vegetables to compliment meals

iguana · 16-03-2005 11:50pm #1

I am trying to eat more vegatables. It's not that I don't like them, I really enjoy most kinds, and I usually start to crave them if I go a couple of meals without. The thing is I can't think of a lot that would compliment some of the meals I like, which are usually made from scratch, by my boyfriend. (I'm so lucky)

I hate peppers and onions so they are out.

So if anyone has any suggestions for what might go with;
Burritos, I usually have kidney beans, anything else?
Creamy chicken pesto, I have aspargus,
Home made chips and peppered mackeral,

tSubh Dearg · 17-03-2005 1:42am

burrito...maybe tomatoes
chicken pesto....broccoli or spinach
fish and chips....peas or green beans

or why not have a salad on the side of the meal?

babaduck · 17-03-2005 10:36am

The only veggies I hate are peppers.... I'll eat everything else

Savoy cabbage - shred it, steam it & then stir-fry it in sesame oil
Carrots - grated as a salad, steamed, roasted, boiled
Broccoli - steamed rather than boiled - holds its shape better
Green beans
Asparagus - steam for a min or 2, then roast in a drop of olive oil & balsalmic vinegar
Peas
Spinach
Sweetcorn
Mangetout
Celery
Artichokes
Courgettes
Aubergines
Cucumber - peel it, cube it & saute in some butter for 3-4 minutes
Or make a cucumber salad - peel it, slice it thinly & leave it in a colander to drain for about 30 mins to get rid of the excess water. Mix with some creme fraiche, salt & freshly ground pepper

To be honest, veggies go with everything... the Steamfresh range from Birds Eye are dead handy if it's just 1 or 2 people.. just bung them in the microwave. My husband would happily live a life without veggies but will scoff these (as well as all the ones above)

Blub2k4 · 17-03-2005 3:52pm

babaduck wrote:

slice it thinly & leave it in a colander to drain for about 30 mins to get rid of the excess water

For this step you should cover it in a lot of salt to drain it properly, works on osmosis, afterwards you can wash the salt off, you are not readding moisture as the salt effectively bursts the cells and releases the liquid that way.
Just a tip to properly drain cucumber.

Shabadu · 18-03-2005 12:09am

All the nice vitamins are in the juice though. I generally grate the whole cucumber and squeez it, and then drink the juice.

Try having a salad with every meal, it goes with everything, so easy as well. Just drizzle over some ev olive oil, a good squeez of lemon or splash of balsamic. And a bit of seasoning.

If you're making burritos, dice some courgette and add when yo're browning the mince. Also add in a grated carrot.

Experiment a bit, you can't really go wrong with chopping up a load of veg and plonking it in the oven with a bit of seasoning, some herbs, olive oil.

Try brushing aubergine slices with oil and roasting on a flat tray. Finely slice fennell and onion and roast with slivered peppers.

Cook broccoli in a heavy bottomed saucepan with buckets of sliced garlic, olive oil, seasoning and only a tablespoon of water on a very low heat for ages. I know soft broccoli is normally mank, but this is the best.

NeoSlicerZ · 18-03-2005 1:56am

I like cabbage and potatoes myself :-) I prefer cabbage to most veg, dunno why

dearg_doom · 21-03-2005 4:18pm

I love peppers, and can't let this one lie...

Do you not like them at all?

You should try cooking them by holding them in the flame(presuming you have a gas cooker) for a few mins until the skin goes all black and flaky.
Then wash under a cold tap to get rid of the skin.
Now chop the pepper and throw out all of the seeds etc. inside.
Now chop it up, bung it into a chilli/pasta sauce and eat the goodness.

mmmm

babaduck · 21-03-2005 6:02pm

Honest to god, I really hate peppers - the smell of them raw makes me gag and they contaminate everything with their stinky smell!

I can spot them raw, cooked, blitzed... you name it

p.s. I also hate baked beans... why ruin perfectly good beans by coating them in tomato-ish sugar water??? :mad:

Shabadu · 21-03-2005 9:58pm

NeoSlicerZ wrote:

I like cabbage and potatoes myself :-) I prefer cabbage to most veg, dunno why

Because it's the best veg ever! I love cabbage so much. Spring cabbage. Or Savoy shredded with plums. Or Curly Kale with mash. It's also a snappy insult: "Shurrup ye cabbage."

