Green Veggie Ideas

[Red'sGirl]

DH and I are in a rut as far as veggies. DD (almost 2) loves vegetables, especially broccoli, spinach and peas. DH and I eat broccoli constantly, we also like cabbage and fresh spinach. I loathe peas. Really, loathe.

So I'm wondering what we're missing. We'll sometimes do a zucchini, but that's about it for green vegetables. So does anyone have any ideas or recipes for a variety of green vegetables???

[NicoleWisconsin]

What if you did a california bled with carrots, broccoli and cauliflower... so DS could have the broccoli, but there would be some variety.

Green beans? I LOVE French cut green beans.

[MrsT]

asparagus (great grilled with a little balsamic and oo - fine roasted in oven that way too)

spinach, kale, chard (all good sauteed with a little oil or butter and salt)

i do a lot of zucchini and yellow squash (great on grill as well)

if you want the veggie, you could also mash cauliflower into your mashed potatoes :)

[tealynn]

Most people turn their nose up at brussel sprouts but if you like cabbage, I think they taste very similar. And I have a fail proof way of cooking them, even my DH raves about them.

Wash and cut brussel sprouts in half.

Put olive oil and fresh garlic in a skillet. Put it on Med/high heat. Let the oil get nice and hot then put the BS flat side down in the skillet, put the lid on and let them cook for about 15 minutes, don't touch them. You can add a little water if you need more juice.

You get a crunchy brown side with lots of flavor and the other side gets steamed from having the lid on them. I like mine a little under cooked so if you want them a little softer, keep them on the stove about 5 more mins.

Add a little salt and pepper and you're good to go...even a squeeze of lemon or lime juice would make it more exciting.

[maybebaby]

I use rainbow chard scrambled with eggs. There is a pretty big variety of greens in the spinach family that I love scrambled with eggs and a little cheese.

[dreamgirly]

We eat a lot of fresh steamed green beans, shelled edamame, sugar snap peas (in the shell, like edamame but doesn't taste like regular green peas) and fordhook lima beans. Add just a little bit of parkay over the top (sea salt for edamame) and you're all set. :)

[Rosebud]

We eat a lot of asparagus. Just saute in a pan with a touch of either olive oil or balsamic vinaigrette, plus a pinch of salt/pepper.

We also have spinach salads often. We pick up fresh spinach at the Farmer's Market or at Trader Joe's and just add a vinaigrette and tomatoes. You can load this up with all kinds of fun stuff, though-- bleu cheese or feta cheese, walnuts, cranberries, strawberries. Over in the Summer Salads thread I posted a Spinach Salad with cranberries & grilled chicken (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showpost.php?p=789692&postcount=7) recipe that's really simple and delicious.

We eat zucchini and broccoli a lot, too. I like to dice zucchini and put it in egg white omelets. Broccoli we usually just steam and eat plain.

Oh, we also eat edamame a lot. We just get the packages from Trader Joe's, warm in the microwave and add a touch of sea salt.

[Rosebud]

Here's another thread which might be helpful:

Recipes with lots of fresh vegetables (http://www.constantchatter.com/forum/showthread.php?t=32694b)

[Red'sGirl]

Thanks for the great ideas, ladies!! I love asparagus, so I think we'll need to have some soon.

Last night, I made the brussell sprouts as told by tealynn though I didn't do it exactly. DH still doesn't care for them, but DD ate them up and I thought they were great! He'll just have to deal or eat something else! :D

I'm definitely going to try kale - I didn't know that you cook it like spinach so that'll make it easier.

However, edamame is too much like regular peas, which I cannot abide. :o

all in all, great ideas.

[tealynn]

That's pretty funny Red, I made them too. :D

[lauren f s]

We love asparagus, esp. roasted or grilled.

DH & DD both love brussel sprouts. I cheat and buy the Green Giant box that has them buttered and all I have to do is microwave 5 minutes! But they love them.

[Bloomwood]

shredded zucchini cooked in a ns skillet with shredded parm added at the end

broccoli/broccollini par-boiled first (nuked for 3 or 4 mins in covered dish with a touch of water), heat garlic and olive oil then sautee the veggies

asparagus in a foil pouch, drizzled with evoo, a bit of garlic, squeeze of lemon, and topped with parm, wrap tightly and bake at 350 for 20 mins or so

snow peas and shiitakes: heat peanut oil or sesame oil in a skillet, add a bit of garlic, let heat a bit, add snow peas and shiitakes, at the end toss in some sesame seeds

[lauren f s]

shredded zucchini cooked in a ns skillet with shredded parm added at the end
I love to do this and mix it with angel hair pasta. Yummy!

[Red'sGirl]

I love to do this and mix it with angel hair pasta. Yummy!

Oooh, that sounds great!