Vegetable flavour enhancer???

fonecrusher1

Can someone give me a little advice here. Im trying to get back into the veg at the moment & i am finding it difficult after the constant eating of garbage throughout & after the christmas season.

For the last few days ive been boiling up some frozen veg to go with my steak/chicken breast/breaded fish. Other than salt & pepper what else gives boring oul carrots, peas, broccoli a flavour boost? The stuff is tasteless. Not something like butter for obvious reasons. I tried cajun spices today & it was ok. Any other suggestions???

Thanks.

rubadub

Curry sauces, franks original redhot sauce (it is not too hot), sesame oil (makes it taste "chinesey"), soy sauce

El_Dangeroso

Frozen veg is completely flavourless and I'm sure is responsible for convincing a lot of people they don't like vegetables. Expensive as it is, fresh is just tastier.

Carrots and butter, nom. Edit, oops just saw the bit about butter! Let me amend my answer to a little thai red curry paste, thai gold is a great brand.

Fox McCloud

Fresh veg lightly cooked is tasty enough, I only discovered I liked most vegtables when i started cooking them properly myself instead of the over cooked tasteless mush i thought they were!

Lemon juice is nice over most veg i find

El_Dangeroso

FYI you need an accompanying fat to absorb 90% of the nutrients in vegetables. For some reason no one ever mentions this when recommending to up the veg.

metamorphosis

Spices and herbs are also great for adding flavour. There's millions of them apart from cajun. This morning i had a tin of salmon with left over veg from last night drizzled in garliv olive oil and tumeric and some basil leaves for another bit of taste. Yum.

WildBoots

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

FYI you need an accompanying fat to absorb 90% of the nutrients in vegetables. For some reason no one ever mentions this when recommending to up the veg.

Do you know if there is much difference between animal and plant based fats wrt increasing nutrient absorption? Also, what is the minimum amount of fat per weight of veg needed to ensure maximum absorption?

Ta!

shefra

oven roasted veg with lots of garlic in olive oil,balsamic vinegar, herbs, and jalapeños give it a good kick. yum

fonecrusher1

rubadub wrote: »

Curry sauces, franks original redhot sauce (it is not too hot), sesame oil (makes it taste "chinesey"), soy sauce

Hmm, my internal fastfood demon is intrigued. Do you mean just a cheap powder curry sauce from a packet? Would that be low in fat?

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Frozen veg is completely flavourless and I'm sure is responsible for convincing a lot of people they don't like vegetables. Expensive as it is, fresh is just tastier.

Fresh veg is expensive. Its not an option on my budget.

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

FYI you need an accompanying fat to absorb 90% of the nutrients in vegetables. For some reason no one ever mentions this when recommending to up the veg.

As i mentioned earlier i would have the boiled veg with a steak or breaded chicken breast or fish. Would the fat in the meat/poultry/fish satisfy the 10% fat requirement your talking about?

spinandscribble

There's a veg seasoning that a work mate of mine while i was in the states swore by. His family were from the south and always had lots of veggies. I tried some and it really made the most of it. It was literally called veg seasoning. Gonna look online to see what mix of herbs and spices and maybe make my own. If it helps he says it's a seasoning used in soul food, African American cooking

El_Dangeroso

WildBoots wrote: »

Do you know if there is much difference between animal and plant based fats wrt increasing nutrient absorption? Also, what is the minimum amount of fat per weight of veg needed to ensure maximum absorption?

Ta!

No, no difference in fats that I know of. Obviously omega 6 is to be avoided just on general principle.

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Fresh veg is expensive. Its not an option on my budget.



As i mentioned earlier i would have the boiled veg with a steak or breaded chicken breast or fish. Would the fat in the meat/poultry/fish satisfy the 10% fat requirement your talking about?

