{"id":20456,"date":"2010-04-27T01:05:09","date_gmt":"2010-04-27T06:05:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/?p=20456"},"modified":"2010-04-25T23:22:36","modified_gmt":"2010-04-26T04:22:36","slug":"learn-to-like-vegetables-one-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/learn-to-like-vegetables-one-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Learn to Like Vegetables One at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a title=\"cooking vegetables\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/learn-to-like-vegetables-one-at-a-time\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"281\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20457  alignright\" title=\"cooking vegetables\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/cooking-vegetables.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a>Confession: I am a reformed vegetable eater. Up until a few years ago my knowledge of vegetables extended no further than iceberg lettuce, corn (actually a grain), green beans, and potatoes. This was all I was exposed to as a child, so I had this fear of how gross vegetables were. As an adult, why would I go out of my way to eat something I wouldn&#8217;t like?<\/p>\n<p>A few years ago, when I really became passionate about my health and the way my family eats, <a title=\"vegetable tips\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/02\/15-sneaky-vegetable-tips\/\" target=\"_self\">eating more vegetables<\/a> was a natural part of that change. I like to call it growth.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m not alone in this category of picky eaters. In fact, we&#8217;ve heard from fans and readers who&#8217;ve asked us how to eat more vegetables because their families feel the same way. Vegetables are gross.<\/p>\n<p>What I&#8217;ve learned, and want to share, is that vegetables aren&#8217;t gross, they&#8217;re actually quite delicious and add depth to a meal. Today, there are few veggies I won&#8217;t eat. And I hope soon you and your family will be able to say the same thing.<\/p>\n<p>As a former veggie hater, I advise to start slowly and try new things. It takes time and practice, but worth it to reform your vegetable habits. Try one new veggie a week, and a variation or two. You might not like it immediately. And, if after a couple attempts you don&#8217;t like it, then drop it. There are too many veggies available to force yourself to eat what you don&#8217;t like.<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few ideas that worked in my home to help you take on the vegetable transition:<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Tomatoes<\/strong>. We never liked tomatoes, now they are a staple. We found that we love the Roma tomatoes, so that&#8217;s what we eat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Red skin potatoes<\/strong>. Quartered red skins in a little olive oil with kosher salt and cracked black peppers and you won&#8217;t miss baked potatoes or french fries! Bake at 400 for about 30 minutes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bell peppers<\/strong>. These are versatile and add a lot of flavor to salads, sauteed for fajitas\/quesadillas, grilled on burgers, you name it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Zucchini and squash<\/strong>. Sautee or grill about five minutes (so they don&#8217;t wilt), or shred them into lasagna.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Mushrooms<\/strong>. The boring white mushrooms aren&#8217;t great, but grab the portabello mushrooms and you&#8217;ve got another versatile veggie that goes on\/in a lot of things, cooked or raw!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Sweet potatoes<\/strong>. These were an acquired taste, but have grown on us. We bake these for a more nutritious side. The natural flavors and moisture don&#8217;t require extra toppings. <a title=\"carrots\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/learn-to-like-vegetables-one-at-a-time\/\" target=\"_self\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-full wp-image-20458\" title=\"carrots\" src=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/04\/carrots.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"275\" height=\"212\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Carrots<\/strong>. Raw or cooked, these are a staple. They make a great stand-alone snack, grated into a lasagna, shredded on salads or steamed as a side.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Greens<\/strong>. We pass on iceberg and love fresh spring greens, spinach, and kale for salads, sandwiches or even a smoothie! (Yes, this veggie hater puts spinach in her <a title=\"healthy smoothies\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/07\/how-to-make-a-healthy-smoothie-101\/\" target=\"_self\">smoothies<\/a>.)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Broccoli<\/strong>. Truth be told, we prefer ours raw, which is fine for a salad or a healthy, filling snack.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Snap peas<\/strong>. A handful of these tossed on a salad or with whole grain pasta and shrimp adds color and delicious crunch.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Green beans<\/strong>. These are a favorite and simple to prepare. We snap the ends and steam for a dinner side or add to vegetable stew.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A few other tips:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Stick to fresh vegetables<\/strong> whenever possible. This made a huge difference for me, going fresh versus <a title=\"healthy frozen foods\" href=\"https:\/\/www.dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/09\/affordable-nutrition-in-frozen-and-canned-foods\/\" target=\"_self\">canned or frozen<\/a>; completely different flavor and texture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>T<\/strong><strong>ry balsamic vinegar<\/strong>. We love the savory flavor when tossed over asparagus, mushrooms, zucchini and even carrots. Do a quick sautee or few minutes on the grill.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bake, grill, sautee, steam or leave raw<\/strong>, you&#8217;ll be amazed at how the different techniques influence flavor and texture.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>My next goal: taking on the eggplant and the artichoke.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Confession: I am a reformed vegetable eater. Up until a few years ago my knowledge of vegetables extended no further than iceberg lettuce, corn (actually a grain), green beans, and potatoes. This was all I was exposed to as a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/04\/learn-to-like-vegetables-one-at-a-time\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":85,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3695,16],"tags":[520,29,242],"class_list":["post-20456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diet-and-nutrition","category-recipes","tag-cooking","tag-nutrition","tag-vegetables"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/85"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20456"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20518,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20456\/revisions\/20518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dietsinreview.com\/diet_column\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}