Getting enough vegetables into your diet while keeping things interesting can be tough. It can be too easy to fall back upon the same dishes with the same unappealing sides of veg.
Sport360’s Josie Mckenlay thinks there are easy ways to ensure you are getting your vegetables in without losing out on flavour or satisfaction.
Here are our top eight recipe ideas:
Mix a cup of blue cheese (ricotta or cream if you prefer), a handful of chopped sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped basil, seasoning and combine with an egg. Heap into cup mushrooms with the stalks removed and cook in the oven for about 15 minutes until the tops are browned.
Light lunch, ideal for picnics, a healthy snack or serve with drinks, dips. Raw veg batons can be very varied. A colourful and tasty dip is Beetroot and Goats Cheese: Put three medium beetroots into a pan with a couple of tablespoons of water, cover with foil and cook until tender – about an hour.
Chop up and put into a blender with a minced clove of garlic and red chili, a tablespoon of olive oil, two tablespoons of plain yoghurt, seasoning and blend until smooth. Scoop into a dish and crumble a handful of feta cheese on top with some finely chopped spring onions.
Thread chunks of your favourite vegetables onto skewers, brush with a mix of olive oil, mustard, honey and a squeeze of lemon and put them on the barbeque. Mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, onion pieces, courgettes, peppers and haloumi cheese chunks make for a Greek twist.
A quick shot of the valuable nutrients, if you need to use some up or good for those who don’t particularly like veggies, try these combinations: carrot and orange; green apple, celery and kale; tomatoes, celery, cucumber and a pinch of salt and cayenne pepper; cabbage and grapefruit.
Try celeriac puree: Cook the celeriac until tender, put into a blender (or use a stick blender in the saucepan), add some butter, a little cream, salt and pepper and blend until it is smooth. Serve warm. Pea puree: Lightly fry some chopped garlic while cooking the peas. Put in the blender with some chopped mint to taste, seasoning and plain yoghurt.
Maybe it’s the size that makes them appealing, but these miniature veggies tend to be less bitter and far more tender than their grown up versions.
It used to be just roasted potatoes, but now roasting all sorts of roots and serving as a side dish is very common. Try beetroot, sweet potatoes, carrots and parsnips served with guacamole as a light meal.
Ratatouille is very simple to prepare, colourful and goes well with white fish or steak. Lightly fry chunks of eggplant (aubergine), courgettes (zucchini/baby marrows), peppers, onions and garlic cloves. Add tinned tomatoes with seasoning and simmer until tender.
