We all know we’re supposed to eat more vegetables, but that can be easier said than done.
Vegetables are often relegated to side dishes and salads, which can make them feel like an afterthought rather than the main event. And when you’re used to eating meat and potatoes every night, it can take some time for your palate to adjust.
But there are ways you can get more veggies into your diet without having to change what you eat at every meal. Here are some ingenious ways to eat more vegetables each day:
- Add chopped fresh herbs and spices to salads for extra flavor, color and texture. For example, try adding cilantro and lime juice to green salads or dill weed to potato salad for a more satisfying flavor experience than you’d get from just adding mayonnaise or sour cream.
- Use a spiralizer. This tool makes it easy to turn raw veggies into noodles, which can then be added to soups or casseroles, or tossed with pasta for a healthy alternative to spaghetti. You can also use zucchini noodles in place of traditional pasta in recipes like lasagna and stir-fries.
- Make smoothies by blending frozen fruit with yogurt instead of ice cream or milk — it’s tasty and has fewer calories!
- Substitute vegetable broth for half the amount of water when cooking rice or quinoa (or any grain). This will add nutrients without adding extra calories or fat.
- Try a veggie burger. You might think that burgers are off-limits when it comes to eating healthy, but they’re not if you make them yourself instead of buying them at the store (or restaurant). Veggie burgers are packed with protein, which means they’ll help fill you up while keeping your calorie count low — plus they’re usually made with beans and lentils rather than meat so they’re naturally high in fiber as well as vitamins A and C.
