Although the kid in us may not like it, including vegetables in our diet is extremely important. Vegetables have tons of nutrients and antioxidants which help you fight diseases and improves your health. This may not be an easy task as some of them do not have the most welcoming of flavors. For this reason, here is a guide to different ways of consuming veggies that will make them more enjoyable and exciting to eat!

Veggie Juices/Smoothies

Smoothies and juices make for a quick and delicious breakfast, lunch or snack. An easy way to add the nutritious benefits of vegetables to smoothies is by adding greens to them. Leafy greens like kale or spinach are a great source of nutrients that do not compromise the flavor of the smoothie blended with fruits. On the other hand, you can also try juicing vegetables together to create a savory drink. Some of the most popular vegetables to juice are carrots, cucumber, celery, kale, spinach, beets and romaine. Add a few oranges, apples or your choice of fruit to bring together all the flavors. This allows for a very different flavor from consuming vegetables in their regularly cooked form and can encourage even the most stubborn people to love vegetables.

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My go-to breakfast is usually a veggie and fruit smoothie because not only are they easy to make but they taste delicious too. They are very healthy and sometimes I forget that there are veggies in the smoothie!

— senior Sofi Villarroel

Veggie Replacement Foods

A great way to get the suggested daily vegetable intake is by replacing some of your favorite foods that are rich in carbohydrates and other unwelcoming ingredients with the same foods made with vegetables instead. A very popular example of this is pasta/spaghetti which is everyone’s favorite. However, it does not provide many nutrients and serves as a filler food more than anything. A replacement is kale pasta which can be found anywhere and tastes just as if not more delicious than regular pasta. Like this, there are many other foods that can be made with vegetables instead of the traditional way they are made and will turn out so flavorful that you will forget you are eating vegetables!

Add Dipping Sauce to Veggies

Another simple way to change the way you consume vegetables is by adding a bit of flavor to them. A fan favorite method is dipping vegetables like carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower and others in ranch. A healthier option can be to dip them into hummus, which allows for a more nutritious intake as hummus is made of chickpeas. Another idea that some people may do is add a small amount of butter to vegetables like green beans and broccoli to give them a more enjoyable flavor.

“One of my favorite ways to force myself to eat more vegetables is by dipping them in hummus. It tastes so good and is overall really healthy compared to dipping them in ranch or other sauces,” senior Melanie Elguezabal said.

Embed Veggies in Your Favorite Foods

A final method of consuming vegetables is to add them to some of your favorite foods that usually do not contain any vegetables. Some examples of this include zucchini lasagna in which you can replace the lasagna noodles with strips of zucchini. You can also combine the zucchini with the ground beef, cheese, and a variety of other vegetables. You can add them to any of your favorite casseroles, make a veggie omelet and add them to salads.

With these small easy steps that can be followed for any meal of the day, you will be well on your way to a healthier lifestyle. These steps allow for a wholesome based intake of vegetables in the most subtle way for those who usually do not like the taste of vegetables or have tired of eating them in the traditional ways they are consumed. Do not hesitate to give each of these a try and share them with those you know are not avid vegetable consumers.