20 Ways to Get More Plants on Your Plate
Welcome to week 4! Are you ready to get energized? I know I am! Getting more fruit and vegetables in at each meal is not new news. If I had a dollar for every time someone told me to eat more fruit and vegetables, I would be a rich fancy lady by now. But unfortunately, this age old advice is harder to put into action than it sounds. Looking for inspiration on how to do this? Look no further and I promise you these tips will not include eating a salad at every meal. But before we jump into them, let’s talk about how much produce to buy and storage because we all hate food waste.
For this week’s challenge we are aiming for 2 cups of fruit and vegetables at each meal – that’s a lot of produce! Spend some time creating a meal plan for the week and aim to pop into the grocery store 1-3x during the week to align the amount of food we have with our available time to cook and prepare it. However, if you are a once-a-week grocery shopper, then make sure you consume the produce that is most perishable first such as dark leafy greens or mushrooms, and leave the hardier produce for later in the week such as beets, cabbage or squash. Also, buy different varieties of ripeness with produce such as bananas or avocados to allow them time to reach your desired ripeness.
It’s time to get energized!
20 Ways to Eat More Fruit & Veg
Cauliflower rice: In a food processor pulse cauliflower to rice-size pieces and roast on a baking sheet or stir-fry
Spaghetti squash: Cook the spaghetti squash and stuff it with your favorite chili recipe or use the noodles in place of classic pasta noodles
Zucchini noodles: Using a vegetable peeler peel the zucchini to make noodle-like chunks and eat as a salad or in place of classic pasta noodles
Frozen banana bites: Slice ripe bananas and freeze on a baking sheet for a delicious snack
Baked goods with vegetables: Adding carrots, zucchini or apples to muffins or pancakes
Avocado pasta sauce: Mash an avocado with herbs, garlic and lemon juice for a different pasta sauce
Soup: Whether it is homemade or store bought double the vegetables in any soup recipe
Chard leaves as a wrap: Use the leaves from swiss chard or collard greens as a sandwich wrap – just microwave for 10 seconds to make the leaf more malleable
Kohlrabi or jicama as a cracker: A slice of crunchy kohlrabi or jicama makes a great substitute for a cracker
The Blend: Chop mushrooms to match any texture of ground meat in a burger or a taco. For a more savory flavor keep the ratio to 50:50 and for lighter fare try 80% mushrooms.
Smoothies: For a quick side dish or snack blend a frozen banana with any nut-milk
Using purees: Add purees to any dish! Squash, cauliflower or carrot purees are delicious in burgers, stews, or pasta sauces
Veggie burgers
Dark leafy greens in any soup and stew: Throw a handful of spinach with any soup or stew and wait for it to wilt and you’ll never know it is there
Steamed or sauté vegetables in oatmeal
Kale chips
Root vegetables as fries: Parsnips with garlic and rosemary is probably my favorite root vegetable fry
Pumpkin marinara sauce: Adding pureed pumpkin to a tomato sauce
Veggie packed tomato sauce: When making a classic tomato sauce veg it up with carrots, celery, peppers, zucchini, cauliflower or peas
Add fresh herbs—such as parsley—to everything
Enjoy!
If you enjoyed this post please click like, share it with family & friends or sign up to our newsletter to receive news and updates from Food Yourself.
Photo by Caroline Attwood on Unsplash