I have a completely genius and totally obvious trick to share with you guys today. I saw this little tip in Clean Eating magazine over the weekend and was pumped to give it a try myself at lunchtime today.
Looking for a fast way to wilt fresh spinach to use in a pasta dish?
Genius, right?
Why have I never thought of this before!?
If you have any ridiculously simple cooking or baking-related tricks of the trade, please feel free to share them in the comments section!
Lunch
I enjoyed my perfectly wilted spinach in a yummy pasta bowl for lunch today.
In the bowl:
- Whole wheat rotini
- Spinach
- Chicken apple sausage
- Roasted cauliflower
- Roasted green beans
- Drizzle of olive oil
This meal was a delicious kick off to a new challenge I’m participating in through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program called the Green Giant Veg Pledge.
Green Giant Veg Pledge
I am working with Foodbuzz and Green Giant to participate in a two-week pledge to consume one more cup of vegetables per day every day. (Disclaimer: I am receiving a small stipend for my participation in the program and, as always, will keep my thoughts and opinions open and honest! What I’m saying is that if eating lots of veggies is miserable, I’ll tell you.)
When I learned about this opportunity through Foodbuzz, I was immediately sold and signed up. It seemed like a great challenge to me because while I’ve recently been trying my best to get five servings of fruits and vegetables into my diet every day, it has been a little challenging.
First, I tend to gravitate toward fruit which is healthy and wonderful, but sometimes an entire day will go by and I’ll eat only one serving of vegetables.
Vegetables contain so many important vitamins and nutrients and I know my diet will only benefit from eating more of them. Here’s to two weeks (hopefully longer!) of tons o’ veggies!
I think the best way for me to make sure I meet my vegetable-eating goal will be to incorporate vegetables into my snacks and breakfasts as much as possible. Hopefully eating vegetables as a morning and afternoon snack, or incorporating them into a morning egg scramble will give me a leg-up and help me hit my goal.
Also, I find that putting a little bit of forethought into my dinners helps with my vegetable consumption. If I can find a vegetable-heavy dish that sounds delicious, I’m much more excited to make it and eat lots of vegetables at dinnertime.
I’m already excited to make my squash casserole this week!
Question of the Afternoon
- When you’re struggling to eat a lot of vegetables, what do you do to make sure they find their way into your diet?
I’m all about making smoothies with spinach (you can’t taste it!) whenever I’m trying to sneak an extra serving of vegetables into my diet.
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hey julie!
random question for you- how do you decide what to order when out at restaurants? sometimes I feel like I’m making a healthy choice (like getting grilled fish tacos at the Cheese Cake Factory), and then find out later that what I ate has a million and a half calories. what are your tips/tricks on how to choose the healthiest option? 🙂
thanks!
This is a good idea, but at the same time, are you not concerned about the added extra starch from the pasta? I think the water that you cook the pasta in contains some extra starch from the pasta.
I try to prep and/or cook veggies on Sunday so that I have them ready to eat during the week. I will slice up raw veggies like carrots, bell peppers and cucumbers to have in the fridge. Then I will cook a few veggie side dishes and have those in the fridge ready to go along with a lunch or dinner.
I’ve also been liking cooked veggies like spinach, mushrooms and peppers with eggs like your dippy eggs on top of the veggies. It’s one way to get veggies into breakfast.
I can’t believe I never thought of that trick! Nice! I try to sneak veggies into less good for me dishes– i.e last week I loaded up my burger with jalapenos and red bell peppers and wrapped it in romaine leaves instead of a bun. I figure it’s going to taste good no matter what… it’s a burger! Why not add some veggies to the mix. I also recently made spaghetti squash and used that as the accompaniment to a nice grilled chicken breast instead of pasta and that was awesome!
I love veggies, and it’s so easy to just steam them and toss them with some pasta, a little cheese, seasoning, and some protein…so many possibilities, and so delicious!
Such a great tip! I will be using that this week for sure.
My problem is always with eating enough FRUITS! I am a rare weirdo who actually prefers veggies to fruit, but a couple ways I make sure to get enough veggies are, like a lot of other people have said, having a big salad (most grocery stores have salad bars with a wide assortment of veggies for toppings – that way you don’t have to commit to buying a bunch of things to have them all; I normally make a couple each time I go for lunches throughout the week), and also topping sandwiches with tons of vegetables too. Also, it’s easy to put a lot of vegetables in pasta because most go pretty seamlessly and you still don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself!
