Tasty ways to eat more vegetables

Whether you religiously believe in 5-a-day or eating a ‘rainbow’ of vegetables, we could all use a little help upping our intake of the good stuff. Although fruits boast their own spectrum of nutrients, vegetables offer all that with a much lower sugar content, so many of them, we can eat in abundance without having to worry. If the thought of chewing on plain, steamed broccoli or a raw plate of salad leaves bores you, check out our tasty ways to eat more vegetables without the dread. Getting your daily dose really doesn’t need to be a chore.

1. Dip it

Chop celery, cucumber, carrots, peppers and any other vegetables that you like raw into crudités and dip in homemade guacamole, houmous and bean dips for a guilt-fee mid-morning snack. Try to use vegetables of all different colours to ensure you’re getting a really broad spectrum of vitamins and minerals in your diet.

2. Juice it

Want a quick hit of goodness that really packs a punch? Go for a green juice: Juice half a cucumber, handful of kale, handful of spinach, 2 carrots and a knob of ginger with the juice of half a lemon and glug away. Imagine how long it would’ve taken you to eat all that veg – you’ll have it knocked back in 10 seconds.

3. Stir-fry it

Stir-frying your veg – like onions, spinach, broccoli and peppers – with generous seasoning using healthy herbs and spices like cayenne pepper and basil is a tasty way to spice up your meal as well as your portion of veg at dinnertime. Get creative with whatever flavours you fancy.

4. Slurp it

Blending up a clever combo of vegetables into a soup is an easy way to up your vegetable intake, and cooking it up in a large batch is also great to freeze for lunches and dinners. Include a root vegetable like sweet potato or butternut squash to give the soup a thick, creamy texture, and use leeks, onions and garlic for a strong flavour without having to add salt.

5. Bake it

Not many of us view snacking on vegetables as a treat, but it can be. Instead of tucking into a packet of crisps come snack time, turn your vegetables into their own version of crisps and snack on these instead. We love kale chips: season a bunch of kale with lemon juice, cayenne pepper and a little bouillon or stock, and bake on a low heat in the oven until dry and crispy.