Ba_barbaraAnne · 21-03-2005 10:04pm

Cabbage, broccoli and spinach - the best veg in the world. Even cooked lettuce is nice.

I'm another one who doesn't like peppers and, worst of all cannot stomach tomatoes... they have always made me sick! It's a real shame as there are so many foods I can't eat and I really have tried to eat tomatoes every way possible. For some strange reason I can manage baked beans! Obviously not really tomatoes in them!

Shabadu · 21-03-2005 10:13pm

Braised cos lettuce. So good. That's so unfortunate about the no tomatoes, I don't know how I'd live without a tomato.

The_Conductor · 22-03-2005 12:25am

I like vegetables, but normally don't get to eat too many of them as when I get in, in the evening, I'm normally exhausted and want convenience.

My favourites-

Creamed carrots- cooked with a touch of thyme, a pinch of seasalt and a half a teaspoon of sugar, and mashed in fresh cream...... probably not as healthy as it could be- but 100% yummy!

Mangetout- not cooked at all...... really really fresh and crispy- I love the texture of crunching them- will happily munch my way through improbably amounts of them.

Sugar snaps- often a snack food for schoolkids on the continent- and for a good reason, the texture, the crispiness, the crunchiness, and yet the slightly sweet taste.... Mmmmm

Butter beans- properly soaked, once again tasty as well as a silky texture as they melt on your tongue.

Gherkins- sour crunchy taste, got really nasty looks messing with gherkins in the Arts Block at UCD with my g/f

Gherkins- mmmm, fav sandwich is chicken with mayo and a double helping of gherkins...... has to be eaten quickly so it doesn't make the bread soggy.

Hows 'bout waterchestnuts? cooked- lovely and crunchy, or roasted- on a cold day- like you get on the continent....... Mmmmmmm

Bamboo shoots- properly cooked, in a light oyster sauce.......Mmmmmm

Cabbage- cooked in the lightly salted water from bacon- ok, now I'm showing my age

Potatoes- King Edwards for roasting, Records for mashing, Oilean for microwaving, Kerrs or Russetts for chipping

Mmmmm- I'm getting hungry!

DéiseGirl · 30-03-2005 11:45am

Ba_barbaraAnne wrote:

Cabbage, broccoli and spinach - the best veg in the world. Even cooked lettuce is nice.

I'm another one who doesn't like peppers and, worst of all cannot stomach tomatoes... they have always made me sick! It's a real shame as there are so many foods I can't eat and I really have tried to eat tomatoes every way possible. For some strange reason I can manage baked beans! Obviously not really tomatoes in them!

My boyfriend hates tomatoes, but LOVES ketchup, baked beans etc. Go figure

I try to eat salad with most meals. I don't eat potatoes as I eat low GI food where possible and I'm not really a big carrot, parsnip (unless they're roasted), peas etc fan (ie all the "traditional" carvery dinner veg!). Love vegetable soup though. Often I'll lightly fry some mediterranean style veg (ie peppers, courgettes etc)add some passata and let it simmer, then mix through some cooked pasta. And then add salad...

I make a dressing for the salad - wholegrain mustard, vinegar and a dash of oil & lemon juice. Also add a few nuts and seeds to the salad for a bit of extra crunch.

Concentrated · 31-03-2005 10:16am

Sweet Potatoe is really nice chopped in to large pieces and roasted with herbs and olive oil, add aubergine if you like.
I love carrots and parsnips chopped up, boiled and then mashed with a little butter.
Also love those bags of stir fry veg that you can get - they have a bit of everything, stir fry with a little sesame oil - delicious.
We also eat cabbage, stir fry mange toute and sugar snap peas together, steamed broccoli, or have little side salads - lettuce, tomatoe (or not!), cucumber, finely chopped onion, and anything else you can find, with a little olive oil and balsamic vinager.
Those trays of beansprouts are very versatile too for both salads and stir frys.

vegetables to compliment meals

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