In the past, I would boil hot water and put them over frozen vegetables. That was not very appetizing.
Today for lunch, I put some extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and baked peas and carrots and for dinner, I put some extra virgin olive oil in a bowl and baked green beans. The taste was excellent.
I have a few questions.
1 - Am I maintaining the nutrients in the vegetables and olive oil by using this method?
2 - What other ideas do you have to mix with vegetables that would make them taste better?
Any ideas or suggestions are greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
healthyeatingxyz
Hello healthyeatingxyz,
Is there a reason that you are using frozen vegetables? Fresh is much better tasting, has a better texture and is higher in nutrition. I recommend using only fresh when it comes to vegetables.
There are a number of methods that you can use when preparing vegetables to make them very nutritious and taste great.
Roasting: Cut the vegetables in uniform size pieces so that they cook evenly. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the vegetable in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. At this point you could add fresh herbs or dried spices. I really like fresh thyme and rosemary as they are both flavorful and very aromatic. Place the vegetables on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil (makes cleanup easier) in a single layer and roast until cooked through.
Steaming: Cut the vegetables in uniform size pieces so that they cook evenly. Place the vegetables in a steamer or large pot of boiling water with a steaming basket and cook until the vegetables are tender. Steaming is the best way of cooking vegetable when trying to maintain the nutritional value. You can add things like lemons cut in half, fresh herbs, and salt to the water to give the vegetables more flavor.
Grilling: This is my favorite method for preparing fresh vegetables, especially during the summer months. You can marinate the vegetables in a large bowl with a red-wine vinaigrette, Italian Dressing, or simply olive oil and salt and pepper. Vegetable kebabs are great and the flavor from the grill is awesome. you can try placing fresh thyme and rosemary on the grill and closing the lid to give the vegetables extra flavor. I personally like to marinade my kebabs in soy sauce with minced ginger, brown sugar, and garlic.
Stir fry: This is another great way to cook your vegetables. Most of the time stir fried vegetables are cooked al dente (a bit crunchy) which means that they are usually higher in nutrition. You can add any number of ingredients to flavor the vegetables: garlic, ginger, scallions, chili, lemon; just about anything that you like, not to mention that you can also create a sauce right there in your wok. If you don't have a wok they are very cheap or you can use a large saute pan and get similar results.
When cooking vegetables remember a couple of things: the longer that you cook them the more nutrients that they lose. Vegetables like to be cooked quickly and eaten shortly thereafter. Fresh is always better.
Good luck!