip). You can make faces with the veggies on a plate for your 4 year old!
2. Baby veggies - already purred and put into spaghetti sauce/mac and cheese/hamburgers
3. Spaghetti..tomatos are a 'fruit' I think but I count them as a veggie! Add carrots, onions, etc.
4. V8 Fusion - 1 cup = a full serving of fruit and veggies
5. Frozen broccoli/cauliflower - mix with cream of mush soup, milk and cheese. Bake and top with fried onions. GOOD!!
6. Canned ravioli has 1 full serving of veggies in each can!
7. Soups with veggies in them!!

These are easy ways to incorporate veggies. But don't feel bad. We don't eat a lot of veggies at my house either!

Sweet Potatoe Fries is very tasty.
I cut them in wedges drizzle with olive oil to coat, sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper and fresh herbs ( rosemary) You can also use BBQ seasoning whatever you'd like. Cook in a 400 degree oven and turn them over about every 10 mins till done.

Something that helps is do your prep work ahead of time. When you come home from the grocery store. Wash the veggies and dice them up and store in ziploc bags. That way they are ready to use when you need them.

Hi B.,
I have many friends who hate hate hate cooking, just like you. Because I love love love cooking, I try to simplify things for them. First of all, do you own a crock pot? This is one of the simplest ways to make a meal, healthy and less ingredients. Plus, you could use canned vegetables or soups. I even make my chili in a crock pot and just toss everything in, let it go, frozen meat and all.

Now, there is many great simple dishes that does not require a crock pot and has 3-4 ingredients. I would love to share some simple recipes with you. But what is your favorite foods? Do you eat out? If so, what do you like? I bet I can simplify some great simple items. Plus, if you already enjoy the food, it will make the process less painful.

Love to help out, like I said love to cook.

You have some great ideas here - although I'm not too sure how healthy some of them are! My thought is why ruin a good fresh veggie by dumping processed stuff on it to help it taste better? It sounds like your looking for something a little more flavorful than just steamed veggies which if your not a fan of veggies can be a little boring. You would be surprised how easy it is to get more flavor from veggies by roasting them. Toss them in a little salt and pepper and olive oil - put them on a baking sheet and roast them at 400 for 15 - 20 minutes depending on what it is. Sweet potatoes, squash, beets (although beets need more like 45 minutes)even cauliflower is great this way. You can also saute then with the same ingredients in a frying pan - someone mentioned zucchini and red onion - if you like mushrooms throw a few baby bellas in and its delicious! Roasting carrots brings out their natural sugars and if you toss them with a little s&p, fresh thyme and olive oil, roast them for 15 minutes at 400, take them out and drizzle about a tablespoon of honey over them and put them back in for 5 minutes. Your family will thing you took gourmet cooking lessons!

Hi B., I don't have much, but did want to tell you thanks for the question, I got lots of ideas! I'm like you, not a veggie eater and we end up with some can of something each night. So I've written down lots of stuff to try.

One think that we found this summer and ate a lot of was zuccini (sp) and bell peppers. I'd take some zuccini, sliced kind of think and bell peppers. I liked the yellow or red best. Toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and then grill. Then put the grilled veggies in a bowl and toss with a little zesty italian sald dressing. Just a little, like a table spoon or 2, just enough to lightly coat the veggies. We also added a little pamasian cheese once, it was great. We also tried grilling cherry tomaotes and those were really good. So when grilling seaon is back try you veggies on the grill. Good luck, God bless and thanks again for the great question!

You can eat tomatoes in about anything, if you like them. I like them cooked ( stewed in cans ) plain like an apple, cut up in salads, or just about any way you can think of. Zucchini is good cut up raw in salads or in other dishes, or cooked by slicing it in a pan with butter or oil and adding garlic salt and just lightly cooking it and eating it with anything but especially like it with Spaghetti. Mix vegetables and they seem better to some people. Put cauliflower and broccoli together and add a little melted cheese over it. I hated vegetables growing up and now I find I love all of them pretty much. I won't name the ones I still hate. :-)

You already have some great ideas. Here are some of my favorites:

Spaghetti squash: cut in half, seeds scraped out, baked in the oven for 45 minutes. Use just like spaghetti (top with pasta sauce or butter, salt and pepper).

Acorn squash: cut in half, seeds scraped out, baked in the oven for 45 minutes. Sprinkle either before or after baking with butter, salt and pepper or butter, cinnamon and sugar.

Brussels sprouts: cleaned, cut in half, sauteed with olive oil and salt and pepper. (If you want to work a little harder for some stellar results, first cook some bacon in the pan, take the bacon out, and cook the sprouts in the bacon fat. Crumble the bacon and add it on top of the sprouts when they're done.) (This also works with green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, pea pods, and more.)

