3 Tips to Eat and Actually ENJOY Vegetables

TRUTH: I'm a certified holistic health coach and food mindset coach.

ALSO TRUTH: I used to HATE vegetables.

I didn’t eat a vegetable (besides corn and plain romaine lettuce) until I was about 18 years old.

Let’s back up.

I have a geographic tongue and fissured tongue (google it, if you feel like you need an image to visualize this). Basically what this means is that my taste buds taste things MUCH more intensely than the average buds, especially with spicy and acidic foods.

Since I had a few jarring experiences with food, I was terrified to try new things, especially vegetables!

I was SO picky, and only stuck with what I knew I liked. Plain pasta with butter or a drizzle of olive oil, white pizza (red sauce was a hard NO for me - which my Italian grandparents

definitely didn’t approve of), dinosaur chicken nuggets, and Costco’s frozen mozzarella sticks.

Those were my meal options, seriously, for almost 18 years.

Now, I know you don’t need to have a geographic or fissured tongue to be a picky eater, but if the thought of eating “healthy” food makes you cringe, I want you to know I’ve been there.

At this point in my life, I spent more years eating dinosaur chicken nuggets than I’ve spent eating kale -- so I get it.

BUT I share this story with you because I want you to know it is possible to go from veggie-hater to veggie-lover.

You already know I DON’T believe in food restriction of any kind: and instead, encourage you to just ADD more plants to your plate.

Vegetables are my favorite thing to cook these days, they’re so easy to make, and even EASIER to make them taste delicious.

A few of my clients have come to me as picky-eaters, and with a few simple changes, they’ve learned to love veggies, too!

Here’s my 3 tips for eating more vegetables that actually taste good:

1. CRISP THEM - There’s nothing more satisfying than a salty-crispy bite. Think: french fries, chips, fried-chicken. Now take that texture/flavor and use it on vegetables. Veggies I’d recommend for this method: broccoli, kale, carrots, eggplant, squash, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, and brussels sprouts. I recommend you roast them with a nice drizzle of olive oil at 375 degrees until the edges start getting golden brown. Just make sure you leave space between the cut up veggies on the sheet pan, so they don’t steam and get mushy.

2. BLEND THEM - Smoothies, soups, and pesto are my FAVORITE ways to get greens into my life. I like to add a ½ - 1 cup of frozen cauliflower, frozen zucchini or spinach to my smoothies in the morning. You honestly cannot taste the veg if you mix it with the fruit. For soups, it’s easy enough to add a handful of greens (or other veggie) into the pot - and it’ll just take on the flavor of the rest of the soup! Pestos are another simple way to get more greens (and plants) on your plate. I just make sure there’s a good balance of herbs, greens, garlic, lemon juice, salt and nuts -- blend it up and enjoy with pasta or on any protein.

3. SAUCE THEM - Think about your FAVORITE sauce: buffalo, bbq, honey-mustard, sweet & sour… whatever you like. Now, roast/steam/cook your veggies and toss them in that sauce. You will LOVE it because you KNOW you already love the flavor!

Try these simple ways to make veggies taste AMAZING and I promise you can go from picky-eater, to veggie-lover, just like me!

Share your plant-pics with me @bewellwithmarissa on Instagram!

Be Well,

Marissa