Buddha bowls are a good way to incorporate vegetables, too. Start with rice or bulgar wheat or quinoa or lentils or cous cous. Add a lean protein. Add an assortment of raw or roasted vegetables and a dressing. I make a Mediterranean one with lemon pepper chicken breast, bulgar wheat, chick peas, tomatoes, red and green bell pepper, cucumber, olives and tabouli. If it needs a little dressing I add plain Greek yogurt mixed with garlic, lemon, dill, and pureed cucumber. Shredded pork loin, brown rice and roasted squash is good. Chicken fajita bowl: Spanish rice*, black beans, shredded chicken, cherry tomatoes, lots of diced bell pepper, diced jalpeno, corn, shredded romaine, a little sour cream, maybe some avodcado.
*Easy as it gets Spanish rice: pour 1 T oil into a sauce pan on med. High. Add 1 cup dry rice. Shake pan to coat rice. Leave on stove top, shaking or stirring occasionally while you open a 7 oz can of salsa. Pour that into a 2 cup measure. Add either a cube of chicken bouillon or a spoonful of chicken base to the cup and enough water to make it two cups. Pour into the pan of rice, bring to a boil, turn to low and cover with a lid. Leave it alone for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir.
^ This has been my opinion since I was a kid. Mom was greatly surprised and puzzled, but then decided having someone willing to eat the stalks wasn’t a bad thing.
The round ball part of kohlrabi reminds me quite a bit of broccoli stalks, so if you haven’t tried it you might want to. The green leafy bits are… well, green leafy bits, treat them like other greens.
Actually, frozen broccoli works perfectly well with this method. Florets look prettier, but chopped works just fine. This has become my vegetable go to because I always have some on hand.
It might be more accurate to say that the round ball part of kohlrabi is broccoli stalks. They’re the same species, just bred to emphasize different parts of the plant. But neither was bred to emphasize the stem, so stem is stem.
I’m in the type 2 boat with you; at least, the doc sent me a nasty letter that I was borderline, so I hopped on the Low Carb train with a bullet and didn’t look back.
I’m lucky in a way, because my favorite vegetable is green peas. Frozen green peas are easy and awesome. Stove top is okay, but they’re even tastier in the the microwave, IMHO. Birdseye has a whole line of “SteamFresh” vegetables, including peas, that you just microwave in the bag, and the veggies are steamed to perfection. Note: when it says to let them rest or sit for 1 minute after the microwave turns off, really do that. The spare time lets the heat circulate and distribute instead of focusing in a few spots, and everything ends up more evenly cooked for it, so keep that wait period.
Another thing I love, though I try not to do it too often, is pickles. Cucumbers are vegetables! Heck, if you’re willing to experiment, you can pickle all kinds of stuff yourself, like carrots or cauliflower or okra or whatever. Just stick to dill pickles and the like, not sweet pickles, because that adds sugar. And you don’t want to eat pickles every day, because that’s a lot of sodium. Still, great snack.
When I switched to eating more vegetables I found my favorites were Asparagus (but yes, it does make your pee smell funny), Spinach (it really is good) and Collard Greens. You may want to try those.
Asparagus is polarizing: It seems like everyone either loves it or hates it. So, yes, give it a try… but if you don’t like it, don’t give up vegetables, just give up asparagus.
The lowest-effort is microwaving frozen veggies, but microwave-steaming is a close second. Dedicated steamer bowls are nice, but you can just use a container with a (fitted but not airtight) lid (or a lidless bowl covered with plastic wrap, although that’s inefficient if you’re cooking often). Some examples:
Corn: husk and rinse. Snap ears in half if you need to to make them fit the container. If your container is large compared to the volume of corn, or if the lid doesn’t hold the steam well, you can add a little water (otherwise the water from rinsing will probably be enough). Cover and microwave on high 5-10 minutes (depending on how much corn you are cooking).
Broccoli: take a small head of broccoli, trim the stem end closely (but keep the head intact). Rinse it briefly to get it a little wet. Place it in your container stem-down, add a tablespoon or two of water. Cover and microwave on high for about 5-7 minutes. Cut it up after it’s cooked (or serve whole and tear off florets as you go). You can serve with a dressing or sauce of some kind (vinaigrette dressing goes with everything), or spread some seasonings on top before nuking (garlic and olive oil; ginger-scallion paste; soy sauce and sesame oil, etc…).
