Fruits & Veggies... Making veggies delicious

Fruits & Veggies... Making veggies delicious                                  

Many adults who I coach for weight management and diabetes consume little to no vegetables.  A common thread I hear from them is that they dislike vegetables and often do not know how to prepare them.  I can appreciate that.

Some people simply dislike the taste.  Scientists are finding that differences in how we perceive taste are programmed into our DNA.  The level of bitterness we perceive in food varies from person to person.  Genetically wired "supertasters" may be turned off by certain veggies that other people find enjoyable.  The good news is that food scientists and chefs say there are steps we can take to mitigate the bitterness.  We can balance the bitter/strong flavor of some vegetables with a little salt, sugar, lemon juice or vinegar.  So how do I effectively do this?

Being a dietitian does not necessarily make me an expert chef.  I want to know:  What is the easiest way I can provide a variety of vegetables at dinner that look good, smell good, and taste delicious?  After all, I want to truly enjoy the vegetables we eat.  This will help create positive experiences that lay the foundation for future eating habits and health.

On occasion the dinner veggie I serve receives a "Wow- I love this!" reaction, which is music to my ears.  This reaction happens when I steam broccoli, drizzle with browned butter, and add a touch of sea salt.  Even our non-veggie lover child rates it a 7 on a scale of 10.  I learned this browned butter technique from my mom.  Here is a 2+ minute video showing the technique.  

At one point I (discretely) began reducing the amount of browned butter and replacing it with coconut oil for health benefit reasons.  However, using greater than 50% coconut oil resulted in diminishing returns on the yummy wow factor.  I will stick with 50-50.

I am not one to disguise veggies in food.  Rather, I want my family to recognize and enjoy eating vegetables for themselves.  To learn additional ways to enhance the flavor of our dinner vegetable, I recently subscribed to Fine Cooking magazine and am thrilled to discover an article on the technique of glazing.    

There is truly an art and a science to using this technique.  It is different than the way I learned to boil carrots and load them up with sugar, butter and salt.

Apparently, much of the sweetness comes from the vegetables themselves. 

"As the vegetables cook, the liquid draws out their sugar and reduces to form a delicate glaze (with the aid of butter and just a touch of additional sweetener)".  When I master this technique, glazed vegetables will be a great weeknight side. 

Carrots are classic for glazing, but I also want to experiment with other root veggies -- beets, turnips, etc. The article suggests experimenting with your favorite flavors.  “There’s a whole world of vegetables to be glazed, types of sweeteners to glaze them in, and flavors to add”.   I am excited to try two new glazing recipes: glazed carrots and glazed beets.

Off to the grocery store.  My new approach is to have a plan outlined for the side veggie each night this week.  Yet I will be flexible depending on what is on sale (and what life brings this week). 

• Sat - salad (romaine lettuce, dried cranberries, toasted almond slices, feta cheese, tossed with raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing)
• Sun - broccoli
• Mon - cabbage salad
• Tues - beets
• Wed - carrots/onions/potatoes
• Thurs - roasted red bell peppers (or frozen corn)
• Fri - glazed carrots

Canned green beans as needed for a plan-B on any night

One small step toward eating well is that each week I will try at least one new way to prepare a vegetable.  I will make sure to start with a product of good quality.  Personally, I prefer using whole carrots since baby carrots can sometimes be flavorless.  I may also attempt glazed beets on Tuesday.

My long term goal is to reach the point at which I simply have a variety of vegetables on hand and intuitively know how to prepare them to look, smell, and taste delicious.