Make your vegetables tastier and you automatically eat more of them: ‘You can also make fries out of them’ | Cooking & Eating

1. Start on time
It helps not to keep your veggies waiting for dinner. “For example, add some vegetables to your breakfast smoothie in the morning, or make sure you always have some snack vegetables with you,” tips Isabel Boerdam, founder of the vegetarian food blog De Hippe Vegetariaanse. For example, eat a bell pepper or cucumber slices on your cheese sandwich. Soup is also an ideal way to blend a lot of vegetables into something, or eat a salad or wrap with vegetables for lunch.”

Enough ways to get some more vegetables during the day. “The amount of nutrients differs per vegetable, so it is good to vary,” says Suzanne Jacobs, culinary expert at the Nutrition Center. You can vary by sticking to the vegetables of the season. “They are also more affordable, because they are available in large quantities,” says Boerdam.

“Fruits and vegetables in season are less harmful to the environment than varieties imported from countries outside Europe, transported by plane or grown in a heated greenhouse,” adds Valerie Mattheussens, dietician at WW (previously known as Weight Watchers). ), at.

2. Prepare your vegetables in a different way
Vegetables such as carrots, onions and leeks are a sustainable choice all year round. “Cauliflower is also available all year round in the Netherlands,” says Boerdam. “I think a boiled cauliflower floret is very dull, but you can simply roast it in the oven with a little oil, salt and pepper. Put the oven on 200 degrees for 25 minutes and you have a fantastic cauliflower.”

You can also make rice from cauliflower by grinding it into fine pieces with a food processor. Add that to your brown rice and let it cook for a minute. Brown rice contains grain fibres, so it is important to make a mix between the two,” explains Jacobs. You can also make fries from vegetables, such as carrots or parsnips. Put some oil over it and a little thyme on it is very nice. Add some paprika, mix it together and bake it for half an hour at 200 degrees.”

“Make spaghetti from your zucchini, or use a lettuce or cabbage leaf as a wrap,” says Boerdam. This way you replace carbohydrates with vegetables and you quickly get more vegetables in your meal. You can also make a hummus spread and puree beetroot in it, or add spinach to your pancake batter. That way you actually hide the vegetables a bit.”

3. Be prepared
If you want to add more vegetables to your meal, you can also do meal prepping, Matthussens tips. For example, make your own (pasta) sauces in large portions and freeze them in smaller portions. You can replace some products with vegetables, such as cauliflower rice instead of normal rice, or zucchini, grated carrot or black radish instead of pasta.”