5 Ways to Sneak More Vegetables into Your Diet

If you’re reading this blog, chances are I’m not your mother. But I’m still going to tell you to eat your vegetables.

Between coaching and personal training, I’ve read my fair share of food logs, and it always amazes me how many people eat hardly ANY vegetables. And if they DO eat vegetables, it’s something weak like carrot sticks and frozen peas.

Don’t get me wrong, I’d much rather eat a plate of bacon than a bunch of broccoli, but veggies are important. They’re packed with nutrients and fiber to keep us healthy and regular. And assuming you don’t eat an entire spring’s harvest, they’re essentially free calories. It’s hard to overeat most vegetables, especially if you’re not getting many to begin with.

Whether it’s a flavor thing or a texture thing, these five tips can help you sneak more veggies into your diet.

1. ADD FROZEN SPINACH TO SHAKES

If you want to completely mask the flavor of your leafy greens, fill a couple Ziploc bags with spinach and toss them in the freezer. Then, the next time you whip up a protein shake or fruit smoothie in the blender, chuck a big handful of frozen spinach in with the rest of your ingredients. You’d be amazed at the volume of spinach you can put in a shake without adding any veggie flavor.

2. ADD HEALTHY FATS AND BOLD SEASONINGS

Cooking vegetables can sometimes make them even less appetizing. I consider myself a vegetable enthusiast, but the thought of boiled carrots, creamed spinach or steamed cauliflower makes my stomach kind of queasy.

Delicious cooked veggies are all about the technique and what you add to them. Sauté things like leafy greens, peppers, onions and broccoli in healthy fats like coconut oil or butter from grassfed cows. Or both (hands down the tastiest option). Then season generously with salt, pepper and bold seasonings like garlic, red pepper flakes or cumin.

3. MAKE KALE CHIPS

One of my roommates in grad school ate the hippiest food I’ve ever seen. A former scholarship college soccer player turned triathlete, she was extremely active, yet subsisted on seemingly nothing but humus, chia seeds and other hippy-dippy things that pretty much resembled bird food. But as much crap as I gave her for her diet, she did introduce me to kale chips. And for that, I am forever grateful.

Disguising one of the world’s healthiest vegetables as junk food – genius! Here’s how you do it:

• Get a ton of kale. I’m talking at least two big bunches. It shrinks in the oven.
• Rinse, dry with paper towels and chop into small square pieces.
• Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.
• Season with olive oil, salt, pepper and pretty much anything else you want.
• Put on a big baking sheet and let those bad Larry’s go for 15-20 minutes until crispy.

It sounds weird but seriously, they are SO GOOD. Crunchy, salty and completely void of any bitter vegetable taste. It’s also really easy to eat a ton of them, which is great assuming you’re not drowning them in ranch dressing.

4. HIDE THEM IN MEATY DISHES

Don’t like vegetables as a solo act? Stir fry and omelets will be your best friends.

It doesn’t get much easier than stir fry. Chop up some onions and throw them in a hot pan with some coconut oil. Add peppers, broccoli, mushrooms, Swiss chard and whatever else your heart desires until the veggies turn a slightly brighter color than they started. Add chopped-up chicken or beef, serve over a bed of rice and you’re golden.

The omelet strategy is pretty similar. Onions, tomatoes, peppers, mushrooms, spinach, whatever. Fry ’em up in some butter, pour a few (or a dozen) beaten eggs in the pan and go to town.

5. GET A HIGH-QUALITY GREENS SUPPLEMENT

As a last resort, buy a high-quality greens powder to help fill in the nutritional gaps that don’t get filled in with whole foods. It’s pretty tough to cover the entire spectrum of vitamins and minerals with food alone, and most multivitamins are garbage. So even if you’re eating a ton of fruits and veggies, you can still benefit from a greens supplement.

My two favorite greens supplements are Athletic Greens and Sunwarrior Ormus Greens. You can’t go wrong with either one.

Remember – greens powders are NOT a substitute for eating lots of whole, fresh vegetables. But they’re certainly better than taking some under-dosed, poorly-absorbed multivitamin.

NO DESSERT UNTIL…

With these five tips, you’ve got no excuse not to eat more veggies. Try them out and reap the benefits of better digestion, immune function and all-around well-being.