How To Jazz Up Veggies

Vegetables should be the mainstay of any healthy diet and are key when you are losing pregnancy weight – they’re packed with vitamins and nutrients and are low in calories and fat and we love them on the Lose Baby Weight healthy eating plans.
But they can be a little bit bland and boring, especially if your plate is packed with them. Many people get a little stuck on how to prepare veggies and might get a bit stuck in an endless cycle of boiled veggies, mashed veggies and steamed veggies.
But you can do so much more with vegetables – they’re actually super versatile, much more so than you might think. Follow our ten tips below to help you jazz up the veggies on your dinner plate.
Add Fresh Herbs
Herbs are a great way to add flavour to any dish, especially veggies as you can actually eat some herbs as vegetables, such as parsley leaves. Finely chopped fresh herbs will add a hint of earthiness to any dish – try adding parsley, coriander, rosemary, thyme, oregano, chervil or dill to any veggie dish before serving for maximum flavour. Woody herbs, like rosemary and oregano, need to be cooked, while soft herbs like parsley should be added to the dish right before you serve.
Spice it Up
Spices can immediately transform a plain veggie dish into a continental dish – add Chinese five-spice, cumin, turmeric, curry powder, ground coriander or chilli flakes to any veggies to immediately improve the flavour. Spices are low in fat and calories, making them a great flavour enhancer for any meal. Try frying veggie chunks in a teaspoon of spice, or cook the spices out in veggie curries.
Nuts and seeds
Nuts will add crunch, texture and creamy flavour to any dish. Toast the nuts before tossing them into your favourite meal – this will add a lovely golden crunch, or you could simmer them in a sauce for a creamier, softer texture. Some nuts, like walnuts, will add a sweet fudgy flavour to your favourite salad, while seeds like sunflower seeds will add a savoury crunch to any veggie side dish.
Think About Them Differently
We’re all so used to serving certain veggies in certain ways that we forget how versatile veggies really are. For example, we often just steam or boil broccoli to serve alongside meat – but it’s also really delicious roasted, or tossed with oil and vinegar in a warm salad. Think about your vegetables differently and you’ll instantly jazz them up.
Citrus Peel
Citrus peel is another really great low calorie, low fat way to jazz up your favourite veggies. Citrus peel is particularly good when paired with sweet veggies, like carrots, or to sweeten up slightly bitter veggies like chard or radicchio. Lemon, lime and orange peel are all good choices – just make sure to scrub any wax off the fruit before peeling.
Cheese Please
Cheese can add loads of flavour to any veggie dish for fewer calories than you might think. For example, just 1 tbsp. parmesan cheese sprinkled over a fresh green salad will add plenty of flavour, for only 21 calories. You could also add crumbled feta cheese, grated extra-strong cheddar or a little fresh goat’s cheese.
Oils
Oils are a great way to add texture and flavour to any veggie dish. Limit your intake to about 1 tbsp. per vegetable dish if you’re watching your calorie intake and look for organic, high-quality oils, such as extra-virgin olive oil, pumpkin seed oil or sesame oil, or opt for oils with a little added flavour, such as basil oil or orange oil. You can cook with these oils, or you can toss them into fresh raw veggies for a burst of fresh flavour.
Vinegars
Vinegars are an excellent way to dress any salad, but you can also roast with them too – just sprinkle a little good-quality vinegar, such as aged balsamic, white balsamic or even a fruity vinegar over roasting veg, like carrots and onions, and cook as normal. The vinegar will give the veg a lovely sweet, tangy flavour. Alternatively, toss raw or cooked veg with vinegar right before serving.
Garlic, Ginger and Chilli
In Asian cuisine, these flavourings are a trio made in heaven – they all work brilliantly well together, and you can either use them together, or apart. Garlic will give a lovely hum of earthy flavour, ginger will add a zing of fresh spice and chilli will add a warming heat. Crush or mince them if you want them to be really strong, or slice them if you want the flavour to be more subtle.
Soy Sauce
Light soy sauce will add a delicious savouriness to any dish – plus, it has a really lovely texture. You can toss it in when you’re stir-frying veggies, or you can sprinkle it over any veggie dish when cooked. And remember, you can use soy sauce in any cuisine you like.
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