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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I would have never thought to wilt spinach like that! It’s so quick and simple. I am definitely doing that the next time I need to wilt spinach with pasta! 🙂
I haven’t been eating a lot of vegetables lately because of a flare up I’m having with Crohn’s. I would like to try and incorporate them into smoothies though. Oh how I miss my roasted green beans and brussels sprouts.
That’s exactly what I thought: isn’t it a perfect method? No excuses not to have it anymore! 🙂
That spinach trick is brilliant! It seems so obvious now.
I am excited to see how you incorporate more veggies into your diet. I can always use new ideas and recipes for veggies.
i thought the same thing! it’s SO simple, but i never thought of it myself. duhhh.
That sounds like a great challenge. I like to speak spinach into my smoothies and I usually have a huge salad for lunch with lots of fun toppings. For snacks I’ll prepare a whole container of carrot sticks and celery so they are easy to grab and go. I find the pre work is what keeps me away from veggies so I take an hour to prep all of my veggies at once.
That pasta trick is genius! I will be trying that asap!
I just always make sure to have tons of frozen veggies on hand. That way is quick and simple to through into any meal and they won’t go bad as fast.
Sounds like a good challenge! I don’t think I ever really struggle to get veggies into my diet (honestly, I eat TONS of them) but when I’m feeling a craving for them and want to pack more into my day, it’s usually in a green smoothie with plenty of kale and other dark greens. Definitely a tasty way to get all those great vitamins!
Put greens in my smoothies (celery, avocado, spinach, Kale) & lunch time make a big salad full of veggies! 🙂
I love to cut up and bring fresh raw veggies to work for a snack, but I find them to be quite expensive at times! Any suggestions on how to incorporate veggies but stick within budget? Thanks!
Like you said, the smoothie is a great way – or to make sure I have a salad for lunch. That’s usually about 2 cups worth for me!
I’m with you on the green smoothies, and I also like to make HUGE salads loaded with veggies, usually for lunch. It’s kind of nice to be able to eat a giant bowl of food without consuming too many calories, but packing in the nutrients. Today for lunch I had a big mixing bowl full of spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, artichoke hearts, edamame, kalamata olives, shredded carrots, a hard-boiled egg, sunflower seeds, hummus, balsamic vinegar, and red quinoa. It’s easy to throw together and very filling with the protein from the edamame, hummus, and hard-boiled egg, and the whole grains from the quinoa.
Wow, I never thought of that spinach trick either! I will have to remember that the next time I want to put spinach in my pasta!
This morning I had green monster over night oats. They were fab! (I blended together kale, a banana, 1.5 tbs of chia seeds, 1 scoop protein powder, and 1 cup of almond breeze and then mixed that with 1/3 C oats). I got the recipe from http://www.ohsheglows.com.
I followed WeightWatchers for a long while abd because most veggies were 0-points, it’s second nature for me to always include some sort of veggie into lunch and dinner! When in having chicken, I always throw in some mushrooms into the marinade as they have a meaty texture and help bulk it out!
oh my gosh, that pasta is making my stomach growl! sitting in class just thinking about lunch right now… It’s going to be a chipotle salad bowl for me today, didn’t have time (aka was too lazy last night) to pack lunch
Smoothies or juicing! I manage to cram so much spinach, kale, carrots, and cucumbers into my juices and that really helps get my veggies in each day. You should try it!
I am ALL about making spinach smoothies. I drink ’em all.the.time!!
Love that pasta/spinach trick!
I always have a salad at dinner. Always. So no matter what, I get 2-3 servings there! I try to munch carrot for snacks (first, if I am going to eat chips after).
I usually try to make one meal a salad or have a salad w/ one meal. That way you can put tons of veggies in and not only does that make it more exciting and delicious, but you can get in several servings at once!
this may sound gross, but i’ve been adding spinach (usually wilted but fresh can be good, too) to my nut butter sandwiches. it’s a way to sneak in the veggies but still tastes good because honestly, what tastes bad with peanut butter??
what a great opportunity!! good for you! when i notice my diet is lacking in veggies, i usually try to get in a huge salad for lunch packed with some of my favorite vegetables and salad toppings. switching my salad dressings and toppings up helps make it interesting, and i look forward to eating them more. i always include at least one vegetable for dinner which helps my intake too!
Carrots & hummus or organic ranch dip mixed with greek yogurt are a big one for me – I’m not a huge salad person.
Love that spinach trick!! I don’t like spinach in smoothies, but I put it in tacos, spaghetti, and savory foods just to add a little extra nutrition!
I don’t have a hard time eating veggies in my main meals but I normally struggle to eat them as a snack. This week I am determined to reach for the carrots and hummus instead of the cereal box 😉
To save time, and patience, I heat up water in an electric water cooker before proceeding with cooking whatever it is I am making. Instead of waiting 10 minutes for water to boil, I wait 1 minute!
Electric water cooker?
http://www.home-appliances-mart.com/uploadfile/product/Electric-Kettle/Electric-Water-Kettle-K9-1256806398-0.jpg
woah I just noticed I wrote cooker. Whaaaat
The veg pledge is such a good idea! I can always use more veggies in my diet. I think I’ll try adding an extra cup to my day from now on.
Like you, I tend to eat a lot of fruit but not nearly as many vegetables. I love putting spinach in smoothies, and serving burgers on top of salads instead of buns (unless it’s a really good bun!) I’ll also steam some veggies and toss them with pasta—-it’s a great way to fill up and not deny yourself the good stuff, but also fit in some greens!
I am the opposite. I love veggies but can hardly stand fruit!
I think finding fun new recipes that include veggies is a great motivator. I love trying new recipes, so why not try recipes with lots of vegetables?? 🙂
I grab some snap peas and baby carrots to dip into hummus!
