Whether you’re crazy about veggies or not, we all end up eating the same ones. To help you diversify your menu, we suggest exploring new avenues. Whether it be in terms of presentation, taste or preparing veggies, we’ll help you bring a new freshness to your meals. The time has come to renew your table!
How to be original with veggies
By varying recipes or just the way you cook them, you can break out of the routine and really appreciate the veggies you serve.
Play with texture
Crushing veggies changes their texture so much, you’ll gobble them up without even realizing it. For example, making a veggie hummus can replace your usual afternoon snack. Try beet hummus! It’ll become your new way of eating beets.
People often serve mashed potatoes as a side. To break the routine, why not add a new flavour like celery root, for example? This little change will awaken your taste buds giving you the impression that it’s something totally new!
You can also create meals by mixing crushed veggies with other food. For example, green pea purée with cream cheese and smoked salmon will become the perfect spread for a new signature lunch.
Taste new things
People often put the same old vegetables in the grocery cart, so it’s normal that you’d find them uninspiring eventually. Instead of getting bored of them, vary your veggies by trying new ones regularly. Start with edamame. They won’t feel foreign because they look similar to green beans. If you buy a veggie that you don’t know, go for the small version. Baby vegetables are generally less bitter.
Get into the habit of setting aside one day a week to experiment with a veggie you don’t know. For example, designate Tuesdays as “Discover Day”. This way you’ll try new recipes and new ways of loving veggies.
Turning fast food into healthy food
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Eating unhealthy always makes you feel guilty, but you have to admit that you eat it only because it tastes good and you just can help yourself. Now you can enjoy the fact that there are many healthy versions of these unhealthy dishes. For example, when making a hamburger, you can easily add a serving of veggies by replacing the bread with grilled Portobello mushrooms. Your burger will be even more delish!
Cauliflower crumbs can be substituted easily for the bread in your grilled cheese sandwich or pizza crust. As well as getting a version that’s a lot lower in fat, you’re also doubling the portion of veggies. You’ll be surprised to learn that poutines also have a healthy side. Just replace the famous French fries with tasty turnip! By adapting just a few of these recipes, you can enjoy a meal that’s similar, but also a lot more nutritious!
Start using prepared veggies
Canned or frozen, already-prepared veggies help you improve recipes. It takes just a few seconds to add them to any dish. Thanks to Arctic Gardens’ many combinations, you can easily find veggies that’ll make your day. There are also many recipe suggestions for each product, so use them to inspire your meals.
Get creative
Photo: Prevention
People often prepare veggies the same old way. For example, when you make a bowl of pasta, it’s simple to add veggies to the sauce. Or why not make your favourite veggie the star of your sauce? If you have leftover broccoli, use it for a broccoli sauce that marries beautifully with pasta.
Call on your creativity even more by using veggies to make your own pasta! Spaghetti squash is a great name for this veggie because it’s filled with long strands inside, perfect for making a bowl of veggie pasta. Just cook the squash, cut it in two, then remove the strands. You can also make spaghetti with other veggies, but they’ll require a little more effort. With a paring knife or vegetable peeler, you can make spaghetti by using just about any kind of vegetable. With a meal like this, you’re reinventing Italian cuisine!
Kale has been really popular the last few years, probably because it can be used in any kind of cuisine. You can even use it to make healthy chips. In fact, many veggies like beets, carrots and zucchini can be easily transformed into chips. To ensure that this snack remains healthy, you should always make your own veggie chips because store-bought versions are often made with powdered vegetables, as well as being high in sodium.
Wondering how you can reinvent sandwiches? Replace pita with large lettuce leaves which is sure to grab people’s attention! Pastry dough can also be used in a different way. Instead of making apple turnovers for dessert, use the dough to make veggie turnovers. They’re delicious as appetizers during happy hour.
