Niles H.

A couple of ideas: I have known people who simply put the most nutritious stuff (that they believe in) all together in a powerful blender, and blend it all into something like V-8 juice. In some cases, it is not very tasty, but they buck up and drink it down. They aren't even trying to make it taste good. For some of them, that is for sissies.

A well-known cyclist, Dan Henry, used to make a green concoction this way, and he swore it played a role in saving his health. There are a lot of phyto-nutrients -- some known and identified, some not yet known -- in vegetables. Greens seem especially nutritious. There are lists of the most nutritious and least nutritious vegetables. Of the top ten that I saw, seven were cruciferous vegetables. The others were carrots, chard and spinach.

Speaking of spinach, I can't stand most salad spinaches, yet I love good frozen chopped spinach when cooked and seasoned properly.

***
I once lived with an excellent professional cook. She could make all kinds of vegetables taste far better than what I had previously known. If you can find someone's cooking, or some vegetable dishes (even some of those pre-seasoned frozen ones) that you really like, then you can learn to replicate the successes.

Awareness of the seasonings and spices and flavorings that you most enjoy, and learning how to use them, goes a long way.

Balsamic vinegar mixed with a little light brown sugar is good. There are some excellent sauces. There are recipes for home made sweet and sour sauce that are great.

Some Chinese vegetable dishes are incredibly good. There are websites, books, libraries...not that hard to learn this stuff, really. Once you take the trouble, you can make use of these skills for many years.

JLauren

+1

+1 (hard to do in the winter around here, except for radishes)

+11 on raw, home-grown veggies

Carbonfiberboy 

#1: Never buy frozen or canned vegetables. Like never. I mean, why would you?

Buy a vegetable steamer. Steam your vegetable 8 minutes for a starter. That works for most of them. You'll learn to adjust this to get just the texture you want.

Buy only fresh vegetables. Buy organic vegetables if you can get them. Look for a local market or coop or natural foods grocery store. Or ask your local supermarket for organic produce. Chances are good they have organic vegetables already. Would you eat poison for $.50? Think about that. You'll notice they taste better, too.

Dip your broccoli in a little mayo - not Miracle Whip. Put a tiny bit of butter on your cauliflower and peas. Put lemon on your green beans.

Cut your carrots into thin-ish strips and cook them slowly in a frying pan in butter and a 1/2 tsp. honey. Slowly, with the lid on.

Saute snap peas in a little butter and soy sauce.

Cut brussels sprouts in half and cook them slowly in a little butter in a covered frying pan. Cook them until the outer leaves start looking burned. Never let brussels sprouts touch water.

And don't think a little butter is going to kill you. It's good for you. You need fats. Never eat margarine, however. Nasty stuff.

Enjoy. There's a whole world of taste out there.

caloso

Word.

Machka 

My senses of taste and smell are not well developed. To me, most food tastes the same ... completely bland. I like or dislike food based mainly on texture, and a bit on color, but rarely on taste. My favorite foods tend to be quite salty ... because I can taste salt if there is quite a bit of it, or quite spicy. I'd have to say that Mexican food is probably my favorite food ... it's one of the few foods that actually has a little bit of taste to it. I've just recently tried East Indian food, and I like it too ... it's got a bit of flavor.

Super sweet foods (i.e. icing sugar) or bitter foods (coffee and dark chocolate) also have a bit of taste to them. Could be why I like drinking my coffee strong and black. Anything else could be water for all I can taste.

But that's also why I'd be thrilled with a "meal pill" ... just take a pill a day to provide you with all the nutrition you need, and don't bother with all this eating business.

caloso

And while we're on the subject of good fats, don't be afraid of a little lard. It has gotten an unfairly bad rap.

Jeprox

Vegetable Tempura - veggies covered in breadcrumbs, then, deep-fried. Dip 'em in soy sauce or some broth. Yummy! Deep-frying may not make 'em healthful though.

Turboem1

Ok. I don't want to thread jack but I am in the same position as the OP. I want to eat more vegetables but I dont really like the taste.

Now multiple people are saying not to eat frozen or canned vegetables. I started with canned and they were gross and way to salty. I have been eating frozen now and there better but still not that good. What do you guys recomend? Buy them raw/fresh? How long will they last like that in a refrigerator?

Almost all of these recipes contain olive oil, butter, cheese, mayo or something else pretty bad for you. I am trying to lose weight so if possible I would like to minimize these.

So far I have been okay with broccoli and string beans with olive oil.

I would like to start eating salads but the lettuce I buy always sucks. How come if you get from a restaurant there lettuce is so much better? What should I be buying?

ivegotabike

Im impressed with your premonition.

