Seasoning and Seasonal Vegetables For the Win! Make Veggies Great Again

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It could be one of the biggest causes of dinnertime drama in your household. Whether you are trying to get your kids to eat vegetables or you could do with more in your diet, it’s not just a case of putting a few broccoli florets on your plate. We all can be a little bit fussy with food. And vegetables, especially as they taste so bitter, can seem like a trial to eat. But fear not, if you’re trying to increase your vegetable intake without eating bland and overcooked carrots, the trick is all about making the vegetables taste good! This may seem impossible but here is some real ideas to eat more than your current intake.

The Right Seasoning

Adding salt and pepper can make a big difference to any bland or bitter vegetable. In fact, this simple sautéed cabbage recipe is all about the chili flakes. Cabbage is one of those vegetables that most people hate but the trick is to season it so much that it makes your taste buds dance. Seasoning the vegetables before you start cooking them can make all the difference. And while there’s a lot of people that talk about how bad salt is, you’re only putting a small amount on your vegetables.

Fry Them

We usually think of vegetables bubbling away in a pan for hours. Boiling them for so long means that you make them limp, lifeless and losing quality nutrient. Instead, put them in the oven or fry them in a pan to caramelize and remove moisture. Adding extra seasonings at this point makes it taste completely different and using something like coconut oil can make a big difference. And when you look at all of the top chefs frying vegetables in butter and cream, it’s certainly a way to make it taste indulgent. And remember while butter used to be the enemy now, saturated fat has been shown to be good for you. So get that frying pan out!

Combine It With Meat

When you’re frying food in the same pan as chorizo or fish, the important thing is to get all the juices and flavors from the meat covering all the vegetables. Even though the texture stays the same the vegetable tastes completely different. You may have grandparents that fried everything in lard. And when you’re making a meal like cabbage and bacon, put it all in the same pan. All those juices from the bacon smother the cabbage making it taste mouth-wateringly good.

Find Good Quality Vegetables

When you were a child, no doubt you had frozen vegetables, and this could be why you’ve been put off them for life! Frozen vegetables have their place but when possible if you can eat in-season with fresh produce this will make all the difference. Something like sweet potatoes or carrots picked in season taste so much better. And when possible, go organic. This can make all the difference to your diet and your relationship with the dreaded vegetable that’s staring at you from the side of your plate.