Easy ways to increase veg

[Goldensnitchupthejacksie]

Looking at ways to up my veg each day. I like homemade guacamole and have been making it to have on the side with various dishes: chilli, salmon, cous cous, wraps etc. I make it nice and chunky:

One red onion
Chopped cherry tomatoes
One or two avocados
Coriander
Lime juice
Salt and pepper

So between two people that's already a lot of veg and if it's served with chilli that has more tomatoes, onion and kidney beans through it. I've been making sure to have spinach, rocket etc always handy and throw a pile of leaves on with literally any dinner.

I've also taken to grating a carrot into porridge with cinnamon. Bonus is my toddler likes this too!

Any other ideas for getting more veg through the day?

Add spinach to banana milkshake. You can't taste it but get an iron boost

The easiest way is to make veg the main part of the meal, vegetable curries, stirfries, shakshuka packs a ton of veg, soup is a really easy way to get loads in, vegetable tagine, ratatouille, cauliflower cheese, stuffed veg, shepherdess pie.

If something is topped with potato you can switch to almost any root veg mashed. Cauliflower rice, or just add veg to normal mash. Switch a jackets for sweet potatoes.

As well as guacamole you could make hummus, salsas, minted pea dip, beetroot dip, bonus points if you serve with crudités!

Would never have thought of this. How much can you get away with before it ruins the taste?

Not veg, but I do add chia and flax seeds to porridge, soup, smoothies etc too.

Great ideas. We eat a lot of soup already but I love the dip idea! I'm forgetting that our love of humous also counts towards veg intake. Our fridge is never without a tub.

Will make a stir fry this week too- haven't had one in ages

I do a small handful and have it every morning with oat milk and protein powder. You can also add yoghurt and / or peanut butter. A great way to start the day.

Why are you increasing your veg? Animal concerns, reducing cholesterol/calories, saving money, increasing fibre? Depending on your requirements, although guacomole is good in many ways, it can be very high in good fats and calories! There is a book with recipes for toddlers where veg is hidden in every meal. I don't know the book name, but someone else might.

• Cakes, muffins and brownies can contain veg. Courgette, carrot or beetroot. Not the healthiest, but certainly adds veg
• I add veg to bolognese, cottage pie and lasagne. Grated carrot and courgette, peas/corn or even pureed into the sauce if it needs to be hidden. Add slices of veg in lasagne instead of or to reduce the pasta sheets.
• If I make pizzas at home, I always add rocket and/or spinach leaves when it comes out of the oven
• I cut back the mince in certain recipes and add more veg

@SM4713

Simply health reasons. I'm trying to get my toddler eating more veg and realise I can get quite lax with it too and maybe missing opportunities to get more veg in meals for all of us.

What @AtleastitsnotMonday said. I've been doing the Zoë thing, that has lots of recipes with different veg in them. Tonight we had a harissa salmon traybake. The recipe is something like a chopped aubergine, onion, couple of red peppers, garlic, punnet of cherry tomatoes, some olives, tin of cannellini beans tossed in a couple of tbsps of olive oil, baked for 30 mins with salmon fillets coated in Greek yogurt, harissa and some lemon juice added at the appropriate time for them to cook. Didn't have any toms so I used half a butternut squash diced quite small, and butter beans. Served with some sort of green veg, the beans serve as the 'carb'.

Op I've also randomly started to make guccamole. I think it's because one dc likes normal avacado but the other one doesn't but likes it this way.

-Sub mince with half lentils
-Veg in tomato sauces (onion/ celery/ carrots/ pepper/ whatever)
-Risotto made with cannellini beans instead of arborio rice (roast squash and kale is my fave at this time of year)

• hummus and veg sticks for snacks
• a few green veg and less starch/ carb with your meal - so if having sausage and mash, half the potatoes and serve when peas, broccoli and green beans instead of just peas for example

What do you mean about the cannellini beans for risotto?

Risotto is something I make nearly every week either with chicken or smoked haddock. Veg is things like garlic, onion, kale, peas, broccoli.

Blended butternut squash is a great alternative to tomato sauce for homemade pizzas and pasta. Toddlers particularly love it.