It’s all in the presentation
Photo: Je fouine, tu fouines
A nice presentation can completely change your perspective of the food at the table. You have to admit that there’s nothing more boring that a plate of raw vegetables. But by playing up the visual, you can make your veggies really appealing. Instead of little piles of veggies, make little rows of bright colours. Verrines are another original way to present crudités. Put a little dip in the bottom of the glass and throw in a few sticks of veggies.
You can also make your sides more attractive by using a cookie cutter to give them a distinct shape. A layer of veggies is even more eye-catching if it’s round, triangular or square. You decide!
You can also use different sized plates or bowls to serve food. A veggie soup is a classic if you pour it into a bowl, but it’s easy to make it star attraction of the evening if it’s presented in a shot glass! Everyone will have fun enjoying a small serving of veggies in a gulp.
Breakfast of champions
When you think breakfast, picturing veggies isn’t necessarily the first thing that comes to mind. Change this perception by daring to incorporate veggies in all your morning recipes! Do you always make eggs in the pan? Change it up by cooking them in a dish filled with veggies. Getting bored of berry muffins? Replace them with asparagus and ham muffins. You can also use these ingredients to make crepes the next morning! People who prefer salty to sweet love this kind of breakfast!
Diversify the way you cook
Vegetables are too often boiled or steamed. People rarely try other ways of cooking them, but there are just so many other ways! Take your favourite vegetables and stir-fry them. They’ll keep their crunch and by adding a little sauce, you can easily give them whatever flavour you want!
If you’re getting bored of a particular veggie, try frying it. It’s not as healthy, of course, but the taste will make you crave your regular vegetable. Have you ever eaten fried avocado? Frying completely transforms the texture. It gets crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Take advantage of the summer and grill veggies on the barbecue. Grilling makes them tender and delicious!
Incorporate veggies into your regular meals
Even if vegetables aren’t called for in a recipe, you can still add a few to enhance flavour. For example, by incorporating vegetables into meatballs, you’re successfully reinventing the good old, fully-loaded burger.
A sloppy joe is traditionally ground meat soaked in sauce between two slices of bread, but that doesn’t have to stop you from adding finely chopped veggies to yours. The same for mac and cheese. Add veggies to your recipe to make it even tastier.
You can also renew sauces by changing a few things. Many people use meat sauce to top their spaghetti, but without necessarily making a vegetarian spaghetti sauce, it’s easy to add a few veggies to your sauce.
To make your meals feel new again, replace chicken nuggets with veggie nuggets. They’re just as hot and crispy as the ones you normally make, but they’re bursting with flavour and nutrients!
Veggies in dessert
Fruit is often the star ingredient in desserts, but you should know that you can also make them with veggies! Generally, desserts that are made of vegetables are more salty than sweet, but that’s not always the case! Many vegetables like carrots, sweet peas and onions can bring a sweet note to dishes. For example, a good ice cream can be made with corn. You can enhance an apple cake recipe with it, too. Sweet corn can be incorporated anywhere!
In fact, any grated vegetable can be easily added to a dessert recipe. Who would have thought that the famous chocolate cake could be healthy? Yup, we found a chocolate cake recipe that has two cups of zucchini in it! Now that’s a good reason to eat more cake.
Add a special ingredient
By choosing your ingredients well, you can totally change the way vegetables taste. For example, season them with whatever spices you have on hand. Another simple way to give vegetables back their flavour is by adding a favourite food. Meat lovers will suddenly fall in love with asparagus when they’re wrapped in prosciutto and cheese buffs will go gaga over vegetables au gratin.
Let chefs inspire you
If you’re lacking a little in the imagination department, check out some Pinterest boards. Pictures that make vegetables the star will give you a ton of original ideas for cooking them. After looking at what you can do with simple vegetables, inspiration will come quickly.
With these tricks, you won’t have any more excuses to leave out vegetables. The recipes we suggest are quick and easy to prepare. They’ll help you make original dishes while increasing their nutritional value. And what recipes are you going to use to highlight veggies? Share them with us!
