by Olwen Anderson

Created on: August 10, 2010

I’ve still got vivid memories of dinners when I was a child. These were the days when olive oil was an exotic substance sold only at the pharmacy in a tiny bottle, and the only dried pasta available was spaghetti. ‘Meat & 3 veg’ was the dinner of choice for most Australian families. Potato was almost always included; usually mashed with milk and butter; sometimes, on roast night, it would be baked in oil. Also on the plate would be an orange vegetable – usually carrot or pumpkin; and a green vegetable. You could almost predict the selection. Looking back, it was such an uninspiring approach to food – but everyone ate that way, so it seemed right.

Fortunately our culinary horizons have expanded since then. We have access to an amazing array of seasonal fruit and vegetables. But even with this, some of us are still sitting down to mashed potato and steamed veg night after night. Why not try something different, and start getting enthused about vegetables again? Here are some ideas that will help you look forward to your five-serves-of-veg-a-day: 

-          Make them into a stew, like a ratatouille, or a vegetable-rich lentil stew, and serve your meat or fish sitting on top of the stew

-          Serve crunchy steamed vegies in a natural container – like a capsicum half or a mushroom cap. Sprinkle over some fresh herbs to serve.

-          Vegetable soups are always popular on cold nights

-          Use a starchy vegetable like potato with some corn and fish to make up patties that can be used for dinner and the leftover patties included in tomorrow’s lunch box.

-          Fill a baked potato with colourful finely diced tomato, red onion, cucumber, mashed avocado. Leave out the sour cream and the cheese, you don’t need them.

There are endless ways to use vegetables; but if you’re going to prevent boredom, you’ll have to think ahead. Not many of us can be creative when the pressure is on to produce an innovative meal after a busy day (I don’t think I would last long in Masterchef!) So when you discover a new way to eat veg, write it down in your kitchen book for next time. And when you’re planning your meals for the week, flick through some cookery books from other countries for ideas. Get inspired and really enjoy those vegetables!

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