Eating more veggies

[Brenda Holiday]

I'm trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into my daily routine, for no particular reason other than my veggie intake is lacking and you can save money not eating meat with every meal... and I'm kinda tired of the same ol same ol.
This has been difficult as I'm used to veggies being something on the side you eat first to just get it out of the way. The other issue is that vegetarian meals tend to use ingredients that are hard to find, being sold at some hippie vegan store which can be expensive, the opposite of what I want.
What are some simple, everyday meals, or other ways to incorporate more vegetables into my diet? It doesn't need to be super health focused, just replacing a processed or sugary meal is good enough.

 

[Grub]

Stir fries, soups and pasta sauces are a good way to add veggies to a meal.

 

[rel=alternate]

I have trying myself to incorporate more veggies in my diet.

I think the key is to incorporate various flavors and textures so it does not feel boring.

I personally like tabbouleh style salads, where you can incorporate different sorts of veggies to give texture and vary the taste. It also lends itself well to dry fruits.

Soup is also great and versatile. If you don't want the texture to be too boring, you can also not mix it.

Rice and pasta dishes can easily be full meals as well while incorporating veggies.

Playing around with sauces, sweet and sour flavors will also help exhaust the taste.

Overall, I think the key is really to not make it boring, and you won't miss the protein as much.

 

[beautiful person]

For a cheap and easy way to get a lot of veggies, I'll make instant ramen and add a bunch of veggies to it. Frozen peas and corn, fresh carrots and cabbage, sometimes some bok choy and enoki mushrooms. Usually I'll add an egg for some protein.

There's also these tofu stew kits that you can do the same thing with. You get decent protein without as many carbs. Don't even need to add the egg.

 

[Farsided]

Blanch batches of veggies to add to your dish. Keep them in the fridge and add a handful whenever your chicken/beef or whatever else is almost done, they'll cook in no time, soak up that fatty goodness and will still be crunchy unlike that bland boiled mush most people get in their mind when they think 'cooked veggies'.

I personally like tabbouleh

A fine dice and some spices always gets the picky eaters that think of lettuce as a chore to eat the damn thing.

 

[Idiotron]

Most of the time, my breakfast/brunch looks like this:

It's really easy to do, no preparation other than washing and cutting.
Start the day with a meal like that and you will notice real differences within a few weeks.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

Are we looking for "vegetables" or "vegetarian" (which would include legumes like black beans providing a lot of protein)?

Any pasta sauce (or pizza toppings) could easily include some sauteed onions, peppers, etc.

Try onions, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, eggplants, and carrots. There's a lot you can do with these.

 

[WhoDaresWhoCaresWhoKnows]

One of the easiest way to get more vegetables and fiber into regular meals is swapping your starches (rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.) for coleslaw. Unless you use a ton of mayonnaise it will be both lower in calories than the starches and filling for a longer time. Coleslaw also tends to pair well with many side-dish vegetables like tomatoes, olives, cucumber, pickles, radishes and what not.
The mayonnaise it also makes many vegetarian protein alternatives a lot more palatable while enhancing just about any standard proteins, especially pork or deep fried things in general.

You can make very basic coleslaw with just thinly sliced cabbage and carrots mixed with some mayonnaise, salt, pepper, and maybe a bit of mustard. Then you can experiment with almost anything from vinegars, herbs, chili flakes and paprika to squeezed lemons/limes and fruits depending on what flavor you want to pair it with.

Depending on preference and goal a basic coleslaw mix blends well with most things as long as you match the seasonings, the important thing is getting a mayonnaise that matches your preference and the right amount of salt. Things like very thinly sliced onions/scallions, bell peppers, finely chopped raw cauliflower, kale, corn, pickled ginger, just about anything really.

Many coleslaw recipes call for ''purging'' the vegetables, as in salting them for a few minutes then rinsing all the salt away but personally I do not recommend this as it ruins the chewiness and texture of it to me. Instead I just rinse the vegetables well, peel those that need peeling and let most of the water run off in a colander before slicing them.
The recipes often claim not ''purging'' the vegetables will end up with a watery coleslaw that is too chewy but as long as I do not add huge amounts of mayonnaise I never had this issue and I usually make smaller batches that I finish within 1-3 days as any sliced vegetables will start wilting.

