I eat tons (maybe literally!) of salad in the warmer months. Now that it is cold and bitter here, I am not wanted salad nearly as often. Here's what I have been doing to keep up veggies. (Sometimes I feel that veggies are the staple of my diet- without them my plate would be way too empty)

Steamed broc, asparagus, cauli. and gr. beens
veg soups

My list ends there. I don't want to be bored in a month and tempted to eat too much starch or protein.
Any great veggie dishes? I am looking for low starch veggies- not corn, potatos, squash.

Sandy,

I feel the same way and like to "dress up" my veggies a bit through the use of salsa or hoison sauce.

Sometimes I add a little low cal salad dressing to a mixture of frozen veggies.

One of my favorite veggies comes in a can - it's DelMonte Zucchini with tomatoes.

Also adding a bit of red onion picks up veggies, too.

Linda

Thanks for all the great ideas.
I hae made a list and posted it on a kitchen bulletin board. I think this will really help.

I find that I don't get bored with vegs in soup. The flavor of the broth can be changed... beef, chicken, veggie, fish, miso. The vegs can be changed.

I can also change the soup - Thai or Japanese or Chinese or Eastern European (add kraut...) to Mexican with different seasonings.

Sandy
Another thing that I've recently started doing is making vegetable sauces for chicken and fish. I put bell peppers, celery, asparagus, carrots (or whatever I have) through the juicer and then reduce the juice on the stove. I usually add 1 T of corn starch to thicken it.

It's an easy way to get in some extra veggies.

Green beans (these are all things I do with frozen ones). . .saute with minced garlic & olive oil; saute with olive oil, add pecans toward the end; saute with olive oil & lemon juice & red onions; saute with sesame oil (just a teeny bit), sesame seeds, and water chestnuts; roasted (yes, in the oven!) with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, finely chopped rosemary, salt & pepper

Don't forget there are various kinds of green beans. . .regular ol' green beans; haricot verts (long skinny ones); pole beans (love these with the red onions); french cut (with turkey bacon, yum). ..all from the frozen section.

Snow peas (again, from frozen). . .saute with olive oil & garlic; saute with tiny frozen salad shrimp, olive oil, and soy sauce

Sugar snaps (yep, still frozen). . .saute w/ olive oil & garlic; heat 2 oz or so of diced pancetta, toss them in when the oil is nice & hot (works great with green beans, too); if they won't eat squash, try sauteing it with the sugar snaps, olive oil, and garlic. Dunno what it is, but the two together are yummmmmmy.

Roasted chunks of eggplant (salt, pepper, olive oil, balsamic vinegar)

Sweet potatoes (I know you said no potatoes, but they're such a wonderful treat). . .I love them cubed & roasted with salt, pepper, olive oil, paprika, and just a bit of cayenne.

I make cannellini beans with tomatoes. . . .heat a bit of olive oil, add a minced garlic clove, then the beans (drained & rinsed) & a mostly drained can of diced tomatoes, then whatever herbs you want.

If you like onions, try this variation on a Martha Stewart recipe. . .in a cast-iron skillet, lay down 2 fairly thick slices (all the rings included) of onion per chicken breast you're making. Put whatever seasoning you like on chicken on the breasts, and set them right on top of the onion. Pour canola oil (just enough to cover the bottom) into the skillet, and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes. I add some shredded low-fat cheese toward the end and crank the broiler up to get it all gooey, then serve the now-roasted onion slices next to the chicken.

Roasted red pepper soup. . .yummy.

Fruit is a great side dish, too, once in a while. There's nothing that tastes better with a spicy dish than a sweet, cooling tangerine or orange (they're in season now, too, so they're wonderful. . .plus, yanno, we here in Florida could use the money from our agriculture since so much of it was lost to the hurricanes. . .)

D

One of the things my grandmother often cooked was Zucchini with stewed tomatoes
She would saute garlic and sliced up zucchini in olive oil and throw in a can of stewed tomato. I use a can of the diced tomato. Salt and pepper and it is delicious. I sometimes serve it over rice. I also love escarole saute with garlic and olive oil and a can of cannelini beans (scarole and beans). Rappini is yummy with some garlic and bacon. Peas with macaroni. Rice with spinach. My list goes on

So funny you bring this up Sandy, because just last night I was thinking "I feel veggie deprived."

Salads are so tempting in the summer, because it is hot, and the crisp, cold salad just hits the spot, and you can throw a salad with dinner as a side. In the winter though, I'm just not as in to salads.

I'm getting bored w/green beans and broccoli. I've done squash a couple of times, but DH and DS won't really eat it.

Dawn

You know I am a veggie-challenged soul, so it's always a job trying to come up with new and different hot veggies to have with my lunch.

I mostly steam or cook in veggie broth green beans, snow peas and sugar snap peas. This week, for a change from "the green," I steamed baby carrots in just a touch of chicken broth and sliced ginger. Because I have a problem eating cooked carrots if they aren't just a little sweet, I added a little brown sugar over the top after they were mostly cooked and let them simmer a bit more. They are quite good.

Another thing I like to do for a change from plain steamed or boiled green beans is to toss them in a glaze of soy sauce and brown sugar (or honey). It gives a lot of flavor.

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Originally posted by p7eggyc:

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vegetarian buffalo wings

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Alli (or anyone else with a thought to share): Do you have a brand of these you particularly enjoy?

Peg

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For the buffalo wings I tend to stick to Morningstar Farms. My veggie burgers are all Boca Burgers (we cycle through the different varieties, SmartDogs for Hot Dogs (fat free!), and Tofurky for cold cuts & sausage.

Veggies we love at our house:
mushrooms (check out KD's mushroom stew)
eggplant (you can do an eggplant low fat lasagna using thin layers of eggplant in the place of the noodles)
bell peppers - I love them sauted with onions
roasted asparagus with balsamic vinegar
zucchini - again, sauted with onions is how I like them.
green beans with garlic and 1 tsp of olive oil

quote:

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vegetarian buffalo wings

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Alli (or anyone else with a thought to share): Do you have a brand of these you particularly enjoy?

Peg

Here's a few ideas:

greens (Kale, chard, etc.) sauteed with garlic and wine. Toss in some sausage (real or veggie) and serve over pasta and it's a whole meal.

green and red peppers stir fried win a little soy sauce

Are carrots too starchy? If not, try them tossed with a little EVOO and spices then roasted

Adding some hearty tastes to a salad can make it feel right in cold weather--try blue cheese, bacon (I use tempeh bacon), vegetarian buffalo wings, dried cranberries, etc. to make salads less summery

I'm struggling with the salad thing too Sandy. It never has been my favorite and it's a really hard sell in the cold. Here's a couple of things I thought of:

I love frozen peas steamed in the micro. Always thought they were starchy veggies but I've read things that led me to believe otherwise. You can also make cold pea stuff but that probably defeats your purpose.

I had a frittata I make a lot last night. It had some red onion, a bunch of frozen spinach and some sliced grape tomatoes in it.

What about some of KD's slaws? I make one that just uses a little red wine vinegar, sugar and a smidge of evoo for a dressing and it is really nice. I know KD has a bunch of slaw recipes.

Peg