I too have the seeming common problem of not eating enough vegetables. However I seem to have different reasons from what others have posted.
First, I don’t have a car so I tend to need to shop in spurts, vegetables tend not to stay good long enough to get loads of fresh ones. I buy some frozen vegetables but I don’t think it’s sufficient (or as delicious as I’d like).
Second, I tend to put off preparing vegetables or have only one way of preparing them. Learning to cook new ways, and even cooking things in ways I know, tends to take more time than what I’d do otherwise. Also, if I start cooking something else, I’ll often continue with that and forget to start making a vegetable alongside it until it is too late.
Third, I can be a bit picky in terms of what vegetables I like, though I have started to come around to several recently. I need an arbitrary decision mechanism for trying new things, ideally including a vegetable, a time to buy it, a specific recipe that isn’t too much trouble, and a specific day on which to prepare it.
As a side note, a month or so ago I did a similar exercise with respect to alcohol; I used to not drink at all, but a combination of having more money, needing new things to do to be social, a change in my social group, and plans to visit Italy and Germany (famous for their wines and beers) became sufficient conditions for me to try it out, and I have had a good time learning how I interact with the substance.
I enjoy carrots but recently they’ve given me a terrible feeling in the back of my throat when I eat them, so I need to chop them up to put them in something. I keep frozen peas and romaine around; that’s about the extent of my success. Spring mix is a bit bitter for my taste and I don’t like the flavor of raw zucchini. I’ll try out basil.
I don’t like chips in general and definitely not seaweed; perhaps I’ll give V8 a try though.
A fix for bitterness in vegetables is to add salt. I always salt my spring mix (after dressing it with oil and vinegar).
Most non-chefs don’t use enough salt in their cooking for optimal flavor. That said, salt depends heavily on the individual, so in many cases it’s OK to salt at the table.
I too have the seeming common problem of not eating enough vegetables. However I seem to have different reasons from what others have posted.
First, I don’t have a car so I tend to need to shop in spurts, vegetables tend not to stay good long enough to get loads of fresh ones. I buy some frozen vegetables but I don’t think it’s sufficient (or as delicious as I’d like).
Second, I tend to put off preparing vegetables or have only one way of preparing them. Learning to cook new ways, and even cooking things in ways I know, tends to take more time than what I’d do otherwise. Also, if I start cooking something else, I’ll often continue with that and forget to start making a vegetable alongside it until it is too late.
Third, I can be a bit picky in terms of what vegetables I like, though I have started to come around to several recently. I need an arbitrary decision mechanism for trying new things, ideally including a vegetable, a time to buy it, a specific recipe that isn’t too much trouble, and a specific day on which to prepare it.
As a side note, a month or so ago I did a similar exercise with respect to alcohol; I used to not drink at all, but a combination of having more money, needing new things to do to be social, a change in my social group, and plans to visit Italy and Germany (famous for their wines and beers) became sufficient conditions for me to try it out, and I have had a good time learning how I interact with the substance.
Vegetables that stay fresh for a long time without being frozen, and can be eaten raw or with a dip or dressing (i.e, no recipe needed):
Whole carrots, snow peas, romaine lettuce (look for a plastic bag with three fronds in it), spring mix lettuce, basil, zucchini
Potential sources of vegetable phytonutrients that come as ready-to-eat preserved snack foods:
Terra Chips, V-8, Bloody Mary Mix, Roasted Nori (Seaweed)
I enjoy carrots but recently they’ve given me a terrible feeling in the back of my throat when I eat them, so I need to chop them up to put them in something. I keep frozen peas and romaine around; that’s about the extent of my success. Spring mix is a bit bitter for my taste and I don’t like the flavor of raw zucchini. I’ll try out basil.
I don’t like chips in general and definitely not seaweed; perhaps I’ll give V8 a try though.
A fix for bitterness in vegetables is to add salt. I always salt my spring mix (after dressing it with oil and vinegar).
Most non-chefs don’t use enough salt in their cooking for optimal flavor. That said, salt depends heavily on the individual, so in many cases it’s OK to salt at the table.
Have you tried grating carrots? My impression is that grating will reduce them to smaller pieces faster than chopping does.
A little bit, but I hate cleaning graters and grating with a peeler is much slower than chopping. Perhaps I’ll try it again though.
Maybe a cheap food processor? I got one at a salvation army-type place for $5. Though getting a more expensive one would make cleaning a lot easier.