I love this! Usually, when I feel like I’m lacking veggies (I was vegetarian at one point…so I feel the need to consume more veggies than most people, because I was used to it for so long) I make 2 or 3 veggies at dinner instead of one. Dinner is usually a veggie, a sweet potato, and a meat. But on nights when I need more green in my life, I’ll make 2 or 3 veggies and no sweet potato. I also add spinach to anything I can sneak it into…salads, smoothies, scrambled eggs, under a bunless burger to soak up all the delicious juices.
One of my favorite weekend breakfasts is sauteed sweet potato cubes, onion, bell pepper, spinach, and sausage tossed in a bowl with a dippy egg on top.
Oh jeeze. Now I’m hungry.
I’ve always done that trick! I used to think it was just lazy, but now I feel better about it 🙂
a snack i’ve been loving is pairing sweet with veggies…i know it sounds odd but i’m loving a tortilla i use brown rice cause i can’t eat wheat …put some steamed carrots and sliced celery on top of a slather of peanut butter or almond butter and microwave it! some people may hate i love it!
I’ve also been steaming veggies in the microwave a lot more, less prep and it actually retains more nutrients (so i’ve read) because its a shorter cooking time.
That IS a genius way to wilt spinach in pasta! I love hiding my veggies – in smoothies, in pasta sauces – you name it!
That’s an awesome trick to keep in mind!
I definitely gravitate more towards fruit, but I try to be mindful of consuming veggies & try to add them in to side dishes.
I love spinach in my smoothies too! Trader Joe’s sells some veggies in a steamable bag which is super convenient…so you can just toss the bag in the microwave & have steamed veggies a minute later…no excuses 😉
And I thought I was brilliant for adding the spinach to the pasta the last minute or so. This is even better!
Ahhh fabulous spinach idea!!!
I love me some veggies but they do go unspoken for in many meals easily.
I’m such a fruit girl (well no actually, I’m a pasta/steak girl) but when it comes to eating healthy I definitely have a much easier time eating fruits over veggies.
For some reason though I can add spinach to anything and I hardly taste it! Lately I have been adding raw spinach to my cottage cheese/grapes/blueberries mixture. Sounds disgusting but I swear, it’s yummy!
YUMMY dish!! Where do you get chicken apple sausage?!
It’s easy to eat tons of servings of veggies when you juice it! Unlike smoothies, you’re not getting the fiber but it’s a lot easier for your body to absorb liquid nutrients. I still save my pulp to make veggie crackers or use the fruit pulp in yogurt or bake it in muffins! It’s easy to consume handfuls of kale, spinach, carrots, beets, apples, etc. in one setting with juicing.
That’s genius! And the timing could not be better–I was literally just about to get up to fix myself a bowl of pasta with spinach and other fix-ins for dinner!
I love “hiding” them in things like smoothies. I also love making stir fries with tons of veggies, or covering them in hummus.
together, we’d be set…i rarely eat fruit but love my veggies. i often have a big bowl of spinach (a full package of frozen stuff…three servings) with tuna and garlic-salt as a “pre-dinner”.
As my fiance says, “you only eat fruits and veggies!” I loveee them raw or cooked- lunch and dinner seem to be my veggie go-to meals, don’t really crave them in the morning [unless they’re in a scramble]…
I use my kitchen shears to cut green onions. Super quick and easy.
As far as veggies in my diet, one thing I like to do is to try a new way of cooking them. As far back as I can remember, I hated brussel sprouts. I recently found a recipe for sauteed brussel sprouts that looked good and I gave it a try. Yummo!!! I loved it and it’s now a regular at my dinner table 🙂
Hi Julie! LOVE the veg pledge! I also find that I eat more veggies when I plan out my dinner… though sometimes I opt for a spinach smoothie after dinner instead 🙂
I’ve been enjoying the “pinnable” strength work outs you have been posting over the last few months, and was sifting through the circuit work out page this weekend to get some more strength training ideas.
I recently upped the amount of strength training i’ve been doing, and have been finding that I am MUCH hungrier on the days I strength train, as opposed to the days that I run or do cardio! Is this normal? Are you hungrier on lifting days? How do you tame the hunger beast?
