Complement Veggies and Dress Them Up!

Dress Veggies According to Your Taste

Any healthy eating plan must advocate the consumption of plants.  But many individuals hate eating veggies which is the crux of healthy eating, be it a balanced weight-loss diet plan, Paleo diet, vegan diet, fasting, Mediterranean or New Nordic. Even more funny is the faces they show when names of certain veggies are mentioned: broccoli is equated to sticky paws and bitter gourds are not categorized under the vegetable category but classified under medicines for some of us.

But the trilogy rule given here can help in achieving the 5-portion veggie rule:

1. Select any vegetable that you have been avoiding till now, such as spinach, broccoli, kale and bitter gourds. Exposure helps to decrease the distaste of vegetables, according to research. It takes around 3-4 trials to start liking the taste of these vegetables that you have been avoiding all along.
2. Try to add complementary items along with your vegetables. Complementary items can be  from any of the three categories spice, sour and salty.
   
         Spiced items: Crushed red or black pepper, paprika, chopped garlic, ginger, cumin and chopped red or green chilis.
   Salty items: Salt, olives, seaweed, brine cheese, etc.
   Sour items: Fresh lemon or lime juice, vinegar, preserved vegetables, fermented vegetables, etc.
3. Fuse cushioning items with your vegetables. Though these items may be calorie-rich, you require only a pinch and not gallons of these items to balance the bitterness. These cushioning items can belong to either ‘sweet’ or ‘fat’ category.
   
         Sweet: Maple syrup, honey, cooked onions, berries and oranges.
    Fat: Chopped walnuts, butter, small chunks of almonds, avocados, olive oil and cooked bacon. Though calorie-dense, these are healthy fats that are needed by the human body to fulfill the concept of a well-balanced diet as elaborated in the website www.firsteatright.com.

Method of Preparation

Eat them raw: Slice vegetables into desired shape and top them with complements and cushions.

• Steaming: Steam the veggies for 3 min in a pan using 1 inch of water. Garnish them with complements and cushions.
• Sauté: Keep damp veggies in a sauté pan with a drop of cooking oil and cook on medium-high for about 10 minutes. Add salt, sweet or spice halfway through cooking and garnish them with sour or fat items.
• Braise: Place veggies in one layer in a large pot in medium heat and add minimum oil, salt, spice and sweet along with enough water to submerge veggies. Cover and cook the veggies for 15-45 minutes until they turn tender yet firm. Garnish with your choice of sour or fat items.

For instance, broccoli with vinegar and olive oil, Brussels sprouts with cooked onion and bacons and asparagus with garlic, feta, avocado and lemon are excellent combinations.