laZUgna and other ways I eat my veggies
There’s no easy way to say this so I’m just going to spit it out.
Hi, My name is Sari. I am a nutritionist and I don’t especially like vegetables.
*GASP*
I know. It’s horrible. I should be banned from the academy, but hear me out. I wish SO BADLY that I loved vegetables. That the idea of a crisp mixed green salad or a plate of roasted brussels sprouts set my heart aflutter and my stomach growling. But if it were up to my stomach, I, like a lot of people (right, guys??) would choose a cookie over a carrot every day of the week. The thing is, my head gets in the way. Because my head knows that while the cookie will taste delicious, if I eat a cookie instead of a veggie every time I’ll probably die from my blood turning to pure sugar. We need fruits and vegetables. They help fight disease and it looks like if you eat mostly plants, you might even live longer.
So I eat my veggies. And since I’m not a huge fan of them, I’m constantly looking for ways to get fired up about eating them. This has led to a lot of recipe misses...but every so often there’s a hit.
Zucchini anything is a solid standby in our house. This is a good one from Clean Eating that I like because it can be quick or inyou cut the zucchini, scoop it out, and toss in whatever you’ve got. Mushrooms and breadcrumbs like the recipe here, or cook up some ground turkey in a pan with some onions and whatever else you have in the house and fill up the little zucchini boats, stick ‘em in the oven and that’s dinner a la veg.
One thing I don’t encourage is hiding vegetables (especially with kids!). But I think you can use them instead of other things or incorporate them into dishes you like. Zucchini is great because it has a mild flavor but still feels hearty-enough to be the base of a dish. Since I’m not a huge fan of vegetables (see above) one way I like to use them is as a substitute for a grain in a dish that i know I like. Like this amazingly decadent laZUgna (name patent pending) which spares no calories, but tastes so good you’ll hardly miss the noodles. I’m not saying it tastes the same. But it’s a start. If you want to lighten that laZUgna up, it’s easy to use part-skim mozzarella cheese and don’t use quite as much oil. But I’m a big fan of treating yourself so I think that if it helps you enjoy the vegetables more (and you’re not following a strict calorie or other dietary guideline), go for the whole cheese and
Until next time...Eat your veggies!