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September 2003

When it comes to vegetables, children are not the only finicky eaters - 83% of all Americans do not eat optimal amounts of fruits and vegetables. Health experts recommend 5 to 7 servings a day of fruits and veggies. There is talk of raising that to 7 to 10 servings! 

Let’s talk about what constitutes a vegetable. A salad can count, if it’s made with lettuce and greens other than Iceberg. In fact, salad is an easy way to lure the picky eater toward green and orange foods, such as carrots. With a tasty dressing, most people will eat a variety of veggies in a salad. You can usually sneak some raw spinach into a salad too, especially baby spinach.

Grocery stores carry bags of broccoli and carrot slaw (shredded like cabbage). Topped with a cole slaw dressing, it may get past the veggie patrol. Tomatoes, tomato sauce, pizza sauce all count (ketchup is a stretch). So does V-8 juice or tomato juice. Try serving raw, cut up vegetables with a tasty low fat dip.

Soup is a great way to hide vegetables. If they won’t eat them whole, puree them. This will thicken the soup and give it a lot of flavor as well as nutrition. You can also puree cooked carrots to put in gravy. 

A spoonful of sugar can help the veggies go down. Try putting a glaze on carrots or squash or adding brown sugar to sweet potatoes or yams. 

Grilling vegetables gives them a whole different appearance and taste. Brush large slices of eggplant, zucchini, onion, carrots, etc. with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill them until they are tender-crisp. 

There is such a healthy return on the effort to eat more vegetables. The vitamins and minerals in these foods may help prevent cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. A team of researchers recently calculated that we would save over $20 billion in health care costs annually if Americans got those missing nutrients. Long live veggies! 

For Your Information: The top 10 healthiest fruits and vegetables are... Broccoli Cabbage          Cantaloupe     Carrots   Kale          Mangoes        Pumpkin Red bell pepper Spinach Sweet potato

 
There’s nothing like a cheese sauce to entice the finicky eater to a vegetable!

1 large head cauliflower, broken into florets   1 tablespoon light (5 grams fat per tablespoon) margarine 1/2 cup chopped celery 1/4 cup chopped onion 1/4 cup chopped green pepper 3/4 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/4 cup flour 2 cups skim milk 1 cup + 2 tablespoons shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese 2 - 3 fresh tomatoes, sliced 1/2 cup bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 400°.  Spray deep 2-quart casserole dish with vegetable oil spray.  Cook cauliflower florets in medium saucepan, in 1 inch water, covered for 5 minutes.  Drain.  In small saucepan, melt margarine; add celery, onion and green pepper; saute.  Whisk in salt, pepper and flour (mixture will be crumbly).  Slowly whisk in milk; stir until thickened.  Stir in cheese until melted; remove from heat.  Put half of cauliflower in prepared casserole; cover with tomatoes; top with remaining cauliflower.  Add cheese sauce.  Sprinkle with bread crumbs; spray lightly with vegetable oil spray.  Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Nutrients per serving:

Calories 154 Cholesterol 15 mg Total Fat 6 g  (33%) Sodium 545 mg Carbohydrate 17 g Protein 10 g