Making veggies taste good!

[LittleDrops]

My exDH used to do most of the cooking, good wholesome, healthy meals. Now that I am single, I do eat well, but struggle to get my 5+ per day. The mainstay of my diet is fish, handfuls of veggies and very rarely some fresh chicken. I don't like meat much but can't do lentils or beans due to my guts.

I see a lot of great advice on MN about how to add more veg to meals, but no one ever mentions whether there is a sauce or dressing to taste. A lot of salad and veg is rather uninspiring alone, so I am curious as to what you all use to pull together one of these infamous 'huge salads' or when you pair a plate of veggies with lean meat. Do you just eat the vegetables as they are, or add something?

I don't have a lot of experience with cooking, so would love some tips.
My typical dinner might include mackerel, broccoli, green beans and spinach, but what would you add to this to bring it together? I use herbs and spices but still struggle to make a basic plate of veg exciting.

I love veg! Even just butter and salt or olive oil and lemon improves most veg to be honest.

A bit of butter or olive oil with this mixed in and then drizzled on 😋

Highly recommend the River Cafe veg every day recipe book! I've made loads of their recipes and every one has been lovely. They're dead easy to make as well.

There’s a good book called the Green Roasting Tin which is all veggie recipes that you cook in the oven (hence the name) - the recipes are complete meals but can easily be/be adapted to side dishes. Loads of great ideas with herbs, flavourings etc and good veg combinations. Veg Every Day by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is another book I’d recommend.

Cross post DameEtna if as I suspect you mean River Cottage! It’s such a useful book.

Don’t boil veg, it takes all the flavour. Use the microwave, or use an airfryer to roast them in a little oil. Really intensifies the flavour, and makes the texture nicer. Or griddle them on a bbq or good griddle fry pan
Also recommend any River Cottage cook book for veg recipes

Butter, salt, lemon juice, ev olive oil, black pepper, toasted mustard seeds, tahini dressing, mustard dressing.

Yes I do!!! The Huw Fearnley Whittingstall one!

And leafy greens, even cabbage, are amazing if you: chop and wash, melt a bit of butter (or oil) and garlic in a frying pan, add veg when it's still a bit wet, add a lid and just stir every few mins so it goes caramelised as it steams.

Sautéed with butter and garlic and pepper makes most things taste amazing. Shredded sprouts, cabbage, diced courgette, Broccoli. Just make sure you don't overcook them. Should all still have some bite.

Ah, I don't seem to like anything fried/sauteed, I don't like the taste for some reason. I do steam my veg or roast it with a dash of good oil though.

I will definitely check out the book recs, thank you!

Don't a lot of these things up the calorie content quite a bit?

OMG i love sprouts, forgot about those!

If you're avoiding fat, just lemon juice, salt and pepper is nice. I also like Japanese oil-free dressings.

We tend to eat a lot of things that are sauce based, rather than veg cooked separately. For example, tea this evening we're having a Cuban beef stew. It's got four peppers in, different colours, onions, garlic, coriander and chopped tomatoes. Enough to qualify as three portions of our five each.

We do a lot of stir-fry type meals. We tend not to buy ready made sauces but have an extensive selection of ingredients to make our own. Anything goes in a stir-fry, we use up leftover veg in ours very often.

A favourite meal of mine is a cheeseburger salad. Some kind of leaf, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, gherkins, grated cheese and a burger on top. Finished with ketchup and yellow mustard. If you don't like beef, you can use any kind of burger and you can swap the sauces for other condiments like mayo.

Get yourself some good recipe books or subscribe to cooking magazines (we get loads free with Kindle Unlimited. The more you cook, the more you learn what flavours work with what. For example, cauliflower roasted with olive oil mixed with curry powder is delicious! It doesn't have to be fancy or complicated. You could serve with a cucumber raita, side salad and fish cooked with curry based flavours too.

wonderful ideas, thank you!

I do like making homemade flatbread, might freeze some. Could layer grilled veg on with garlic, seasoning, herbs. I am fond of melting mozzarella!

not too bothered about a bit of extra fat but dont want to up my cals too much.

Broccoli is much nicer roasted in a bit of olive oil and salt than steamed.

Steamed green beans go well with lemon and olive oil dressing. Maybe a bit of sauteed garlic or a few flaked almonds.

That burger salad sounds really nice!

I tend to boil say brocoli for a few minutes then finish off in the oven with garlic paste, salt and oil.

I love griddled asparagus.

Butter and salt makes everything taste better.

For dressings you need a part sour and a part sweet. Honey and mustard is classic, lemon and black pepper is another one.

Feta makes most green veg or Mediterranean veg taste better.

If I was having fish and steamed veg I'd squirt lemon juice over it or I'd make it using Mexican seasoning and squirt lime.

If I made salmon parcels in the oven I'd add spring onions, tomatoes, butter, seasoning and lemon. Then when it's cooked I'd put the juice that comes out of that over my veg.

Ooh i love you lot! Thanks so much, the rover cottage veg every day book looks to be just my cup of tea. Into the basket it goes!

Will most definitely be trying the roast broccoli in oil/salt as well as the lemony green beans.

@CatsSnore fantastic tips!

river cottage

Do you have a griddle pan? I cook tenderstem broccoli and green beans in one with garlic and Nigella seeds. I have olive oil in a spray bottle and literally use two sprays.

I also use a lot of balsamic and fruit vinegars. Lime juice with chilli and coriander is really good with anything Mexican. I also use fat free yoghurt with mint and garlic as a salad dressing.

Tonight we’re having (with roast pork, roast potatoes, onions and gravy) a mix of cauliflower, broccoli and leeks, all together with a ‘dressing’ of cheese sauce.

Sounds lovely!

If you use mint in a dressing, are you chopping it finely and stirring in or using a pestle to crush it? I am imagining this would release more flavour like with basil, but don't rightly know!

As I live alone i want to avoid making large batches of dressings that can't be frozen. I used to make pesto but the longevity and amount were not practical for me so now I buy belazu chilli pesto and couldnt give it up for any money

Salt.
WHITE pepper. This is essential - black pepper will not do the same favour.
Ghee instead of regular butter.

Oh I forgot about natural yoghurt dressing! I sometimes make a curried oven baked cod/chicken and then mix mint sauce and natural yoghurt together for the dressing. You can add cucumber to it to make raita but I usually can't be arsed. Natural yoghurt and chilli sauce together is nice to!

Don't forget about little things like capers/anchovies/roasted harrissa chickpeas etc that makes a salad even nicer! Tuna or makeral with capers are lovely together.

Loving these, thanks!

I don't think i have ever used white pepper. What would it work well with?