I hear ya, what is it 2.99 for some broccoli? It's hard to pin down an exact amount of fat as there are so many variables, but we do know that it's a linear relationship, that obviously tops out at maximum bioavailability. 10-15g fat seems to be the least you could get away with for a portion of veg.

fonecrusher1

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

No, no difference in fats that I know of. Obviously omega 6 is to be avoided just on general principle.



I hear ya, what is it 2.99 for some broccoli? It's hard to pin down an exact amount of fat as there are so many variables, but we do know that it's a linear relationship, that obviously tops out at maximum bioavailability. 10-15g fat seems to be the least you could get away with for a portion of veg.

Im eating half a small bag of assorted frozen veg per day since monday!!!:pac:

About 150g with a meat item each day.

El_Dangeroso

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Im eating half a small bag of assorted frozen per day since monday!!!:pac:

About 150g with a meat item each day.

Jaysus, that sounds like torture sorry, it just harks back to hospital food to me!

Drizzle of olive oil or tiny pat of butter, if it makes you stall I will eat my hat. :pac:

fonecrusher1

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Jaysus, that sounds like torture sorry, it just harks back to hospital food to me!

Drizzle of olive oil or tiny pat of butter, if it makes you stall I will eat my hat. :pac:

Unfortunately since ive been unable to self-moderate my junk food intake over the last 5/6weeks (using christmas an excuse) i have imposed a strict meat/poultry/fish + lots of veg diet.

I was eating weight watcher meals before christmas & i have eaten them on & off over the last 5 years. Ultimately i have found them unsuccessful as a means of daily nourishment. Its garbage grub. Ok being a 19 stone man means they were never going to fill me up like a proper dinner but ww meals are truely awful things. I could eat 3 of them in one sitting & still feel hungry an hour later. I'l never eat them again.

El_Dangeroso

My sis used to do WW (I've since nagged her onto my WOE, and now she's skinner and fitter than I am, the b*tch!:)) and one time I was staying in her house there was nothing, I mean nothing to eat bar a weight watchers meal, salmon broccoli and potatoes as I recall. It was the vilest thing I've ever eaten, mangy bit of rock hard overcooked salmon, tasteless veg and some kind of 'sauce' that tasted like wallpaper paste. No wonder they make you lose weight, they get rid of any appetite sharpish!

captain P

Cumin and thyme are lovely on carrots, I usually glaze them with a bit of butter when they're cooked and then add the cumin & thyme, a tiny bit of oil would do the trick if you wanted to avoid the butter.

Sapsorrow

I use various combos of balsamic vinegar, butter, olive oil, pesto (basil or sundried tomato), parmasan shavings, natural yoghurt, blue cheese....

jdivision

OP unsalted butter isn' bad for you in moderation, maybe add some garlic puree yoo. I se frank's hot sauce as has been mentioned, thyme, cumin seeds are good too

Mellor

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

Frozen veg is completely flavourless and I'm sure is responsible for convincing a lot of people they don't like vegetables. Expensive as it is, fresh is just tastier.

Carrots and butter, nom. Edit, oops just saw the bit about butter! Let me amend my answer to a little thai red curry paste, thai gold is a great brand.

think it depends on the type of veg.
Take peas, frozen peas are very quickly frozen after picked.
Fresh peas take days to reach the shelf, even then they might be there a day or two before you buy them, and another day or two before you cook them.
They dry out very quickly.
Then ther is the issue with veg out of season, being shipped in from else where.

Broccolli on the other hand, if far better fresh.

I'm just picking those two as I've eatign a lot of them. I buy frozen peas but fresh broccolli

El_Dangeroso

Mellor wrote: »

think it depends on the type of veg.
Take peas, frozen peas are very quickly frozen after picked.
Fresh peas take days to reach the shelf, even then they might be there a day or two before you buy them, and another day or two before you cook them.
They dry out very quickly.
Then ther is the issue with veg out of season, being shipped in from else where.

Broccolli on the other hand, if far better fresh.

