Fruit and Veg

Wow, i didnt expect so many replies to my thread Some ideas here for me to keep up eating fruit and veg. I vaugly remember eating raw carrots as a kid, pinching them when my mum wasnt looking. I think i liked them so I might start eating them again like maria, I like raw peppers too

I cant do onions, they have a habit of making my very nauseous...frightening for maria when im sat up in bed at 2am, with sweats and shakes

I always cook a veg with every meal, I never do ready-meals and like Grunty, I love my cooking and am always trying to be creative.

Miss A*, apparently the more crunchy the food the better it is for you!

Things like broccoli and asparagus and cauliflower (which I steam),I will usually do a cheese sauce for.
Carrots, I usually boil them (not for too long) and put a teaspoon of set honey in the water while they are cooking ( I do this with peas too).

I will cook corgettes in the oven with water to cover in a glass dish and a knob of butter.

I am also in love with Butternut (being south african). Next time you have a roast you can slice them up, put some cinnamon on them and roast them in the pan with your meat and roast potatoes (I do this with sweet potatoes too but no cinnamon)
Butternut can also be cut up, boiled then scooped out and mashed up with a knob of butter and some black peppercorns ground over it.

I loooove aubergine, I either grill this in the grill pan with some olive oil which I have cloves of garlic in or I make a batter (naughty naughty) and deep fry them (Mr VT's dad loves these)

Ive also tried mashed celeriac which was nice and often like to do chinese stir fry....

Originally Posted by Alpinestarhero

Maria eats alot of fruit, which is making me change my eating habits.

Women have a way of doing that. I married a French woman, not sure if I'll live longer because of the improved diet, or shorter due to the added stress.

Yes, I eat lots of fruit and veg, but that's because I have the veg put down in front of me and the fruit thrown at me.

[gruntygiggles]

+1 on all VT's points. There are ways in which you can get the most out of the nutrients and vitamins that are in veg.

One of the most important things you can learn to do if you want to get the most from your veg is cook it right. In potatoes, which pretty much everyone loves.....cook them with the skin on. Whether you are mashing, boiling, frying, baking.....leave the skins on and when cooked, allow to cool a little and then peel. All of the nutrients are in the skins of potatoes, so doing this allows those nutrients to leach into the flesh and if you want to be super good, you can even steam them. My only exception to this rule is when doing a gratin. Then I peel first as I add the sliced potatoes raw....but I wash the skins and put them in the cream/milk to heat up, so do still get some flavour and nutrition from them....better than nothing eh!

Carrots are great vichy style.....you lose NO nutrients this way and Stretch LOVES them. Peel and cut into strips like chips. Put them in a deep pan with 100ml water, put a lid on and cook until they've soaked up the water. Then, another 50ml of water, 1 tbsp brown sugar and a knob of butter or low fat marg if you want and cook down until there is no water left and they are glazed and yummy....these go great with Beef Wellington, roast dinners etc.

The single best way to eat LOADS of veg without having to bite into it though is soups and again.....I have sooooo many recipes if you want any. Blitz them down and you don't know what's in them....lol

[gruntygiggles]

Originally Posted by -Ralph-

Women have a way of doing that. I married a French woman, not sure if I'll live longer because of the improved diet, or shorter due to the added stress.

Yes, I eat lots of fruit and veg, but that's because I have the veg put down in front of me and the fruit thrown at me.

I'm doing someting wrong.....Dan goes and buys his own fruit and I throw arctic rolls at him....lol

Originally Posted by gruntygiggles

+1 on all VT's points. There are ways in which you can get the most out of the nutrients and vitamins that are in veg.

One of the most important things you can learn to do if you want to get the most from your veg is cook it right. In potatoes, which pretty much everyone loves.....cook them with the skin on. Whether you are mashing, boiling, frying, baking.....leave the skins on and when cooked, allow to cool a little and then peel. All of the nutrients are in the skins of potatoes, so doing this allows those nutrients to leach into the flesh and if you want to be super good, you can even steam them. My only exception to this rule is when doing a gratin. Then I peel first as I add the sliced potatoes raw....but I wash the skins and put them in the cream/milk to heat up, so do still get some flavour and nutrition from them....better than nothing eh!

Carrots are great vichy style.....you lose NO nutrients this way and Stretch LOVES them. Peel and cut into strips like chips. Put them in a deep pan with 100ml water, put a lid on and cook until they've soaked up the water. Then, another 50ml of water, 1 tbsp brown sugar and a knob of butter or low fat marg if you want and cook down until there is no water left and they are glazed and yummy....these go great with Beef Wellington, roast dinners etc.

The single best way to eat LOADS of veg without having to bite into it though is soups and again.....I have sooooo many recipes if you want any. Blitz them down and you don't know what's in them....lol

Vichy carrots were one of the first recipes they taught us when i did my 7061/7062 at College

How can I make a good tomato soup? I like it nice and thick and with tomatoe bits, not just some sort of cream like texture like you get out of a can. When I went to kew gardens and the science meuseum, they had really nice tomato soup

Originally Posted by Alpinestarhero

How can I make a good tomato soup? I like it nice and thick and with tomatoe bits, not just some sort of cream like texture like you get out of a can. When I went to kew gardens and the science meuseum, they had really nice tomato soup

don't over blend it when you make it - i have a great recipe for it at home i'll PM it you later if you like.

Originally Posted by Tara

don't over blend it when you make it - i have a great recipe for it at home i'll PM it you later if you like.

yes pleassseeeee

I'll dig it out for you when i get in