B.,
Hi there! Seems like you have gotten some good ideas!

First, I'd like you to read the back of a can of veggies. They are so processed that there are hardly any nutrients left in them. Fresh of course is the best, but even frozen is a much better way to go.

The simplest and most surprisingly tasty way that you can fix fresh veggies is just like others have said. Drizzle with some good olive oil, some salt and pepper and throw into the oven. But, I usually broil mine. It's much faster than the grill and helps keep the veggies crisp.

One of my daughters fave is broccoli trees. Just trim the bottom few inches off of a head of broccoli and trim any leaves off. Then slice up the stem to make "trees", oil and season. I place then on a rack on a cookie sheet and broil them (don't forget to leave the door cracked) for about 5 minutes and then turn them over for another 5 minutes. Very yummy.
This works with just about any veggie. I even became a fan of asparagus once I tried it this way. You can always mix it up and toss any other seasoning on it. Red pepper flakes add some zip and a little grated parmesan never ruined a dish!

I, too, am not a fan of clean up, so I clean as I go and it's made it easier on me. I always make sure the dishwasher is empty and leave it open as I cook. Then I just throw in whatever I dirty up as soon as I'm done with it. That way, I only touched it once. Then I wipe down the counters, stovetop and sink. I am then able to enjoy dinner with my family without the daunting task waiting for me.

Don't know if you've ever visited it, but Allrecipes.com has got some great recipes. Good luck!

I see some great ideas on here!! :o)

We have greenbeens w/ velveeta, suprisingly good!
Roasting asparagus! Yum! (saw that one)

on a show on food network I saw a chef roasting broccoli with shredded parmesian cheese that looked fabulous!

Also, I recently did a crockpot meal I found on flylady.net that has blackbeans, corn, salsa, chicken, and creamcheese. It was great too!

Hope this helps! And thanks for posting because now I have some new things I wanna try too! :o)
B.

i am not really sure what your 3 veggies are that you like, but an easy thing i make that is so yummy is like sauteed zuccihini (i know the spelling is wrong) and yellow squash. you slice them however you like, we have it thin sliced, thicker, like thick steak fries, chunks, it is really up to you. we add some red onion and a little garlic powder and olive oil, and mrs.dash onion blend. that is about it, and if you want to spice it up you can add green pepper and or carrots, but i like it with the zuccihini and squash and onion, it is so yummy. i start off sauteing (spelling again, sorry sometimes it is not the best) the onions and if you want green peppers throw them in then as well. the z and squash dont take long to cook, maybe 5-10 min. the longer you cook it the more mushy it is. hope this helps.

I got a little campbells soup cookbook, and a cookbook that's like "from the backs of boxes, bottles, cans, and jars, and they are usually pretty simple, and some pretty good for you.

Check out SavingDinner.com
It's a meal planning service that provides you with fairly easy recipes that all include veggies. Some of them have lots of ingredients (like 7 different spices) but I've rarely had a meal take longer than 30 min to prepare. Each week has a vegetarian meal and every day has options for making that particular meal vegetarian. It's really gotten us eating more veggies and trying new things.

Here's a real easy veggie-pasta dish that seems like gourmet. Take 2 zucchinis (slice them up)and a package of cherry tomatoes (cut in half)place on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil and salt & pepper - mix around with your hands until all veggies have the oil on them. Pop into the oven at 400 for about 20 minutes or until a little browned on top. Cook your penne pasta per directions and drain but reserve about 1/4 cup of pasta water in a measuring cup. Put about 1/3 cup of store bought pesto (I get mine from Sam's or Costco) into a large bowl. Add cooked pasta and mix together. You may need some of the pasta water to make it mix well. Then toss in the veggies and sprinkle a little parmesan on top. It's so yummy.

Also, you can roast asparagus (or any veggie) in the oven just like with the zucchini and cherry tomatoes above and they taste so much sweeter than sauteeing or steaming.

Get a bag of mixed frozen veggies, asian blend. Saute in olive oil until they are tender. Drizzle in some soy sauce until it taste what you want it to taste like. And there you go! Asian veggies =)

I feel ya! I love to cut up onions, mushrooms, zucchini, and green peppers. Drizzle them with olive oil and stick them on the grill either on skewers (spelling?) or in a grill basket, top with a little cilantro. Yum! Another idea is to make guacamole. Mashed avocados, some salt, cilantro, minced red onion, and a tomato. Eat it with chips, on tacos, even on baked potatoes! Add a little lime juice to keep it from turning brown if you don't eat it all in one sitting.

