More Vegetables Without a Diet

Most people already know they would like to eat more vegetables. The trouble is the plan that usually comes with that wish: a list of banned foods, a strict menu and a week of feeling like you are failing by Wednesday.

This article takes the opposite road. You will not count anything or give anything up. You will add vegetables to meals you already eat, make them taste good, and keep them easy to reach.

Expect small change, not a makeover. Some weeks will go well and some will be pasta and toast, and that is fine.

Add, do not subtract

A diet works by taking things away, and anything taken away tends to become the thing you think about all day. Adding works the other way around. When a plate already has a good share of vegetables on it, there is simply less room for the rest, and nobody had to forbid anything.

Think of vegetables as a thing you put on the plate first. Spoon the greens or the roasted squash down, then add the rice, the egg, the chicken or the bread beside it. The meal is the same one you were going to eat, with a bigger garden on the side.

This is not a rule about portions. It is a habit about order. Many people find that deciding the vegetable first makes every other choice at supper feel easier.

Make them taste like something

Plain boiled vegetables taught a lot of us to dislike vegetables. The fix is rarely willpower. It is usually salt, a little fat, some heat and a splash of something sour.

Here is a short list of what to reach for:

• Salt, early. Season while cooking, not only at the table.
• Fat. Olive oil, butter or a spoon of the pan juices carries flavor.
• Browning. A hot oven or a dry, hot pan turns the edges sweet and a little crisp.
• Acid. Lemon juice or a splash of vinegar at the end wakes up a dull dish.
• Something crunchy. Toasted seeds or breadcrumbs make a soft vegetable feel finished.

If you want the full oven method, the guide on how to roast a tray of vegetables every time walks through it step by step.

Keep them within reach

Food you can see gets eaten. Food hidden behind the milk gets thrown out on Sunday. This is plain kitchen sense, not science.

Wash and cut one or two vegetables when you unpack the groceries. Carrot sticks in a jar of water, a bowl of washed lettuce with a paper towel on top, a container of chopped cabbage. Then a snack or a quick supper is a matter of reaching, not chopping.

Put a bowl of fruit and a bowl of tomatoes on the counter, and leave the rest of the vegetables at eye level in the fridge. If it takes a search party to find the broccoli, it will wait a long time.

What is known, and what is only folklore

It is widely accepted that vegetables add fibre, color and variety to meals, and that most people eat fewer than they would like. That is about as far as this article will go. There is no magic vegetable, and no single food that fixes a diet or a day.

Folklore says you must eat a rainbow every day, or that raw is always better, or that a green juice makes up for a week of takeout. None of that is needed. A varied week of whatever is in season, cooked in ways you enjoy, is a solid foundation.

Your ordinary week

Here is how this can look without any special effort.

Monday, add a handful of spinach to whatever pasta you cook. Tuesday, make a salad of whatever is crisp, and finish with a good oil and salt. Wednesday, roast a tray of carrots and onions next to a chicken or a can of chickpeas. Thursday is leftovers. Friday is pizza with a pile of arugula on top, and no one will mind.

If you would like a ready-made scaffold, the week plan lays out supper ideas with a shopping list. And when you want to cook a pot for several days, try a pot of soup for the week.

Common mistakes

Starting too big. Buying ten kinds of vegetables on one trip usually means eight of them wilt. Buy three, use them up, and buy three more.

Chasing perfect meals. A frozen pea stirred into rice counts as a win. So does a sliced cucumber on the side of a sandwich.

Skipping the flavor step. If a vegetable tastes boring, it is usually under-seasoned, not wrong.

Treating one bad week as failure. Habits are built over many ordinary weeks, and a week of takeout is just a week.

One dish to make today

Start with something warm, quick and forgiving. This skillet takes one pan and leaves you with a supper you can eat with a fried egg, over rice, or just with bread.

Keep going

Eating more vegetables is mostly about making them easy and tasty, one meal at a time. Pick one habit from this page and keep it for two weeks before adding another.

When you are ready for more, read raw vs cooked vegetables for plain answers about how to prepare them, or one vegetable, five ways to cook through a single cabbage without getting bored.