I try to rack up my veggie count by adding them to salads, sandwiches, snacking on them with hummus and adding them to eggs!
Not sure if you’ve ever tried it (I haven’t) but you could try carrot cake oatmeal? (Maybe even overnight oats… somehow). That could be a good way to get one more cup in for breakfast!
One thing I learned to do here at college is to pour hot marinara sauce over a bed of spinach leaves, then put the pasta on top! When you mix it, the spinach wilts and you get an extra veggie punch!
I usually have a salad for either lunch or dinner every day. Lately I’ve been using kale as a base for meals, adding some more veggies, quinoa and a source of protein to round it out. I would love to add spinach to smoothies more often but my first one was a disaster! Seedy berries + spinach + plain yogurt is not very sweet…at all.
I know many people don’t like it but I LOVE V8 Juice! It’s an easy way to snag some extra veggie servings- just remember to get the low sodium variety.
I also have to precut my veggies at the beginning of the week and keep them in container so I can grab some each morning for work. if they are not already cut up I won’t do it. It also makes it harder to waste food that’s been sitting in the fridge because I can then use cut up veggies in dinner dishes.
Love the spinach idea!!!
I roast everything in site and make sure to have some nutritional yeast and tomato ketchup at hand! 🙂 Green monster smoothies and soups. I love trying to come up with new and interesting soups and your talking 3 portions of veg a bowl! Can’t go wrong.
I do kinda the same thing! except i throw handfuls of spinach in my pasta water when it’s close to done cooking.
I always put spinach in my spaghetti sauce! That way it completely melts down and you don’t even realize you’re eating it.
The first time my boyfriend saw me doing it he said, “What are you doing?! That’s going to be so weird!”…..and then five minutes later it was all wilted and he was like “Oh…okay.” haha 🙂 definitely a great way to sneak in some veggies 🙂
I have always added the spinach to the pasta (in the pot) before turning the heat off and then drained it all a minute later.
But this is just fab!
The British author Nigella Lawson has a wonderful section on her website, which offers fabulous baking tipps and other helpful information, if you would like to check it out.
http://www.nigella.com/kitchen-wisdom
Green giant is actually a miserable company to buy frozen vegetables from… I’ve bought bags of broccoli twice and it’s been all stumps 🙁
So disappointing
soo, I have 1 tip…
I actually found it on Pinterest…
When you’re boiling water if you leave a wooden spoon over the pan it won’t overflow….
Thats it. Thats all Im good for.
Trying that spinach trick TONIGHT!
Thanks.
Does that really work!? Crazy!
YES! It works!
And now I’m not sure I can ever overflow boiling water again…
Spinach is my go-to veggie. Whether its in my breakfast smoothie, a delicious summer salad, eggs, in pasta or in soup. I try to make a big pot of delicious vegetable soup each week and eat it for snacks or while I’m baking dinner. Also I love roasted veggies and have them typically once a day. I used to not eat ANY vegetables but now I’m learning that they can be delicious!
That is such a simple technique! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
I definitely eat more fruit (breakfast is almost always full of ’em!!), so i’m loving the idea of the veg pledge.
And, smarty pants that I am, already do the spinach/strainer thing 🙂
Oh yum I’ve never thought about the spinach trick! One thing that I just learned to do is put my soup in a blender to make it smooth, like I did here: http://washingtondandc.blogspot.com/2012/01/sacrificial-soup.html.
I thought that without an immersion blender, I was destined to a life of lumpy soups, but it’s so fast and easy! And much better than mashing potatoes (or cauliflower or broccoli) by hand with a spoon!
Spinach smoothies are the best! I almost always have a salad for lunch and get in my veggies then. For supper if there is not a lot of veggies in the main dish I add a side salad or steamed veggies.
Fortunately I love veggies- especially greens. So whenever I sit down to lunch or dinner I easily consume at least two servings per meal..
I am 100% jealous of your lunch right now!! One of my favorite no-fuss easy meal is chicken broth, spinach and some kind of yummy sausage, like chicken apple. Its the fastest easiest soup EVER and you can load up on the spinach. I’ve also read that if you eat the liquid veggies are cooked in (like in soups) you get more of the nutrients. Win!
STIR-FRY!! 😉
When I feel like I’m lacking in veggies, I always chop up asparagus, celery, carrots, broccoli & peppers and cook them in coconut oil with a splash of soy sauce and mix them in with barley or brown rice. DELISH!
I look forward to upcoming posts while trying to up your veggie content. I’ve been striving hard to do the same. Good luck!!
oooo i totally made pasta with chx apple sausage and spinach the other night…wish i would have known that spinach trick!!
i def dont eat enough veggies. i try…i swear hah. lately ive been making smoothies with spinach and kale in them to get more…i gotta work at it!
Yep. That is actually brilliant. I love that. As for the veggies. I like to double up or triple up salads. So, instead of just lettuce and toppings, I’ll do lettuce, a serving of cooked (or raw) broccoli and toppings. Get those veggies in there!
smoothies for sure…but I also take juice plus ever day which has all of my vitamins that I need (if for some reason I slack off).
One recipe that you may like is a salad with: Spinach, apples, raisins, and PB2 (use more than 1 Tbsp of water) to make it a dressing. You get at least 3 servings of fruits/vegetables and its low cal/low fat!
Ah, I so wanted to do this challenge! But even though I didn’t get chosen, I’m going to make an effort to wilt more spinach into my pasta. That’s a ridiculously amazing tip :).
To squeeze extra veggies into my diet, I focus on adding them to any dish I’m craving. To eggs or smoothies, I’ll add spinach. To grain bowls, I’ll stir-fry or roast any and all veggies on hand. As for more comfort foods, I add arugula to grilled cheeses and peas to macaroni and cheese. Clearly comfort food = cheese. Ha.