My last idea is something I have started doing with my picky husband and 2 year old. I have started hiding veggies in almost any and everything I make. When you brown hamburger, throw in a handful of chopped onions, it adds flavor and there is a veggie in your meal. I have also started keeping yellow squash on hand and I will either chop it up very small or cut them Julianne (long, thing strips) and saute them in everything! Hamburger, scrambled eggs, you name it! From there I branched out and started adding chopped mushrooms, carrots, etc. Cook them or saute them first in just a little oil and throw them in pretty much anything you cook. It adds filling and you get a good helping of veggies without realizing it.

Oh, and one more thing that is SUPER easy! Throw a handful of frozen corn into your taco meat while it is cooking. I have also started doing this in spaghetti sauce (sometimes I add cooked carrots to spaghetti sauce too). As for spices, pretty much the only spices I cook with are garlic powder, onion powder, and creole seasoning. Those are my staples and I use them everyday! Hope that helps!

Here's something I just tried and my son and I LOVE it! I got frozen butternut squash (comes cubed) and put a tiny bit of butter and olive oil in a pan, enough squash to cover bottom of skillet, then sprinkled a little cinnamon and brown sugar on top. Stir occasionally. Heat thouroughly. So simple to cook, and tastes kind of like cooked apples. Delicious!

I also did not like veggies until I was well into my 20's. I did like veggie soup. Get a BIG crockpot and put cabbage, onion, tomatoes, celery, (these are a must for me), potatoes, carrots, and whatever other veggies you can think of or will fit. To make it simpler, you could use the cabbage already cut for cole slaw, and frozen veggies like the onion/pepper mix, corn, peas, and green beans. Canned tomatoes (you can also add tomato juice or V8) are most of the soup base. The only things you would have to cut doing it the easy way would be potatoes if you decide to add them, and the celery which adds so much flavor. Simmer on low 6-9 hours, or on high 3-5 hours.

I don't really know where you could find one because I got mine from a garage sale but there is a Campbell's cookbook out there that is four ingredients or less. There are several recipes that are main dishes or side dishes. I love this cookbook and usually only use 1 dish in the preparation of a meal. I'm sorry I couldn't be of more help in finding a copy but I bet you could find one online.

I saw this idea a while ago on Mamasource regarding frozen green beans. Heat a non-stick skillet with some olive oil (about 1 Tablespoon maybe?). Add the frozen green beans, leaving room to stir them. After some time has elapsed, sprinkle with garlic salt. Cook until heated (which can take a little while since they were frozen).

B., i am in the same boat - i have no idea about veggies unless they come in a can (or are potatoes!) one thing i finally tried and i was SHOCKED to find i LOVE and my whole family does - broccoli and velveeta! just cook the broccoli and then melt a little velveeta over it...OMG it's to die for...and this from a non-veggie person. also i do a lot of stir frying, and even if i don't have frozen veggies, i do canned, just put them in right at the end. my son is asking me to play blocks with him so i'll cut this short...good luck...and i'll read to see what everyone else answers!

Hello B.,

This is an area that I need to improve in as well. But I'll tell you what I am currently doing as far as the frozen veggies are concerned. I take some frozen veggies, put them in a pyrex glass bowl with lid, add a couple of teaspoons of water, and nuke them. Works great! You can add in some seasonings as well. For broccoli, I add in about half a teaspoon of jarred minced garlic and my girls love it. And it is much cheaper than buying those frozen steam-in-the-bag style veggies.

An easy way to make any veggie better is to add cheese. The easiest and simplest way I've found to do this is to by Campbell's cheddar cheese soup and use it as a cheese sauce. DO NOT follow the directions on the can as that is to make it into soup. It's very thick straight out of the can and will thin a little when you heat it up. My family agrees that it's the perfect consitency for veggies straight out the can. The only kitchen tool you'll need for this is a spatula to scrape the can. I find it's so much easier to rinse off the spatula than to clean the cutting board, counter and knife needed for velveeta. I usually only use half the can per meal as we are a family of only 3. I put the other half in a bowl and store it in the fridge until I'm ready to use it. Also, Campbell's cheddar soup makes a great base for soup. (Go figure!) I like to add diced potatoes, onions, and bacon bits and call it loaded baked potatoe soup. My family likes it a lot. You can buy frozen diced potatoes and onions if you don't want to slice and dice yourself. And of course, if you like broccoli and cheese soup, it makes a great base for that as well.

I hate cooked carrots unless they're cooked with a roast. A friend of mine shared a great recipe for cooked carrots that I couldn't believe I'd like, but I do. We were cooking on the grill and she took a bag of baby carrots, added slices of butter (you could substitute margarine) and some minced garlic. She wrapped it in foil (no dirty pots or pans) and threw it on grill for about half an hour. It was really good. The carrots were warm and somewhat soft without being squishy. I love garlic and butter so it was a win-win for me. Since then, I've made it in my oven several times. I wrap it in foil just like we did for the grill.

I hope you find this info useful. Good luck.