As an added bonus the base ingredients, cabbage, carrots, and mayonnaise, are basically always cheap and plentiful regardless of season and location and anyone who cooks regularly has salt and pepper at home.

 

[There Is Light At The End]

Okay, here's a simple recipe:
You need 4 things - a cabbage, an onion, a carrot and potatoes. Peel potatoes and chop everything in pieces. Put it all in a pot, add some cooking oil and your preferred spices. Set temperature at 130° Celsius or 260° Fahrenheit and leave it for an hour.
Stew is done. You can add water at the beginning, if you want softer end product. It's very basic and quite tasty

 

[Freshly Baked Socks]

I have developed a habit of eating steamed broccoli and carrots as a side dish with dinner, it pairs well with almost any main dish.

I've recently learned to add the broccoli to the steamer when the carrots are half-cooked, this prevents the broccoli from getting over-steamed and becoming limp&brown.

 

[Permanent Resident Cope]

Cauliflower Fried Rice is a good dish to make that can be all vegetables.
I'm a big fan of wraps, it's surprising how good just some simple rice and regular vegetables tastes when it's wrapped in a tortilla.

 

[wtfNeedSignUp]

My suggestion for easy veggies is oyster sauce on stir fry. And olive oil, salt and pepper for most veggies (preferably without any more cooking).

 

[Brenda Holiday]

Start the day with a meal like that and you will notice real differences within a few weeks.

I can't eat heavy breakfast anyways but that usually means I skip it. This seems like a better idea.

Are we looking for "vegetables" or "vegetarian" (which would include legumes like black beans providing a lot of protein)?

Either one but probably vegetarian, I'm looking for filling dinners rather than the usual side salad.

One of the easiest way to get more vegetables and fiber into regular meals is swapping your starches (rice, potatoes, pasta, etc.) for coleslaw.

Ooh this is a really good idea.

I have developed a habit of eating steamed broccoli and carrots as a side dish with dinner, it pairs well with almost any main dish.

Fuckin love steamed broccoli but getting tired of it. Its my go to vegetable.

 

[Mordecai "3 Finger" Brown]

Not that I'm particularly skilled at it, but a lot of Indian curries & dishes are made with meat being optional.

Most of the time, my breakfast/brunch looks like this:

What do you end up doing with the individual loose Romaine lettuce leaves?

Use them to wrap other veggies?
Munch on them naked like a rabbit?
Dip them in some sort of dressing or oil?
Tear them up to be more like a side salad?

 

[MerriedxReldnahc]

I've been blending spinach/mixed greens with water, pouring it into ice cube trays and freezing it. Then I can throw the cubes into soup, in the blender with cracked eggs for an easy breakfast, or blending them with a banana for a smoothie.
Cherry tomatoes are also great paired with scrambled eggs, I've been sautéing them in butter and finishing with a splash of lemon juice.
The trick for me is to make it as easy as possible to add veggies in, especially at 8 in the morning when I'm grumpy and making my pre-work breakfast.

 

[The Mass Shooter Ron Soye]

One thing I snuck in recently was finely chopped, sauteed kale (with onions). The kale was discounted so it needs to be used fast. This went into an alfredo sauce, and on another day Korean-style chicken sandwiches (just chicken + sauce mix that came out of a box, on bread with cheese instead of rice). I could also sneak it into burrito filling or something like that.

You could try making hummus or baba ganoush. That's the exact same ingredients as hummus, but you use roasted eggplant instead of chickpeas. I use a food processor to make these, but a good blender should work. I also use an electric pressure cooker to prepare dried chickpeas. That saves money but you have to prep it further in advance since it takes over an hour to cook and comes out hot.

Try making ratatouille. That will help you decide if you like eggplant and zucchini.

If you have an air fryer, you can try fried cauliflower. These can be tossed into a sauce.

This is a simple stir-fry recipe you can easily modify to use chicken instead of beef, or more/only vegetables. I usually cut the brown sugar content.

You can make chili with more/less/no meat. You just need beans (e.g. black, pinto, kidney), tomatoes, onions, peppers.

I usually make stroganoff with finely chopped bell peppers and onions, and mushrooms. Can be served on noodles or rice.

