When you embark on a new healthy eating regime, it's quite common that adding vegetables or salad to every meal is quite an alien concept or something that you are simply not used to doing. Or, if you've been eating healthy for a while, the thought of more boiled broccoli and carrots just doesn't appeal.
We all know the importance of getting lots of fruit, vegetables and salad - not just for weight loss but for our general health too but unless it's tasty and appetising, making it a standard part of every meal can be very difficult.
I certainly wasn’t any different – 10 years ago, vegetables simply didn’t play any part in my diet – I certainly didn’t buy them and apart from overboiling them, I didn’t have a clue what to do with them and they certainly weren’t on my list of ‘favourite foods’. Fast forward to now, and vegetables take up the largest part of my shopping trolley each week, I couldn’t imagine eating a meal without them and from being more confident in the kitchen, I’ve experimented in lots of different way of cooking them.
So, if you are someone who’s in the ‘I don’t like veg’ camp, give them another go and get a bit braver in how you cook them!
Roasting
Growing up, the only vegetables that I knew were roasted were potatoes with Sunday dinner. I didn’t even try a parsnip until I was in my late teens (and even then, they were frozen by Aunt Bessy!). A few years back, I started throwing a few other veg in the oven and bang, I found my absolute new way of eating vegetables and now I roast absolutely anything! Whenever I have my oven on, I throw in a tray of vegetables too as they are delicious hot or cold and I use leftovers in all sorts of dishes.
You can roast anything!
All you need is some vegetables, seasoning of your choice and either a drizzle of olive oil or a low calorie spray oil.
Some of my favourites are pictured here (from a dinner this week) but I would throw in anything I have including:
- sprouts
- cabbage
- cauliflower
- broccoli
- asparagus
- baby corn
- green beans etc etc
Method
Line a baking tray with baking paper or get a large non stick roasting dish.
Pre-heat your oven to 200°C / gas mark 6
Chop whatever vegetables you are using into bite size pieces and place in a single layer in your roasting dish or baking tray.
I do loads in one go to do at least two meals for the family.
Pick your seasonings
I use a few squirts of olive oil per tray and then a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and then a seasoning of choice – for the ones pictured, I added cajun seasoning to the butternut squash and carrot and mixed herbs to the peppers, onions, courgette, aubergine, leeks and onions.
Once seasoned, put in the pre-heated oven for 45 mins.
I check about half way through and give them a good shake to turn over.
Remove from the oven and serve immediately with your meal.
Any leftovers, allow to cool in the baking dish and then put in tupperware in the fridge to enjoy the next day for lunch.
Serving Suggestions
Served hot with some new potatoes and pan fried sea bass for dinner
Served cold for lunch mixed in with some bulgur wheat, tinned sardines in tomato sauce and rocket.
So, if you’re bored of your normal vegetable choices, I’d definitely recommend sticking it in a roasting dish and trying out some new ways of cooking veg – it gives it a completely different taste and texture and can definitely make meals a lot more interesting!
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