Taste the rainbow

Ideas for Eating More Vegetables

Your mum was right: eat your vegetables! But did you know that very few of us eat the recommended amounts of vegetables and fruit daily?

People know that they should eat more produce. Vegetables and fruits are stuffed full of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. They are also low in calories and can help you lose weight.

Vegetables and fruits contain substances called "phytonutrients." These are compounds that help the plant fight off disease. They are powerful defenders of our own health, too, fighting chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease, and blood pressure.

The Challenge

How to eat more veggies? Convenience is the key. Explore all forms of vegetables: fresh, frozen, canned, pre-washed and pre-cut.

• Frozen vegetables are a nutritious choice, as they are processed and flash frozen soon after being picked. In doing so, the vitamins and minerals, colour and taste is preserved. Think of frozen sweetcorn, peas, green beans, and mixed baby vegetable blend. They can be the start of, or an important part of, a great meal.
• Canned vegetables are very healthy as long as you choose the no-salt-added version. tinned tomatoes, mixed beans, mixed veg, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and peas are all widely loved.
• Support your local farms and produce stands by buying fresh produce in season. A love of good, healthy food often starts with fond memories of eating fresh produce in season. Check put your local farmer's markets and support local traders. Market trader's often sell vegetables at a fraction of the supermarket costs and there is always a deal to be done!
• Try new veggies whenever possible, and experiment to see if you like them cooked or raw. Add them to the dishes you're making. Never serve a meal without vegetables.

Beige food is bad

More Quick Ideas

• Drizzle low-fat salad dressing or a yoghurt dip on baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, pepper strips, cucumber sticks, celery sticks, asparagus stalks, and any vegetable you like.
• Toss pre-washed salad greens with tomato, avocado, red onion, and low-fat dressing, or add some beetroot, radish ,walnuts, sliced pear, and a bit of cheese. Baby spinach goes very well with sliced cucumber, sliced strawberries or mandarin oranges and a light dressing of oil and rice vinegar.
• Lettuce and tomato are always great on a spelt or rye  sandwich, but what about roasted peppers, eggplant, avocado, or portabella mushrooms?
• Homemade Pizza is a vehicle for a wide array of roasted vegetables in order to get them into the kids or the fussy man in your life!, as are soups, stews, and omelettes.

n

Ingredients

For the pizza dough

• 250g plain white flour
• 250g strong white flour
• 1½ level teaspoons fine
• sea salt
• 1 teaspoon easy blend
• (instant) yeast
• 1 tablespoon rapeseed or
• olive oil, plus a little extra
• For the topping
• About 300g kale or cavolo
• nero, leaves stripped from
• stalks and cut into ribbons
• Extra virgin olive oil
• to trickle
• 25g butter
• 3 onions, finely sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, sliced
• 200g cooked peeled
• chestnuts (vacuum-packed
• are fine)
• Sea salt and freshly ground
• black pepper

To make the pizza dough, put the flours in a large bowl with the salt and yeast. Mix well. Add the oil and 325ml warm water and mix to a rough dough. Flour your hands a little. Tip the dough out on to a work surface and knead for 5–10 minutes until smooth.

This is quite a loose, sticky dough – as it should be – so try not to add too much flour. It will become less sticky as you knead. Trickle a little oil into a bowl, add the dough and turn it. Cover with a tea towel and leave in a warm place to rise until doubled in size, 1–2 hours. Preheat the oven to 250C/Gas 9, if it goes that high, or at least 220C/Gas 7. Put a baking sheet in to warm up.

Meanwhile, add the kale or cavolo to a pan of boiling salted water and cook for about 3 minutes until tender. Drain in a colander and refresh under cold water. Drain, then squeeze out excess water.

Return the pan to a medium heat. Add a dash of olive oil and the butter. Sweat the onions for 10 minutes or until soft and golden.

Take out half and combine with the kale. Add the garlic and chestnuts to the onions in the pan and cook for 5 minutes. Add 200ml water and simmer for 2–3 minutes. Reduce to a rough puree with a handheld stick blender. Season.

Tip the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and deflate with your fingers. Rest it for a few minutes, then cut into three. Roll out one piece as thinly as you can. Scatter a peel (pizza shovel) or another baking sheet with a little flour (or polenta) and place the dough base on it. Spread one-third of the chestnut puree over the base, then scatter over one-third of the kale and fried onion. Give the whole lot a generous trickle of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt.

