Help me love veggies, I need some ideas!

Hello!

Now, don't get me wrong, I DO love fruits and veggies, just very select ones.

For fruit, I don't like bananas (I mean REALLY don't like, for some reason they make me gag) peaches, or oranges, and I really like pears, strawberries, apples, watermelon, raspberries, and grapes.

Unfortunally I don't really eat many veggies. I eat lots of carrots, and have lots of salads, but that's about it. For some reason, my family just doesn't have veggies around the house. Could you give me some ideas to get veggies into the house? I REALLY don't like corn (makes me gag as well, but I think it's from chilhood memories of being forced to eat it) and celery. Your favorite veggies? I really just need some ideas! I don't realy cook, and my mom is currently going through a divorce and cancer so she has little time to cook like she used to. So do you have some easy ideas for me?

Thank you so much!

~Madison

Asparagus is really good just boiled. 4 minutes for crispy, 8 minutes for well-cooked. I had a pile of it tonight:)

sugar snap peas are good too... they are a little sweet which is always a nice change.

Rutabaga and parsnips - roast them like potatoes. 

Spinach (raw in salads or made into pesto - not cooked - yuck!). 

Make a fresh salsa with tomato, yellow pepper, cucumber, radishes, red onion and a little lime juice - you can add cilantro if you like it.  I eat it with bean and cheese quesadillas or with a few tortilla chips and it's a great way to get a lot of veggies. 

Zucchini sliced up and tossed in with pasta. 

I make a big pot of brown rice with veggies and beans/lentils once a week.  Throw in eggplant, peas, asparagus, mushrooms or whatever else I have handy.  Add lots of herbs and spices and it is yummy! 

Bake a spaghetti squash, shred it with a fork and toss with parmesan and tomato sauce. 

I used to hate veggies.  Would only eat potatoes, corn, green beans or raw carrots.  I have a strong gag reflex too,  but I found that the more I eat different fruits and veggies, the less likely I am to object to the texture.

I LOVE veggies, adn hubby is a vegetarian so we eat them with almost every meal.

You can start adding them to just about anything I think (pasta sauce with zucchini, mushrooms and broccoli, chili with carrots, onion, and mushrooms, pizza with sliced tomatoes, spinach and bell peppers, mac and cheese with peas and carrots, scrambled eggs with onion zucchini mushroom asparagus spinach and salsa...) tastiest is fresh, but easiest is frozen. put them in a pan with a little cooking spray and cook until tender (if doing fresh, cook the hardest veggies a little longer- like carrots, onions, cauliflower, potatoes, broccoli) then add them to whatever you want.

if you're doing frozen, you can also just pop them in the microwave. I like mixed vegetables with some italian salad dressing or some kind of vinnaigrette for a really quick light veggie side.

spices and sauces go a long way.... i really suggest browsing recipes online to get the hang of what spices go with what dishes. if you like indian food, they use veggies in just about everything. or you can browse vegetarian recipes.

I find that the easiest way to get veggies in, is by putting them into omlettes.  my favorite combination is spinach, mushrooms (not really a vegetable but still) and peppers in an omlette made out of 2 egg whites and a whole egg. 

Have you tried making vegetable soup?  I usually make a large pot of whatever vegetables are about to go bad, some beans for protein and have it simmer in a large pot with some spices for a few hours.  it's really easy to make, lasts a long time and is pretty low call, since my soups are water based instead of broth.  if you have issues with the texture of vegetables, this might be worth a try because the vegetables are cooked for such a long time, their texture is very different when they are done. 

if you eat sandwiches, try using spinach instead of lettuce as the greans, add some tomatoe slices and some avocado usually tastes amazing.  have you just tried adding vegetables to a dish you might have?  like if you're having pasta for dinner, add some stur-fried broccoli or zuchini to it, in addition to the sauce.

like flamel, i also enjoy asparagus, but i like mine grilled instead.  just drizzle it with some olive oil, add some salt and pepper and broil it in the over for a couple of minutes, it turns out nice and crispy and glorious.  you can also make sweet potato fries.  i cut up a sweet potatoe into wedges, coat them with a mixture of olive oil, lemon and chili powder and pop them in the oven. 

I love asparagus (blanched), peas (usually just heat them), sweet cooked carrots (can't make them like the restaurants do, YET), and sweet potatoes (baked until tender with a little splenda brown sugar on them). 

I understand how certain things just make you gag.  Celery, onions, and peppers have that effect on me.  Does all corn make you gag, or just corn on the cob or just shoepeg?  Sometimes if you change the delivery method, you get a different response (although BELIEVE ME, I'd understand if you're not into it). 

I think it'd be great if you cooked a little for your mom.  Sounds like she could use whatever help she can get.  Good luck!

roasted red bell pepper. cut it in half or in strips, brush with a little olive oil and pop them in the oven for a few minutes. Asparagus comes out well this way also. I used to hate eating it but now i like it!

sugar snap peas, baby spinach instead of lettuce gives salad a new little twist for flavor. black olives, or greek kalamata olives used as garnishes or in salad. I also LOVE sweet potatos, i sprinkle them with a little brown sugar. We also make baked sweet potato fries at my house, really healthy and we just put a TOUCH of cinnamon sugar on those. YUM

Good luck girlie!

I used to hate broccoli until I started to sautee it in a pan with some fresh garlic and olive oil; it browns up and gets really crunchy.  It's fantastic.

Also, spinach is a great substitute for lettuce in salads, tastes better too, in my opinion.

Stuffed peppers; cut a bell pepper in half, seed it, and stuff it with every veggie you have, a bit of whatever cooked meat you like, some olive oil, rosemary, tomato, bake it for 30 minutes on 350 and you're set.

Home-made tomato sauce; just boil a whole tomato until the skin splits, peel the skin off, put the tomato in a pan with olive oil and onion, chop up the tomato with the spoon and let it simmer until it thickens, toss in what spices you like and it makes a fantastic low-cal, healthy sauce.  It's nice and thick too, so if you toss in some jalapenos it makes a good salsa, or you can put it on toast like bruschetta.

Roasted garlic; just put a bulb of garlic in the oven and let it bake for about 20 minutes, it gets nice and soft and becomes a spread, great on pasta or bread, or it can be mashed and put onto veggies - just make sure you aren't going anywhere particularly social that night though, 'cause, um, garlic.  Yeah.

Zucchini and carrot cut into strips and sauteed with (yes, again) garlic and rosemary.

Spaghetti squash; great on its own or with a bit of tomato sauce.