How to eat more vegetables
We receive many requests for a single question: How can you eat more vegetables?
Here’s an email we received a few weeks ago from a reader:
Hello! I’m sending an email asking for advice on starting a plant-based diet for my family. Cooking doesn’t come naturally to me. My children are 5 and 2 years old and it is important to me that we all correct our eating habits. We eat a lot of fruit and especially chicken and rice in different forms. Vegetables are absent from our diets except for raw carrots and cucumbers and sometimes broccoli. Any advice you have that doesn’t break my budget would be great! ~ Catherine M
Just get in
Alex and I have a unique approach to this puzzle. It’s called Just get in. The difference between JJI (can we call it that?) and other approaches to eating more veggies is that with JJI you don’t need to know anything to get started. You don’t have to wait to read about cooking vegetables or buy lots of expensive kitchen gadgets. You just have to make a prescription. For example, try a vegetarian main course. If you like the recipe, great! do it again
Here’s the trick: if you don’t like the recipe or it doesn’t fit your lifestyle, don’t throw in the towel and quit. make a different recipe and see if you like this one. You keep trying until you start finding recipes that suit your tastes and lifestyle. It sounds too easy, but so many people we talk to try a recipe or two and then give up. The reason Alex and I are here today is because we kept trying! And we’ve found some delicious, healthy vegetarian recipes that fit our budget and time constraints.
How do you find the right recipes for you? We admit that between the internet and cookbooks, it’s still difficult to find recipes that suit your dietary restrictions, taste preferences and lifestyle needs. Browsing recipes on Pinterest feels like I’m at TJ Maxx, trying to find something quality in the midst of things I don’t want or need. The reason Alex and I started A Couple Cooks was to create a collection of recipes that work for us. Now, with over 500 recipes, it’s hard to figure out where to start.
The answer
Here’s what we found to help eat more veggies: Aim to eat one vegetarian main course per week, then increase the frequency if you enjoy it. Surround yourself with recipes that work for you and discard those that don’t. Instead of having everything together and making lots of lists, try a new recipe first. Just get in.
Here is our reply to Catherine:
Dear Catherine,
To answer your question, what Alex and I found out about eating veggies is that it’s a lot easier than we thought! All of the following recipes are actually vegan (no dairy, although we eat some ourselves!) and then I’ve added a few with dairy, which we love too. We’ve found that the BEST way to start eating more veggies is to just start! Let me know if you have any other questions!
Sonja
Where to start: recipes
Here is a list of the recipes we sent to Catherine. Most of the recipes on our site are vegetarian, accessible enough for a novice cook or vegetable eater and tasty enough to satisfy the most discerning palates and be repeated. But from all the recipes on our site, we’ve created this list of beginner favorites. Each of the recipes below are tried and true, with several “real” testimonials we’ve heard in blog comments, on Instagram, or from friends and family who have tried and loved them.
Vegetarian/plant-based soups and curries (gluten and dairy free)
Lentil stew with tomatoes and artichokes
Italian white bean soup
Cauliflower Tomato Curry
Quick lentil coconut curry
Creamy curry soup
Easiest Creamy Tomato Soup
Red lentil soup
Quinoa and Black Bean Chili
Hearty sweet potato and kale soup
Moroccan chickpea and sweet potato soup
Vegetarian/plant-based meals (gluten and dairy free))
Red beans and rice
Thai salad with peanut sauce
Fry up a hearty bowl with lemon tahini dressing
Yellow rice bowls with broccoli and turmeric
Mediterranean rice bowls
Vegetarian/plant-based dishes (gluten and dairy free)
Delicious vegetarian teriyaki burger
Mexican sweet potato fries
Baked Thai Sweet Potatoes
Chipotle Black Bean Salad Wraps
Mediterranean peppers stuffed with quinoa
Quick and easy vegetarian appetizers
Thai curry naan pizzas
Pita pizzas with goat cheese and tomatoes
Plain black beans and eggs
Toasted pita pizzas with red peppers
Basil tomato soup with ricotta balls
Italian soup with gnocchi and vegetables
dessert
Bliss Bites (a fan favorite)
Chocolate Mint Brownie Bites
did you make this recipe
If you make any of these recipes or have other ideas on how to eat more veggies, we’d love to hear from you. Leave a comment below or share a photo on Instagram and mention @acouplecooks.