Slide the pizza on to the hot baking sheet in the oven (for a really crisp crust). Or, simply lay the baking sheet on the hot one in the oven (to avoid the tricky pizza transfer). Bake the pizza for 10–12 minutes until crisp and golden brown at the edges – even a little burnt in places. Repeat with the remaining dough and topping.

This recipe is one of hundreds of new recipes which can be found in the book which inspired the series, Hugh's Three Good Things.

Re-think Your Plate

Put the emphasis on veggies at mealtime. Fill half your plate with vegetables.  Learn about the different subgroups of vegetables: dark green, orange, starchy (limit your intake of these), other vegetables, and dry beans and peas. Did you know that you need a serving of dark green or dark orange vegetables or fruits at least every other day?

Veggies are an important part of everyone's diet. They contain dozens of important nutrients and have loads of dietary fibre. So what are the top veggies you should be eating to boost your disease-fighting potential? Read on to find out.

Tomatoes

Though technically a fruit, tomatoes are most often served like a vegetable. Full of lycopene, these beautiful red orbs (and all tomato-based products) are renowned for their cancer-fighting capabilities. Not only are they chock full of vitaminy goodness (from vitamins A to K), they also keep our blood pressure in check and help to reduce the number of free radicals in our bodies.
How to eat them: Heirloom tomato recipes

Broccoli

Few foods measure up to the disease-fighting potential of broccoli. This cruciferous veg is packed with antioxidants that help reduce the risk of stomach, lung and rectal cancers. And because broccoli is rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C and folate, it is also good at boosting your immunity to colds and flus.

How to eat it: Sesame-Ginger Frittata with Broccoli and Prawn

Brussels sprouts

These little green veggies are especially important for pregnant woman because they're packed with folic acid, a B-vitamin that prevents neural tube defects. Brussels sprouts are also packed with vitamins C and K as well as fibre, potassium and omega-3 fatty acids.
How to eat them: Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a side of Brussels Sprouts (cooking video)

Carrots

These orange-wonders are loaded with eye, skin and hair-enriching nutrients. They're also the richest vegetable source of some important antioxidants, like vitamin A. And because they're rich in vitamin C, carrots protect your cardiovascular system from damage.
How to eat them: Carrot Raisin Muffins

Squash

A good source of anti-inflammatory nutrients like vitamin C and beta-carotene, squash, especially summer squash, can help treat dozens of conditions including asthma, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Squash is also rich in potassium, magnesium and fibre.
How to eat it: Summer Squash Ravioli

Sweet potato

This root vegetable has dozens of anti-cancer nutrients like vitamin A, C and manganese. They're also a good source of fibre and iron, so not only do they give you energy, they can also help regulate your digestive system.
How to eat them: Sweet Potato Soup

Aubergine

High in heart healthy nutrients, eggplants are rich in antioxidants like nasunin (a unique compound that protects your brain cells from damage). And because eggplants are loaded with fibre and potassium, researchers believe they may reduce your risk of stroke and dementia.
How to eat it: Eggplant Parmesan

Bell Peppers

Whether you prefer red, orange or yellow, bell peppers are packed with dozens of heart-healthy nutrients like lycopene and folic acid. And recent research suggests digging into a pepper every day may lower your risk of developing lung, colon, bladder and pancreatic cancers.
How to eat them: Stuffed Roasted Bell Peppers

Spinach

This chlorophyll-packed type of produce is an excellent source of almost every vitamin and nutrient you need. Scientists believe a diet heavy in spinach may be able to prevent everything from heart disease to colon cancer, and arthritis to osteoporosis.
How to eat it: Spinach Salad

Onions

These pungent smelling veggies are particularly good for people suffering from (or at risk of developing) osteoporosis. That's because onions are loaded with a peptide called GPCS which scientists believe slows your body's loss of calcium. Onions may also be useful in the fight against heart disease and diabetes because they're loaded with vitamin C and folate.
How to eat them: French Onion Soup

And the best thing is combined with all those extra health boosting ingredients in your lotuslite and an increased vegetable intake - your bound to glow inside and out!