Welcome back to Ask Avery! I'm Avery, and I'm here for your questions and queries! Please feel free to write to me at AskAvery@pietrap.com and perhaps you'll be featured in my next article. If you also love to cook vegetables, I'm sure you can find some kindred spirits in our Discord...
Q: Avery, I’m bored. I need to add more vegetables and healthy things into my diet but I’m BORED and TIRED and I hate it. I’ve tried following along with cooking videos on youtube, but a lot of it goes over my head. It’s like, Step one: Cut of vegetables. Step Two: Cook to perfection and BAM, you’re done. Can I get any tips on how to simplify things for a novice? Is there anything easier out there that’s still tasty? I need more veggies! -Tasty Takeout |
Hi Takeout!
Thanks so much for reaching out to me. It can be embarrassing to have others judge our eating habits so I just want to open up with a reassurance that any food you put into your body is a success. Whether for religious, dietary, or psychological reasons, everyone knows someone who can't, or won't, eat certain foods. I always try to have patience with people who are “picky”. You never know someone’s story!
Disliking vegetables is not a sin.
But you're right. Vegetables have a lot of nutrients and fiber that we need, especially as we get older. Any way you can make it tastier and easier for yourself is a good step. Depriving ourselves of food isn’t healthy. Adding to the list of foods we like is a much better strategy.
For what it’s worth, anything you or I make probably won’t ever be as pretty and neat as the things you see on cooking channels. They have a whole budget set aside for lighting and beautification on every carrot.
I'm sure you've already heard the advice to just roast vegetables with olive oil and salt in the oven, but you wanted something easy and different. I tapped my friends for some ideas and this is what we came up with:
Frozen spinach is my go-to. Drop it in your soup, blend it in a blender, use it as a garnish. Especially blended with frozen fruit!
Canned or frozen vegetables are not any less healthy than fresh ones. If anything, frozen vegetables are better because they are preserved right when they are ready to eat and stay fresh longer. And because of their “format,” you can find a lot of different uses for them. Canned veggies might have more salt, but unless sodium is a risk your doctor has made you aware of, its harm is fairly negligible.
Some other food for thought is looking up Asian cuisine! Meat was pretty hard to find throughout the history a lot of Asian cultures and so they’ve mastered ways to make several different dishes out of the same few veggies they have.
Egg foo young is a Chinese-American dish that is essentially an omelet packed with all sorts of veggies. Customize as you like.
Also, look towards other cultures where vegetarians are a prominent part of their community, such as in India. India has some fantastic uses of veggies mixed with their spices.
Try adding canned pumpkin puree to your mac and cheese! Note that I said PUMPKIN PUREE, not pumpkin pie filling. There’s a difference. One is pure pumpkin and the other is a sweet blend.
Cauliflower is great… especially when grated. Just shave it over whatever meat dish you’re eating.
Let me know how it goes, and share some recipes with me on Discord if you're free!
Always,
Avery
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