Grow Up.

kuan

You can make veggies Korean style. For example:

Sesame Spinach:

1# fresh spinach
2-3T soy sauce
1-2T sesame oil
1T toasted sesame seeds
1 green onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1t sugar
pepper to taste

Blanch spinach in boiling water and shock immediately in cold water. Combine rest of ingredients and mix thoroughly.

kylecrispin

Olive oil. Garlic. Pepper.

mateo44

If your tastebuds are dulled to the point of not being able to taste very well, you'd LOVE my mom's meatloaf!

kuan

We have tons of people like that in Minnesota. They're called Norwegians. That explains their ability to eat lutefisk by the ton. Pepper is spicy for these folks. You'd fit in perfectly.

AnthonyG

Fresh vegetables will last about a week in the refrigerator. Some less, some more. A specialist fruit and vegetable shop/market will usualy have better quality produce that supermarkets.

Nothing wrong with some good, unrefined fat with your vegetables. I've read a scientific trial where they compared salads/vegetabes consumed with or without vegetable oil and when consumed WITH vegetable oil more nutrients were absorbed.

Broccoli and string beans are good although they should be cooked through. Beans that aren't fully cooked REALY give me gas and upset my stomach. Try some cauliflower, zuchinni, carrots, cabbage, chinese cabbage and other asian greens. I cook just about everything with some onions and garlic. I'm not afraid of salt either although I only cook with unrefined celtic sea salt.

Regards, Anthony

Carbonfiberboy 

Yes, buy them fresh and raw. It's called the produce department in a grocery store. You'll find lots of veggies there. They will last a long time in the frig. Almost all will last a week, some will last several weeks. If you shop once a week, you won't have a problem with veggies going bad - as long as you eat them! Oh, and while you're there, buy some fruit, too.

Yes, it's true that most recipes contain some fat. Fat is not bad for you. It's necessary. 20% of the calories in your diet should come from fat. Just cut down on the overall quantity of food to lose weight.

If the lettuce in the grocery store is crummy, go to a different store. Or try a different kind of lettuce, or both. Try some spinach in your salad, too. Mmmm, blue cheese on spinach salad.

And as I said above, try to buy organic produce. It really is better.

krazygluon

Re: lettuce...stay the hell away from iceberg. its water and cellulose...thats really it. Leaf Lettuces, Romaine and others are all considerably tastier and better for you.

Richard Cranium

Put salt and sugar on them, better yet, bread them in flour and egg batter and fry them. Serve with sour cream, butter and ranch dressing or other sauces...... emmmmmm, gooooood........

cantdrv55

Thanks everyone for your recipe ideas. Forgot to mention though that I have acid reflux so onions and garlic are a no-no.

bigskymacadam

have you tried any of the enzymes, etc for the acid reflux? i honestly don't know if it would help, but maybe?

slim_77

roasted em baby! Roasted Red peppers (light coat of olive oil) and blue cheese... Mashed sweet potatos... salad w/pine nuts or walnuts or pecans and apple, rasin blue cheese and a light vinegarette (sp???) ...raw carrots.

love it!

for a twist: Check out Maddhur Jaffrey, nobody spices up veggies like they do in the subcontinent!

EJ123

what about Odwalla Superfood?

VanceMac

I'm not sure it's relevant to "veggies"... but damn, I love that stuff. It's like soothing, nourishing nectar of the gods. I wish I had a cheap, underground source for it.

ekitel

I prefer to stir fry fresh vegetables (never frozen) I hate elaborate recipes, that's what restaurants are for, or maybe if you have a big family it's worth the time, but for one or 2 people it seems like a waste of time and energy to cook at all! there should be communal food kitchens where people can get freshly prepared food. A few big pots and ovens cooking for 100's for people is a lot more energy efficient than 50-100 small individual stoves cooking

back to the subject though, I take a big cast iron pan, heat it really hot so it's smoking to kill the germs on it (I never wash it with soap) and then rinse it with cold water which gets most of the old oil and grease out, then I put it on medium heat, throw some fresh cut vegetables in with a tablespoon or so of water and cover it for 1-2 minutes. This steams it and turns gray-green broccoli to bright green. Then I remove the lid and make sure all the water has evaporated and throw in some extra virgin olive oil and the put the lid back, removing it every minute or so to stir, and to test with a fork to see if they're tender enough yet. When they're almost done I throw a few dashes of soy sauce into the pan and grind some black pepper on it also and stir it up real good and serve it. I often get pre-cooked chicken breasts and heat them up in a toaster oven and put them on top of the vegetables. This helps keep the veggies warm while you're eating: cold vegetables are kind of yucky. That and a few boiled potatoes or some pasta and I've got a simple yet hot and hearty home cooked meal!

LlewelynCycles

I'm much the same, hate just about every leafy green. However, I've found a great solution - Kale with lemon juice and feta cheese sprinkled on it. Kale is not only one of the best veggies for you (far above spinach or broccoli), but it's also better tasting! Add the other two ingredients I mentioned and it's delicious and extremely nutritious. This dish is my vegetable staple.

kuan

Do you cook the Kale?