Sweet potato: rinse but do not trim the ends or cut the skin. Place whole in your container and add a few spoonfuls of water. Cover and microwave on medium for about 10-15 minutes (or try the baked potato setting, if your microwave has one). It’s OK if the exterior gets a little dry and wrinkly as long as you don’t overcook. When it’s done, cut it open and scoop out the innards (or just eat it out of the skin like a jacket potato). Season as you like.
Almost any slightly wet recipe, like ratatouille, can be adapted to microwaving. One I like is zucchini (cut into ~1/2 in rings) and onions (sliced thinly), dress with salt, pepper and a little olive oil, cover and microwave on high for about 15 minutes, stirring gently once or twice. (Zucchini is naturally moist enough that you usually don’t need to add water.)
If you are willing to fire up the oven, roasting veggies is pretty easy and can be done in large batches. A personal favorite is cauliflower with paprika: preheat oven to 350 degrees, cut 2 heads cauliflower into bite-sized chunks, place in a large roasting pan (so it makes a thin layer) and toss with salt, pepper, a generous amount of paprika and a little oil, roast ~30-45 minutes or until it is soft and just a touch burnt. Makes enough for 4 meals or so. Broccoli works the same way; try chopped / sliced garlic and olive oil.
Grilled asparagus is great, as well as grilled portobello mushrooms. For the asparagus, a light coat of olive oil and a dash of kosher salt (for the consistency) before putting on the grill. Also works for all squashes, and green onions (as a side dish). I just throw everything directly on the grill without a grill sheet, and take care to ensure things don’t fall thru the grill or burn.
You may like this Swiss chard and sweet potato recipe (I add garlic):
Trader Joe’s is a good source for a variety of flash-frozen pre-cut veggies. I saute their string beans with garlic and olive oil and add a shake of parmesan and breadcrumbs.
A small Italian restaurant near us makes a wonderful sauteed broccoli rabe with lemon and butter, similar to their Chicken Francese recipe.
Other than tangentially in kayaker’s pickle post, I don’t see explicit mention of the best way to get your veggies - basic salad. Raw, fresh green leaves and some colourful additions like tomatoes, avos, cukes - no cooking, not too much prep, always goes great with chunks of protein whether steak, chicken, fish. Drizzle over some balsamic and some seasoning. Maybe some sprouts…
Skip all of this if you are microwaving corn. Put it in the microwave as is, husk and all. Set the microwave to 3 minutes for 1 or 2 ears and 4 or 5 minutes for 4 ears. Let sit for a few minutes when done, cut off the end and squeeze the corn out of the husk (use oven mitts or a dish towel). Easiest vegetable to cook in the microwave ever!
I would like to put in another vote for roasting. Things like broccoli, cauliflower, onions and carrots do great in the oven. You can chop up a whole mess of them roast them and then store the left overs in the fridge which saves time the next few days they are good cold or warmed up in the microwave. Onions take a little longer so put them in the oven for about 10 minute before putting the rest in.
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
(optional) sprinkle of salt and pepper
(optional) herbs of your choice
Mix well (I use a fork. Some people use a whisk)
Pour over salad
“Herbs of your choice” can be something like “Italian mix” or “Greek mix” you can get in jars at the grocery store.‘’ It’s not some elaborate gourmet salad dressing, just something easy you can whip up at home as a start on making your own dressing. When you get comfortable with that you can up your game.
I also use this as a basis for vinegar cole slaw and will go well on steamed or roasted vegetables.
I second this enthusiastically. One of our favorite simple meals is baked salmon fillets accompanied by a mix of roast vegetables. The list above seems to include most of what we do. Another one is brussel sprouts.
Brussels sprouts are also a fall vegetable; they do not taste good until they have had exposure to at least frost, and a hard freeze is better. They got their yucky reputation from people boiling them, and that is NOT how they’re supposed to be eaten. They should be roasted, preferably with olive oil, garlic salt, and maybe some basil, or mixed raw with other greens and eaten as a salad. MMMMMMM!
V8 has a couple problems. Since it’s “juiced” you lose a lot of the fiber. And it’s loaded with sodium.
I always liked broccoli, but even better is broccolini (or Italian broccoli). It cost more, but tastes way better.
A simple stir-fry is so easy, and is my go-to meal when I don’t feel like cooking much. Just chop up some vegetables, toss into a pan with some olive oil and fry it up. I usually let some juices form, then put a cover on it and let it self steam for a minute or two. Takes less than 5 minutes to cut up the vegetables, and 5 minutes max to cook. Mushrooms are great for some bulk, and for a bit more flavor start off with some garlic and onions first (just a few minutes in the oil for those before adding the rest of the stuff). Add plenty of pepper, and some salt (but not as much salt as you typically see on the cooking shows).