Do the vegetables in Bolannaise ‘count’ ?

[FollowYourOwnNorthStar]

I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to get more vegetables into my day, and one way has been adding more vegetables to stews and things like bolannaise.

Leave aside what exactly should go in a bolannaise sauce (another recent thread!) the vegetables I put in are grated onions, carrots and zucchini, then chopped garlic, baby spinach leaves, mushrooms and any tomatoes if I have them (always used tinned tomatoes too).

In doing so I reduce the mince/meat required for each person, so from a health perspective I thought I was making the meal healthy twice - less meat per serve and more vegetables. (It tastes delicious too!)

However my sister thinks that vegetables like this don’t ‘count’. That by grating and cooking them down so much, their nutritional value is pretty low and, whilst still an ok healthy meal, it’s not as good as I think.

I’ve tried to google the answer, but opinions are divided about eating vegetables cooked or raw with a case made for both sides or in favour of some but not others.

What does everyone else think?

Of course it counts. There literally are vegetables in the sauce which you are eating.

You'd have to figure up how much veg you're eating depending on how much sauce you use though.

They absolutely count, yes

Rubbish, of course they count. In mine there are tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini, red capsicum, onion, and carrot.

YABU just by calling Courgette, zucchini.

If you are making the vegetables into a sauce they still count. However if you put 5 portions of veg in per person you might only be left with 2 portions per person once cooked off.

Is it like a hollandaise sauce? How do you add vegetables to that sort of thing? Don't see why they wouldn't count though.

I've never really thought about them losing their nutritional value?

I currently puree for my additional needs 17mo and I put as many veggies as possible into her bolognese.

YABU just by calling Courgette, zucchini.

They could be American!

But bolannaise? 😂

But yes they count ...

Is it like a hollandaise sauce? How do you add vegetables to that sort of thing? Don't see why they wouldn't count though

Fairly sure the o/p means bolognese...

Some vegetables actually release more vitamins when cooked (like tomatoes - good news in a bolognese!) but you are definitely doing the right thing. Bulk it up with veg and less meat. But like with fruit juice only should count as one fruit serving no matter how much you drink, I wouldn’t think your sauce would count for more than one serving of veg just by the amount of veg in your actual serving size.

Sweet Jesus. It's bolognese.

Oh bolognese!

Yes of course they count. I use tinned and fresh tomatoes, onion, garlic, carrot... Sometimes I'll make it with lentils rather than meat, or half and half, if I fancy a healthier dinner too.

Of course they count. Perhaps not quite as nutritious as raw but a lot better than nothing.

I’m not sure why grating would reduce nutrients, we chew food after all

By the way frozen veg often have more nutrients than fresh if they have been frozen straight after picking

Thanks for the replies! And about my spelling error for bolognese!

And I’m Australian and it’s zucchini here. I’d forgotten it was courgettes in the UK.

I figured Australian because you said serve, as opposed to serving.

When I make bolognese, I use a tin of chopped tomatoes and put them in a blender with a few carrots, a red pepper, a couple handfuls of frozen mushrooms and a couple of handfuls of frozen beetroot. Then I dice an onion. It all counts! If you buy a jar of sauce, they say "1 of your 5 a day". It counts!!! Your sister is talking completely bullshit.

It counts. Some vitamins are destroyed by heat some aren't. If cooked food never counted we'd all be struggling. Don't call it Bolognese though.

IHaveBrilloHair I wasn’t aware that serving/serve was a difference - I’ll look more closely when I read MumsNet now!

The big difference I had noticed was sat/seated. People on Mumsnet don’t use the word seated?

Well I agree with everyone else but have never understood why smoothies only count as one even though you might have lots of different fruit and vegetables in there

She didn't call it Bolognese. She called it Bolannaise and it is her own new recipe! 😀

Of course this is a great way to increase your vegetable intake. I'm sure lots of us do this ourselves and it is also good for children who aren't so keen on visible vegetables.

I think your sister doesn't really understand much about nutrition, tbh. All the nutrition from the veg remains in the sauce. It's not like boiling veg to death and the nutrition ending up down the drain.

I always thought if you cooked the shit put of something then all the nutrients leaked out into the water. So if you boil broccoli for 20 min and chuck the water away it will be less nutritious than if you steam it

But if you eat or drink the water or the sauce that the veg has been cooked in then you dont lose the goodness? As otherwise soup wouldn't be healthy!

Slightly derailing, but if you are in the UK, OP, might I suggest a trip to Bologna in Italy? You won’t find much spaghetti Bolognese but you will find wonderful vegetable markets, fab restaurants and you can even go to Parma for the ham and Modena for the balsamic vinegar. You would love it!

I thought they all counted! That's my story & I'm sticking to it.