We all now know the health benefits of piling the plate high with vegies – those vital vitamins and antioxidants that make us bright eyed and glossy haired and keep our minds and bodies in happily tip-top condition. It’s difficult to imagine we once had to be bribed to eat carrots (‘They’ll help you see in the dark’), spinach (‘Makes you strong’) and brussels sprouts (‘They’ll stop your ears growing’… Or was that just my mother playing on my insecurities?). If you’re ever stuck in a rut and want more ways to add vegies to your day, here are 5 easy ideas.
1. Super Foods Salad
Just saying the name makes us feel all bouncy and glowing. Who wouldn’t want to fill their body with super foods? Get your hit of sweet potato (vitamin A for great eye health), baby spinach (excellent source of Popeye’s iron) and edamame (may lower the risk of cognitive decline – hello, crossword-solving centenarian!), nuts and seeds (weight regulation), fresh herbs (a big heap of vitamins A, C and K) all tossed in a ginger-soy dressing (lowers blood sugar and aids digestion) with lemon juice (scurvy be gone!). How on earth have we been living without it? Find the recipe here.
2. Stir Fried Greens
The easiest side dish… just a tiny bit of stress-relieving chopping and then some casual stir-frying. The same time and effort would go into microwaving frozen peas, but they wouldn’t taste anywhere near as good (not that we don’t love those sweet, convenient peas!). This goes with every Asian-style dish and – never call us sticklers – there’s no reason you couldn’t enjoy it with a schnitzel or steak, if that’s what rocks your broccoli. Find the recipe here.
3. Chargrilled Vegetable Stack
Our head chef, Josh, has converted us all to chargrilled vegies – slices of eggplant, zucchini, asparagus, squash, sweet potatoes, toasted on the grill or barbie and formed into a tiny tower of deliciousness. Grilling caramelises the sugars and gives a sweetness that contrasts with the smoky scorch of the grill. We’re all converts – we just occasionally bicker over whether to serve with a punchy salsa verde or spicy chimichurri.
4. Vegie-Packed Breakfast Bruschetta
Vegies for brekky? Why on earth not? They taste glorious and get your day off to a flying start. If you have time to make toast, then you have time to make bruschetta… Watch Sophie show you how here. While the bread’s in the toaster, have a rummage through the fridge and we’ll bet your last cherry tomato that you find the perfect ingredients have been there all along.
5. Do the salad wrap!
If the Earl of Sandwich had tasted flatbread, we reckon he’d have invented the wrap instead of the sarnie (and it would have been so much easier to eat on a horse!). A wrap is flatbread stuffed with filling and rolled up; great if you prefer a higher filling-to-bread ratio than the average sandwich. Sarah, our Dinner Ladies menu director, layers hummus, packet slaw, cheese, avocado, coriander and sriracha over any variety of flat bread and rolls it up like a boss. We haven’t found anything in the fridge that Sarah can’t roll into a wrap. (Now, there’s a challenge for next week!)
And, for those days when it feels too exhausting to even roll a wrap or toss the wok, why not keep a few of our vegetarian meals in the freezer? They’ll rescue you instantly and elegantly from any plant-based emergency. Order here.