by Leann Zotis

Created on: August 08, 2010

Most of us have had it drummed into our heads since childhood.  "Eat your vegetables!"  "You're not leaving the table until you've eaten every last vegetable on your plate!"  Similar directives have been vollied across dining room tables everywhere in an effort to instill those healthy nutritional habits that we all know we should follow.  The fact of the matter is, most of us would love to eat enough vegetables to provide the healthy nutritional structure we need to live long and fit lives.  The problem is, we aren't always quite sure when and how to fit those nutritional powerhouses into our daily diet. 

Before you give up in despair of ever incorporating that magical 5-A-Day servings of vegetables into your life, consider a few helpful tips:

1)  Have an appetizer before dinner.  Whether you're in a restaurant or preparing a healthy meal at home, you can easily add a tomato bruschetta or a spinach and artichoke dip with carrots to your dinner table.

2)  Double up on your pizza - vegetables, that is.  Order extra veggies and cut back on the cheese.  Peppers, onions, artichoke, even broccoli or zucchini can add a new taste to a favorite meal.

3)  Double your pleasure.  Put two slices of tomato on your hamburger instead of one; try onions and green bell pepper on your pizza.

4)  Consider making a vegetable lasagna instead of a meat and cheese version.  The variations on the theme for a vegetable lasagna are almost too numerous to list.

5)  Include a salad with every dinner.  Vary your bed of greens for added nutrients, but be sure to incorporate plenty of colorful vegetables such are carrots, radishes, edamame, bell peppers of every hue, cucumbers and cauliflower.  Some of these vegetables might never pass your lips other than through a salad.

6)  Drink one of your vegetable servings each day.  Breakfast can be a particularly difficult time to think of vegetables, but a glass of vegetable juice can take care of giving you a fresh start to the day quite nicely.

7)  Learn to love your veggie snacks.  Keep the refrigerator filled with bite sized snack bags filled with carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, cauliflower or celery to grab when the urge to munch strikes.  If it's handy you're more likely to reach for it than if you have to take the time to cut up some vegetables.

8)  Build your dessert menu around a vegetable base.  Carrot cake or zucchini bread will provide a little more vegetation to your daily diet while satisfying every sweet tooth in your body.

9)  Add vegetables to your spreads.  Shred carrots and add to your peanut butter and jelly sandwich; add some chopped vegetables to cream cheese for your morning bagel.

10) Use vegetable broth as a base for soups and sauces instead of meat or poultry broths.  Many of the necessary nutrients from the vegetables are still available from the juices even though you may lose a good portion of the fiber you would consume by eating the whole vegetable.

Adding more vegetables to your daily diet can be an enjoyable game that provides enormous benefits in terms of satisfying your hunger while providing the nutrients needed for a healthy, active life.

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