 

[SSj_Ness (Yiffed)]

Been thinking of doing this too, I've been very low on energy for a little while now and thinking of trying keto again. I'm trying to remember which veggies were both lowest in carbs and good for stir fry, but I'm drawing a blank.

 

[Tequila Jong]

You can change just about any dish by simply removing the meat and adding vegetables. If the dish is sauce-based, just about any vegetable will absorb flavour. Making bolognese? Dice a courgette/zucchini, or use mushrooms from a can, or even shred some cabbage and fire it in. Add diced potatoes if you want to eat it from a bowl and not bother with pasta. Chicken and leek pie? Leave out the chicken and cram it full of leeks, or add broccoli and cauliflower, or something else. If you have a pasta dish, replace the pasta with peeled strips of courgettes/zucchinis, or use slices instead of pasta sheets if you're making lasagne.

Less filling, but during the summer months, try exploring with salads. Any variety of tomato can be bulked up with feta or mozzarella cheese and a simple vinaigrette - Olive oil, mustard, and vinegar/citrus juice. Add salt and pepper if the tomatoes are tasteless garbage. Use fruit too, if melons are cheap during the season, look up a recipe for melon gazpacho. It's just tomatoes, melon, salt, pepper, olive oil and sherry vinegar - Dice some cucumber and a boiled egg and sprinkle on top.

 

[Soggy paper straw]

Advice for:

• If you want more fiber and protein, but likely not cheaper: swap your pasta and rice carbs with your choice of "ancient grain" (emmer, etc)
• If you want more fiber and protein, and cheaper, and don't have restrictions with FODMAP: anything legumens! Lentils are cooked in many different ways throughout the world, you have your pick of indian, italian, middle eastern, etc.. Red beans, black beans.. Chickpeas (hummus, salads, currys, soups)..
• If you want more micronutrients, care a bit about fiber and not about protein: any other "vegetable". (Things like lettuce do not contain that much fiber contrary to what people think).

Also, do you like the basic meat replacements like tofu?

The other issue is that vegetarian meals tend to use ingredients that are hard to find, being sold at some hippie vegan store which can be expensive, the opposite of what I want.

I think the problem is that the virtuous vegetarians recipes are more on the hippie side, while more traditional recipes that are just vegetarian to begin with.

I am very basic and like chili beans. I find cooking from dried and adding a base of carrots, onions, garlic, and some red peppers (plus a longish list of herbs and spices) does make a difference compared to canned beans. You can pair with pasta or rice.

I do like to make falafel and then can do a salad with them or eat with a pita.


Now, onto lazy recipes:
I tend to bring to the office very easy meals of ancient grains + sauteed/grilled vegetables (I don't like steamed and don't have an air frier), then add an egg or bacon bits (not vegetarian, but it is just for taste so it does fit your main requirement).

For pasta,
Saute diced onion, add zucchini. Cook until zucchini looks fried.
If you want, in the last few mins you can a few add halved cherry tomatoes. Top with some cheese if you like. (Sort of like this:https://www.foodiecrush.com/stanley-tucci-zucchini-pasta-recipe/)

Saute diced onion, add thinly cut peppers (I prefer anything but green). Then add tomato sauce when pepper start to soften. Simmer for 10-15 mins.

Fried rice with kimchi. Something like this: https://mykoreankitchen.com/kimchi-fried-rice/
It does include some meat, but it is not the main part, and you can easily remove (it will just taste a bit more bland).

Always remember you can add a fried egg to all the above, to add more protein and taste.

Talking about eggs, shakshouka is lovely. I do add red peppers and onion to have more vegetables (some recipes do, some don't. Whilst I don't know what is traditional, I do like it with those in)

Risotto can also be something different. I like making pumpkin risotto when pumpkins are in season and are ridiculously cheap. Something like this: https://hellolittlehome.com/pumpkin-risotto/

You can replace mince with quinoa, couscous, rice etc for stuffing for recipes. Most common using eggplant, squash, or peppers.

 

[Inspector Rex]

Just cook soups and stews, it's the easiest way to have veggies in your meals. Also use fresh dill, parsley, green onions and other green stuff wherever it fits (salads, potatoes in any form, soups, etc) instead of dried crap.