Eat more vegetables

It’s a phrase that ALL of us have heard at some stage during our lives. Whether it’s your parents trying to coax you into finishing your veggies before you leave the dinner table or you are the parent at your wit’s end, not sure how you’re going to get your child to “eat the rainbow” and not the rainbow of the confectionery type.

We know that vegetables are good for us but how many of us, kids and adults alike, screw up our noses when the bowl of steamed brussel sprouts arrive at the dinner table. Vegetables don’t have to be bland and boring, and when cooked right, there’s no reason why they can’t be the hero of any meal.

Here are some tips to spruce them up: 

Dress them with herbs and spices.

This will give them an extra flavour punch with the bonus of some health benefits. Herbs and spices have been widely used as medicine for thousands of years in many eastern cultures. So, add some turmeric or rosemary to your roast potatoes or add garlic with your green leafy vegetables and you’ll be on a winner.  

Cook with the skins and peels.

Don’t peel your carrots before you cook them! The skins on your vegetables are packed with bitter compounds called polyphenols. These compounds are food for your gut microbiome and promote good gut health. Using the whole vegetable ensures you are getting the all the benefits so don’t throw away the stem of that broccoli!  

Eat vegetables that are in season!

Eating what is available means we get a variation in our diet. This also means we are more likely to support local farmers and produce centres and to eat fresh! If we eat something that was picked when it was fully developed on vine or on a tree, we are eating the vegetables at their optimal nutritional time. Produce that has been imported or not in season means that it has been picked prematurely, stored, gassed to artificially ripen and it can taste quite bland. 

Get into pickling.

Food preservation has been around since the dawn of time. The art of pickling enables you to preserve the vegetables properties in a brine while gaining beneficial bacterial properties that come with its fermentation. The process has been shown as an effective method for keeping the vegetables natural antioxidants properties. 

Experiment in your cooking.

Did you know that different cooking techniques can bring out different flavours of your vegetables? Roasting a pumpkin will give you a different flavour to it being steamed or boiled. You still get the same nutritional benefits.  

Embrace the imperfect vegetable.

Just because it doesn’t look like the rest it doesn’t mean it’s not jammed pack full of the good stuff. If you’ve ever grown your own vegetables, you will notice that they will grow in odd shapes and sizes.  

Here’s a super easy recipe that will boost your serves of vegies, tastes delicious and is a winner in our house for three reasons:

1. It tastes delicious.
2. It’s easy to prepare and cook.
3. It’s pretty much a one dish recipe meaning there’s less to clean up!

Ingredients

Method

1. Heat the oven to 220* and rinse your vegetables!
2. Cut capsicum and onion into chunks and place in a roasting dish
3. Add in the punnet of tomatoes then drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and set aside
4. Place your chicken thighs in a bowel and coat with tomato paste, salt pepper and Italian herbs. 
5. Once coated, place on top of the vegetable mix that was set aside.
6. Place in the oven for 30-40 min
7. While that is cooking, prepare your greens by cutting the ends of the bean stems and chopping up the kale
8. In the last 10-15 minutes, place the kale and beans on top of the roasting dish.
9. Serve with mashed sweet potato or as is!

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