Longtime readers know that one of my goals this year is to eat more produce. One way I’m doing this is to eat produce with breakfast. Every day (I’ve missed three) I eat some sort of fruit or vegetable as part of my first meal of the day.
Most of the time this is fruit, which is fine, but I’m pretty sure more vegetables would be a good addition to my diet too. So now I’m layering in a new habit: once a week, I roast a pan of vegetables. I eat some when they come out of the oven, and then eat the rest as a side dish with meals for the next few days.
Why roasting? It turns out that roasting makes vegetables taste a lot sweeter as the heat caramelizes their natural sugars. Roast the veggies with olive oil and salt and we have the salt-sweet-fat combo that makes snack foods so tempting. I’m not saying roasted veggies will ever be as irresistible as potato chips, but given that I’m trying to eat more of them, making them more alluring isn’t a bad thing.
If you’re looking for a way to veggie up, perhaps you’ll join me in this habit. It takes a little time, but not too much time. Carrots and cauliflower both roast particularly well. So do peppers. Brussels sprouts and beets can work too — and I’m rarely eating these in other situations. It’s possible to buy some of these at the grocery store, put on a podcast and chop, and then stick them in the oven for a while at 400 degrees. Or just buy most of them pre-chopped and then roast them. Is that more expensive? Sure. But if the veggies would otherwise just sit in the fridge or on the counter going bad and not getting used, then that’s money down the drain. Better to spend a little extra and actually execute on this plan.
In any case, “eat your vegetables” is often used as a phrase to imply doing something we don’t want to do. But when veggies taste good, eating them becomes less of a chore. So I’m doing what I can!
What tips do you have for eating more produce?
Laura, I love this tip! Roasted veggies are absolutely delicious!! I have moved to almost 100% raw vegan diet which has absolutely transformed my health over the last 5 years. It sounds extreme and it is but nothing has come close to giving me the results I get from this way of eating. I almost entirely eats fruit and veggies with a little nuts and seeds (in various forms) thrown in. My dinner salads have about 25g of protein when you calculate all the protein in the greens and veggies together plus some nuts and seeds usually in the form of a raw ingredient dressing. Which gets me to my tip for anyone on any diet to get more veggies in. DIP! I make a raw cashew ranch that is delightful (and full of nutrients in itself) and I can eat 1/2 of a head of cauliflower in one sitting with that. I didn’t know this before transitioning to raw, but a lot of nutrients are lost with heat. Still super good for you, but even more nutrient dense raw. This is a great way to add in raw veggies too! Guacamole is another great dip! Cheers to veggie eating! They are God’s gift to us for sure!
When I’m working from home, I make an egg scrambler with peppers, onion, and egg. Onions count as a vegetable, right?