Take care!
Heather
Check out these 2 websites I saw today:
http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2011/11/25-clever-ideas_household-tips_storage-ideas/#.TsqSNvxmxcR.facebook
http://www.thedailybuzz.com.au/2012/03/25-more-clever-ideas-to-make-life-easier/
I have to reinforce what everyone else is saying about eating more vegetables: Add it to a (morning) smoothie. That’s the way that I use and you can put in so many different vegetables: celery, spinach, carrots, kale, cucumbers, zucchini, etc. You can dump 2 cups of spinach/greens or a whole cucumber/zucchini into a smoothie and make it extra thick. I’d be cautious about the kale because it can have a strong bitterness to it depending on the kind so add it bit by bit until you figure out the right amount.
Also, cut up 1-2 cups of carrots, celery, broccoli, or other veg to dip in hummus or another dip for a snack. I do this one because it’s easy to made hummus at home and that way you save money, eat tons of veg, and get in your plant-proteins as well.
I generally eat more veg when I front-load (eat it earlier in the day) especially since it’s hard to cram more than 2 servings of veg into one meal unless you drink a smoothie. I, for one, don’t look forward to drinking smoothies for dinner so I’d rather do it for breakfast.
http://www.greatist.com/health/40-unexpected-ways-to-add-veggies-to-a-meal-031212/
I actually finally just had a spinach smoothie! I put in spinach, protein powder, 1/2 a nanner, pb2, milk, and some ice. Absolutely delish 🙂
I make sure to include them in breakfast when I’m trying to pump up my veggie intake. My favorite way is to cook some kale or spinach on the stove top and top it with nutritional yeast. Cheesy, healthy, green goodness!
Spinach in my smoothies! Although I haven’t had one in a while. It’s just been too cold to want a smoothie.
I eat a side salad with dinner EVERY SINGLE NIGHT. Spinach or arugala, then throw in carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, peppers, etc (I usually don’t do all at once). This is just how I grew up – you always ate salad with dinner! It’s a great way to get soooo many veggies in.
I like the spinach trick. I also will put the veggie steamer in the pot with the boiling water-two birds with one stone. To get extra veggies in, I keep frozen organic mixed veggies in the freezer and just throw them in to whatever I happen to be cooking.
Julie that is so funny. I have been doing that a long time with various vegetables– squash, broccoli, mushrooms, etc. I assumed that was how you did Your noodle bowls! :)e
Um, I’ve definitely never thought of that wilting technique either. Duh…
That is a great spinach tip! I eat soooo much spinach. When my pasta is done cooking I drain it in a colander and then return it to the pot it was in on low heat… then I add in the sauce and the spinach… give it a good mix for a minute and you’re done! Then you don’t have to dirty another bowl or pot to heat the sauce…just one dirty dish!
We had roasted Brussels sprouts last night, and they were a huge hit! Thankyou for all the hints you do! My stepson and I both thought we hated them until last night! Every last one got eaten, so I will have to try the spinach wilting tip now. We usually just have some sort of steamed veggie at supper and lunch is either a salad or a sandwich with extra veggies.
I did this today when I made pasta tonight! Genius!! Thanks for sharing:)
Thanks for the reminder. I just had a some spinach to make up for it.
I put spinach in EVERYTHING. Okay, maybe not ice cream or chocolate, but everything savory! Frozen chopped spinach is a beautiful thing. I have yet to find a savory dish that it doesn’t go with beautifully!
I eat soup a lot for lunch since it’s easy to bring to work, so to get extra veggies in, I usually add a cup or two of frozen veggies into the bowl before microwaving it. It just makes the bowl of soup seem that much more full! Also, at the beginning of the week I chop up a bunch of veggies (celery, carrots, cucumbers, etc) and leave them in the fridge for snacking. If they’re already cut up and ready to go, I’m much more likely to eat them! 🙂
Apart from adding spinach to a smoothie to up the vegetable intake, I also add mushrooms – please don’t gag.
I know it sounds totally gross, but just like the spinach, you can’t taste the mushrooms, well I couldn’t anyway. I like to call it cream of vegetable smoothie. The smoothie still stays green because of the spinach and that’s already 2 serves of veggies and 1 – 2 serves of fruit done!! 🙂