Green Smoothies and 6 Other Ways to Sneak Healthy Vegetables
Some people simply won’t budge when it comes to healthy vegetables. The taste and texture of salad take them to a place of resistance with no return in sight. Ah, but there’s the clincher: sight. We eat with our eyes first, and seeing a bland salad isn’t going to have make a junk-food enthusiast’s eyes light up. The trick is to make the greens and vegetables barely visible and, better yet for those who have a marked disdain for them, hardly detectable by taste. From green smoothies to pizza, the 7 healthy vegetable recipes below allow even the pickiest eater to make room for green leaves and healthy vegetables – no excuses.
If you’ve never tried things like green smoothies or kale chips, you may be surprised by the outcome of the following recipes, because they taste exactly like what they are. You’d never be able to guess that they qualify as healthy vegetable recipes.
1. Pizza
It doesn’t take much to take a handful of leaves or chopped veggies and spread them across the top of a pizza pie before cooking. Add the leaves during the last 10 minutes in the oven so that they don’t overcook. You don’t even have to cook the green, simply place them atop the pizza before serving and get a few in with each bite. You don’t even taste them, and the color contrast between reds and greens is a feast for the eyes! This Green Pizza recipe from EatingWell combines broccoli and arugula and is spot on.
2. Smoothies
Don’t fret — you don’t have to make 100 percent green smoothies to enjoy the nutritional benefits. In fact, the smoothie doesn’t even have to be green. The other ingredients in green smoothies, like banana and fruit, cut the green leaf taste, leaving you with something that only your body can tell is healthier than it what it appears to be. This Blueberry Spinach Smoothie is testament to just that.
3. Muffins
How about a muffin that also doubles as a salad? This is one of the ultimately gratifying ways to enjoy greens with actually experiencing the green-eating process. Go sweet and light with Spinach Banana Muffins or savory and deep with Spinach & Feta Muffins.
4. Bread
One of bread’s biggest breakthroughs came when zucchini was added to the mix. Zucchini has a neutral taste, so it doesn’t affect the taste so much as it does the texture. Zucchini makes for a moist bread that pairs well with a dab of butter or a side soup. Try it yourself with this Summery Sweet Zucchini Bread to get more nutritional punch from the bread basket.
5. Chips
Kale chips may look a bit strange an uninviting to a child’s eyes, but all it takes is one taste, and next thing you know, we’re all converts. Try spicing yours up with garlic powder, nutritional yeast, truffle oil, or parmesan cheese.
6. Burger
Don’t just settle for the go-to meat mix for your next burger. Make a veggie burger, or you compromise with a meat-based burger that includes finely chopped veggies cooked stove top in oil until tender. These can include carrots, zucchini, onions, eggplant, bell peppers, and celery, among others. The taste will be meat, but the health kick will be much more rewarding. And, no one has to know!
7. Soups
Take any one of our favorite broth-based soup recipes, prepare it as usual, but a few minutes before it’s done, add in a handful, or two, of green spinach or kale leaves. The heat will break down the green leaves and soften them so that they are infused with the flavors of the soup and go down seamlessly with each spoonful. You can also just add chopped greens to the top of the soup as garnish. They will wilt as you eat.
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Related on Organic Authority:
Sick of Salads? Dig Into Green Soup
Kids Won’t Ea Their Veggies? 5 Easy Ways to Sneak Them In
8 Easy Tips For Cleaning & Cooking Your Summer Greens
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