I remember a time (in the not so distant past) when I hated vegetables. They were boring, tasted like crap, and I honestly didn’t even know how to prepare them correctly. With everyone all gung-ho about eating healthy for the new year I’m trying to find some of my favorite vegetable side dishes to share. One of my best eating healthy tips: whenever I make dinner I’ll always fill at least half of my plate up with veggies to eat first.
Vegetable Medley (adapted from original here)
Ingredients:
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 Tb. Olive Oil
- 1/2 lb fresh mushrooms, diced or sliced (whatever you prefer)
- 1/2 lb fresh green beans, cut into 1″ pieces
- 1 lb bag of carrots, diced
- 1/2 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
Directions:
- Steam green beans and carrots in a large pot with 1″ of boiling water. Cover, and cook until tender. Drain.
- Melt oil in a large skillet and sautee onion and mushrooms until almost tender. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in the steamed veggies and seasonings. Cook for a few more minutes to heat through.
Be careful with the seasonings – I tend to add to much if I don’t measure it correctly and it can be pretty salty. I’d suggest adding as little as you think necessary at first then add more if you need to. I really love this dish because it’s so healthy, just look at all those colors! It makes a good amount, I’d say maybe 5 cups? I have about a cup at a time with dinner so it lasts me for an entire week.
What are your favorite vegetable side dishes? I’d love to find some new ones!
Yum! I love to roast broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, and b.sprouts together. Seasoned with balsamic vinegar and a salt-free seasoning.
I’ve roasted all those except brussle sprouts, and I actually bought some of those to roast a few weeks ago and they went bad before I could! Everyone raves about them, thank you for reminding me to pick some more up to try!
Always looking for new side dish ideas and this sounds great! I just made a honey glazed carrot recipe last night that was really good–let me know if you want recipe!
Ohhh that reminds me of one of my favorite recipes – Algerian carrots! They are steamed with a bit of cinnamon and cumin, will share asap!
Oh, Erica. You’ve read my mind. I’ve been thinking so much lately about how I need to get more veggies into my diet. But since I’m doing Intuitive Eating, and since I never liked eating my veggies, I never crave them, and therefore, I don’t eat them. I need to give this recipe a try. :)
It can be a challenge making vegetables taste good without drenching them in fat or oil but this has been one of the most successful recipes I’ve tried so far! Let me know what you think if you try it :)
So happy I read this as I was doing my grocery list – making this TONIGHT. Our house is one giant cold virus this week; this is exactly what we need!
Aww I hate to hear everyone is sick! I spent the first half of my Christmas vacation sick. Thankfully I’m feeling better (right before the term starts again, of course!)
I roast veggies all the time but never thought to to use white pepper, sounds intriguing and delicious!
I only bought it for this recipe and really enjoy it. It’s like a mild black pepper. I always forget I have it and hope to start using it on other recipes in place of traditional pepper more often!
I definitely need to add more veggies into my diet. I really try to make sure they are included in at least every dinner, but sometimes I seem to get over ridden on that one. I like that you gave your neighbors as taste of their own medicine with the Hootie. :)
Lol, I told my friends about the Hootie revenge and they thought I picked it specifically because Hootie was terrible music. I actually love them!
Love me some vegetable melodies – ESPECIALLY leeks and cabbage mixed together! :) (Did I just say melodies? Ah ha ha, yes my veggies SING to me!!)
Lol, I’m totally calling it vegetable melodies now! I’ve never had leeks and cabbage mixed together, how do you prepare them? It sounds delicious!
For the leeks and cabbage, I just cut them both up (diced) and sautee them with coconut oil (unflavored)! It’s really delicious and honestly makes me feel SO HEALTHY while eating it lol.
I must confess: I have never cooked with coconut oil! I should pick some up and try this, I love simple sauteed veggies!
I def won’t hold it against you! For the longest time I was scared of coconut oil because it’s straight up saturated fat, but I am convinced that Medium Chain Fatty Acids are very healthy so I load up now! ;)
What a yummy and healthy looking side dish. I love roasting veggies and having them on the side. I may have to give this one a try though.
What are your favorite roasted veggies? I just started roasting veggies regularly this past year and I love cauliflower, squash and potatoes!
I friggin love vegetables, and that plate looks delicious! As soon as I saw that dish, cheese sauce came to mind, I’m not sure it’d go well but it might work haha :)
When it comes to vegetable sides, I do quite like a pure vegetable stir fry: beans, baby sweetcorn, broccoli etc. and cooked slightly al dente. Doesn’t go with all things out there, but it’s definitely one of my faves!
I love sprinkling nutritional yeast (which has a mild cheddar flavor) on veggies! I haven’t quite mastered the art of the stir-fry yet. I know it’s supposed to crsip the veggies nicely but mine always end up soggy, which is probably why I just steam them usually!