6 tips for delicious vegies

To help you get to 5 serves of vegies a day, here are our top tips for quickly and easily turning  veg into delicious dishes that will have you eating more vegies than ever!

1: Choose vegies in season

For starters, buy vegies in season as they will have been picked at their peak, making them fresher, tastier and full of nutrients. What’s more they will be cheaper.

If you’re unsure what vegetables are in season right now, check out what’s in season for  summer, autumn, winter and spring.

2: Dress them up

Whether you are cooking winter vegetables or summer salads, dressings are something easy to drizzle on top to make them taste great.

• Try our Caesar salad dressing or our Nicoise salad recipes for an all-purpose oil, vinegar and mustard dressing.
• When roasting winter veg such as potatoes, onions, pumpkin, Brussel sprouts and zucchini, enhance their natural flavours with a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  Try this balsamic baked vegetables recipe.
• Sprinkle some cheese like parmesan or cheddar to add flavour or try vegies in a white sauce to make them creamy.  Do both with this cauliflower and broccoli mac’ n cheese and get the added benefit of some bone-building calcium.

3: Season them with herbs and spices

Herbs and spices can transform any food and bring out its flavour.

Fresh herbs like basil, parsley and mint are great in salads and can be sprinkled over cooked dishes before serving.  Basil is a perfect match to tomato-based dishes and mint can make lentils and beans delicious.  Dried herbs and spices can be added to bring out the flavour while cooking – try rubbing cauliflower with ground cumin, or sprinkling pumpkin and potatoes with rosemary before baking.

For more inspiration, try this Mexican baked sweet potato flavoured with cumin and coriander.

4: Cook them in different ways

Vegies are so adaptable – they can be baked, mashed, steamed, fried or put on the BBQ. Try some different ways of cooking them.

• Turn your vegies into chips!  Try these baked vegie chips.
• Stirfries taste great when you add onion, baby spinach, capsicum, carrot, mushroom, bamboo, baby corn, broccoli and many more.  Why not try out this vegetable stir fry recipe.
• Try roasting potatoes, pumpkin, red onions, tomatoes, parsnip and beetroot in a little olive oil to bring out flavour and add crunch
• Turn vegies into dips like this kale and basil pesto or carrot and ricotta dip.
• Or don’t cook them – raw veg are delicious with hummus  or cream cheese.

5: Add extra veg to your favourite meals

Boost the flavor of vegies by adding a few extra to your favourite bolognaise, casserole or curry.

• Add black beans, kidney beans, lentils, carrots, corn kernels, mushrooms or zucchini to a pasta bolognaise.
• Casseroles are even better with extra potatoes, carrots, leek, parsnip and onion.
• Curry some vegetables –  add vegetables such as onion, capsicum, pumpkin, sweet potato, spinach, lentils, broccoli or green beans to your favourite curry sauce for some extra colour and crunch. Try this simple vegetable curry.
• Vegetables are delicious when added to meatballs, sausage rolls, koftas and burger patties. Check out this lamb and veg meatball recipe.

6: Add them to a smoothie

You would be surprised by what goes well in a smoothie. Some popular smoothie vegetables include carrot, beetroot, spinach, celery, cucumber and avocado. Add some zing with fresh ginger.

Why not try this delicious green smoothie that gives you 1 serve of veg in each glass!

Vegetables don’t have to be hum drum. With some creativity you can make them the hero of a delicious meal.

By Nick Thorne, Student Dietitian

© Cancer Council NSW 2024 Head Office Address: 153 Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Cancer Council NSW is registered with the Australian Taxation Office as an Income Tax Exempt Charity: Charitable Fundraising Authority No. 18521.

Some images on this site have been supplied by Cancer Council Western Australia's Crunch & Sip website