Newsflash, broccoli haters: you need vegetables in your diet. You need a lot. Chances are, you need a lot more than you’re currently getting. Stop whining and start getting your daily servings of vegetables with these tips.
- Try new vegetables.
That sounds pretty elementary, right? Well, let’s say you tried red peppers as a kid and hated them. Nowadays, you just stay away from peppers. Well, different colors of bell peppers have very different flavors. A green pepper won’t taste the same as a red one, for example. There’s a wealth of fresh vegetables out there. If you’ve only experienced a watery iceberg salad, you won’t believe what you’ve been missing when you try one with spinach and arugula, for example. - Try them in different ways. To use the bell pepper example again, you tried a raw red pepper and hated it. Why not try it roasted, grilled, or stuffed? You may find a new love. Grill your vegetables. Roast them. Saute them. Puree them into a dip or spread. You’ll be surprised at how much that dreaded vegetable taste changes when you cook them in different ways.
- Slip them into meals you already cook.
That meat and cheese lasagna is pretty decadent, right? Sneak in a few vegetable servings along with it, like squash, eggplant, or zucchini layers. Add diced tomatoes or green peppers to your favorite casserole. Add a celery and carrot base to your homemade spaghetti sauce. - Make sure every meal has a vegetable component.
Meat-and-cheese meals won’t cut it anymore. That ham-and-cheese omelet needs some vegetables. Make an appetizer of broiled zucchini. Plan for a vegetable serving with each meal (and eat more of that vegetable serving than the meat portion).