I'm just picking those two as I've eatign a lot of them. I buy frozen peas but fresh broccolli

I hate peas with a passion, always have done. So that's probably why I find it easier to draw the frozen=yucky, fresh=tasty line. I totally accept peas are probably an exception, though I'll never know by tasting the horrible things!

metamorphosis

Peas make baby Jesus cry.

Peas = evil.

Ever2010

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I hate peas with a passion, always have done. So that's probably why I find it easier to draw the frozen=yucky, fresh=tasty line. I totally accept peas are probably an exception, though I'll never know by tasting the horrible things!

We grow our own - a pea fresh off the plant is soooo sweet!

If you eat more seasonal local veg it should be cheaper than frozen. Find yourself a good veg shop (not the supermarket) or a farmer's market where stuff has been picked recently, before all of the natural sugars in the veg turn to starch. You won't need to enhance them with anything then.

Mellor

Ah, peas are winners imo

Saute some crushed garlic and chopped leaks in a pan, handfull or two of peas, and some stock. Reduce the stock until its almost all gone, nyom nyon nyom

Bottle_of_Smoke

El_Dangeroso wrote: »

I hate peas with a passion, always have done. So that's probably why I find it easier to draw the frozen=yucky, fresh=tasty line. I totally accept peas are probably an exception, though I'll never know by tasting the horrible things!

metamorphosis wrote: »

Peas make baby Jesus cry.

Peas = evil.

Oddballs. Peas are the only vegetable I like!

Fresh sugarsnaps are the best but frozen are pretty good too.

El_Dangeroso

Bottle_of_Smoke wrote: »

Oddballs. Peas are the only vegetable I like!

Fresh sugarsnaps are the best but frozen are pretty good too.

See, now I like mangetout/sugarsnap etc. They are my perfect mindless eating snack. I sit down with a big bag raw and munch away on them like popcorn, hmm, suppose I am an oddball!

I don't count them as peas though, they're more pod than pea.

poconnor16

regarding peas - add mint, yum!
I like cumin on most vegetables.

Oooh and I love to take a butternut squash, cut it up into 'chips, toss in olive oil and some chilli powder. Oven roast for 25 mins......I'm actually drooling here at the thought of it....:P

I hate trying to cut butternut squash though - not an easy task unless you are Jamie Oliver

rubadub

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

Hmm, my internal fastfood demon is intrigued. Do you mean just a cheap powder curry sauce from a packet? Would that be low in fat?

It could be powder sprinkled on or just jars of it. I keep jars in the fridge, you can get low fat ones if that is a worry, most of the hotter darker ones are tomato based and very low in calories -also being very hot you use less. Pataks are a good brand, a bit more expensive but can be got on offer quite a bit. The franks hot sauce is very popular good, make sure its the original one, not wings.

If you go to the asian stores you can get loads of spices for a fraction of what they cost in normal supermarkets. If you like chinese takeaway style curry sauce get some goldfish brand stuff (in asian shops), it will not be as healthy as some others but you can just use a little. Other chinese ones discussed here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055896676

I am trying to lose fat at the moment, for dinner I had green isle asian/chinese stir fry veg, put in some soy sauce, franks, garlic powder (dirt cheap in asian shops), some crushed cashews and a chicken fillet cut up finely with a scissors -fried in a good bit of coconut oil.

fonecrusher1 wrote: »

ww meals are truely awful things. I could eat 3 of them in one sitting & still feel hungry an hour later. I'l never eat them again.

The portions are very small and if you read the nutritional info you will discover they are watered down -they do not have to list water in the ingredients but you can work it out by looking at other similar meals. e.g. hold 2 lasagnes side by side and the WW will have far lower carbs/protein/fat per 100g -since it is more diluted, this coupled with the small portions just means they are a rip off, as well as being manky.

What else are you doing to lose fat? at 19 stone you will have built up a lot of extra muscle and it would be a shame to lose it, I would highly recommend doing resistance exercise -i.e. heavy weights, or bodyweight exercises. It really kicked off my fat loss in the past.