Basic Recipes

Half the battle of serving vegetables is knowing how to cook them. As I stated in my profile, I work full time. I normally get home at 5:45 (or sometimes a little later). I like to have dinner on the table by 6:30. So that doesn’t leave a lot of time. Most of my recipes can be made in 20 minutes or less. It helps if you wash the vegetables the night before (but I know that doesn’t always happen). So here are some of my stand-bys for a quick vegetable.


Brussels Sprouts

Trim brown leaves (kids can help pull these off) from brussels sprouts and cut an “X” in the stem of each sprout. If the sprouts are large, cut them in half or quarters. Steam for 8-10 minutes. Do not over-steam. The sprouts will become bitter. Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a pan. Sauté sprouts for 1 to 2 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Kale with soy and sesame

Tear leaves of kale (little helper alert) from the thick stem. Steam for 7-10 minutes. Kale should still be bright green. Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in a sauté pan. Toss kale in sauté pan for a minute. Add a tablespoon of soy sauce and sesame seeds to Kale. Serve warm.

Kale Chips

Tear leaves of kale from the think stem. Toss kale with a tablespoon of sesame oil and soy sauce. Lay flat on a cookie sheet. Bake at 300 degrees for 15 minutes. Chips can also be dehydrated.

Swiss Chard

Heat a few tablespoons of oil in a skillet. Sauté ½ onion until it starts to caramelize (about 15 minutes). Add 1 clove of garlic minced and sauté for a minute. Chop swiss chard including stems into bite size pieces and add to skillet in batches. After the chard is slightly wilted, stir in the juice of 1/2 lemon, 1/3 cup of raisins, and ¼ cup pine nuts.

Do you need this blog for yourself?

Here's the good news and the bad news (depending on whether you like vegetables): You must eat the vegetables too. If you are not eating them, your children will likely not eat them. You may need this blog yourself in order to start your vegetable consumption. And as an added bonus, you will have a healthier diet.

I grew up in a household that served vegetables from a can. And only a few at that: peas, green beans, and corn. Even as an adult when I did my own grocery shopping, I bought canned vegetables. That’s what I knew. Then I met my husband. He grew up in a much different food culture than I did. He was appalled that I had canned vegetables in the cupboard (of course he didn’t say that at first). So then I began my journey of fresh vegetables. And wow! They actually tasted a lot better. To this day, I’m shocked at how much better a fresh green bean tastes compared to the canned version I used to eat. It doesn’t even taste like the same vegetable.

Start with the vegetables that you know you like. Then branch out. Like I said, my vegetable menu consisted of peas, green beans and corn. I remember once being served brussels sprouts as a kid. I gagged and refused to eat more than one…that was a long night at the dinner table. The first year we had the CSA share, there were fresh brussels sprouts one week. At first I didn’t know what to make of them. I believe those eventually went into the trash. The second time around, I thought what the heck, I’ll make them and see if I like them now. Low and behold, I loved them. It could be the preparation or that my tastes have changed, but brussels sprouts are now one of my favorite vegetables. There are also many others that I’ve come to love over the years. So branch out, try new vegetables.

If you eat them, your kids will too.