My Top 5 Ways To Make Your Vegetables Taste Better!!

There are a lot of articles online on sneaky ways to eat more vegetables and how to trick your brain into liking vegetables so you get more nutrients in your meals. I pause and wonder how does anyone think that this kind of approach can work? Unless you have some magic powers and know how to make broccoli taste like peanut butter, broccoli is still broccoli. In order for it, or any other kind of vegetable, to be featured on your plate you have to find ways to make it enjoyable for your palate. 

It’s time to get creative and find new ways for you and helps you achieve eating more veggies!! You may not like all the vegetables, legumes, fruits, nuts or seeds that exist out there and that’s perfectly fine, but you should definitely try and find the ones you do like, or find different ways to prepare and cook them so you can improve their taste  – healthy is not the enemy of tasty.

So here are my top 5 ways for you make your vegetables more enjoyable:-

1. Sauté vegetables with herbs and vegetable stock

A simple way to infuse your veggies with mouth-watering flavours and aromas is to sauté them in a little bit of olive oil, some vegetable stock (to keep the fats and calories down and also to avoid your vegetables getting too brown or sticking to the pan) and herbs like oregano, basil, thyme. 

2. Use lemon juice

When you steam broccoli, spinach, brussels sprouts if you add a squeeze of lemon juice on top of them, it’ll completely improve their taste. Add some salt and pepper, maybe some oregano or thyme and it’s a whole different story.

3. Roast them in the oven

Roasted vegetables taste different and most people like them more than steamed or raw, mainly because they caramelize in the oven and they get sweeter and crispier.  There’s nothing easier than to chuck some carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, asparagus and even beetroot in a tray, sprinkle some olive oil, add a pinch of salt and pepper, oregano, basil or other herbs of your choice and throw them in the oven for 20 minutes. You’ll want to eat this all day every day.

4. Massage your leafy greens

If you want to make hearty greens part of your daily diet, but you’re dreading their bitter taste, you can massage them with a little salt, oil and sprinkle of lemon juice. It will make them softer, less bitter and easier to digest. That goes for kale, cabbage, broccoli – after you’ve massaged them for several minutes, leave them aside for all the flavours to settle and mix well.

5. Add a sweet glaze

Brussels sprouts, parsnips and turnips are earthy vegetables and they have a bitter taste which can linger even after you roast them. If you use a balsamic, maple syrup or even honey glaze on top of them after you’ve taken them out of the oven, they’ll get a touch of sweetness that will make the entire dish taste way better.

If you want to know what herbs go best with which vegetable, use the below as a guide but don’t be afraid to get creative with it. Remember this is about finding what works for you!

• Beetroots pair wonderfully with herbs like coriander, dill, ginger, sage, thyme and dill. You can use them to make soup, salad, or even a veggie stew. 

• Courgettes go really well with parsley, garlic, oregano. They can be used as a substitute for less healthy ingredients and you can have them as fried, stuffed, boats, noodles or strips.

• Combine aubergines with garlic, sage, basil or rosemary. You can make a vegan lasagna to die for using this one, paired with some sweet potatoes and courgettes.

• Broccoli goes really nice with oregano, rosemary, nutmeg, chives, thyme, garlic. It’s a very versatile vegetable and although most people stay away from it because of its false reputation as a bland veggie, to get the best out of it squeeze some lemon juice on it, whether you’re cooking it spicy, savoury, or creamy.

• Pair cauliflower with dill, coriander, basil, curry, oregano or even mint. Also, mashed cauliflower tastes just like mash potatoes and it’s so much more nutritious.

• Match Brussels sprouts with marjoram, parsley, rosemary or oregano. This one too has a bad rep because of its strong taste, but if you use the right herbs and spices you’ll end up wondering why you spent so much time avoiding it.