15 Ways...continued

Chill Out Man!

Here’s another way to eat seasonal veggies. Eat frozen veggies! Did you know that frozen vegetables are picked at the peak of ripeness and then flash frozen? Flash freezing is the space age technology of quick freezing (usually within seconds) & is done on location where the produce is harvested. This locks in all the flavors, juices, vitamins and minerals and allows the products to keep for long periods of time. Each product is kept in this frozen state until it is thawed, ensuring that it will be just as fresh as when it was frozen. Flash frozen veggies & fruits retain more nutrients and a whole lot more flavor!

Get Thee to a Market!

This one kind of goes hand-in-hand with, “Holding out for the best”. Did you know that the flavor of cruciferous veggies intensifies the longer they’re on the shelf? Farmer’s Markets are a great way to take advantage of just picked produce. They are a whole lot fresher than your local grocery store’s produce & you are also supporting local farmers. Give it a try some time…you may be amazed at how different broccoli tastes when it is only a day or two old vs. a few weeks!

Keep Them Safe from Bad Company!

Storing many fruits and vegetables in the same shelf/drawer can cause them to become bitter tasting. Carrots, squash, some herbs and parsnips can become very bitter when stored near apples, apricots, avocados, peaches cantaloupes, peppers and tomatoes because of the ethylene gas they emit. Keep them in separate crispers.

Add Some Sneaky Vegetables...

If you or your child doesn’t like the taste of vegetables, soup, chili or pasta sauce may be your best solution: I routinely add pureed sweet potatoes and carrots to my chili and pasta sauce. No one in my family can tell the difference, not even my husband (our resident sweet potato hater)! Shhhh, don't tell!

You can also bake them into goodies. Sneak grated carrots or zucchini into muffins & breads. Or you can add pureed carrots, sweet potato, pears or plumbs to the next cake you bake. (I use baby food…Yes! Baby food. It’s already pureed & I don’t have to worry about sifting out any lumps).

Sign Up for Eggplant 101

Most people have no idea the nutritional bounty encased within the purple skin of an eggplant. I consider myself extremely adventurous when it comes to food…I have eaten things a lot of people wouldn’t even consider. But when it came to eggplant, I was, well…an eggplant virgin. I had never tried it until a year or so ago. Wasn’t even interested until I ventured out & made my first Eggplant Parmesan…It was amazingly good!

When buying this fiber- & potassium-packed veggie keep in mind it’s size does not matter. If your thumb leaves an indent that doesn’t bounce back, the eggplant will be spongy, tough & bad tasting. To further improve it’s taste, check out it’s “belly button”: At the blossom end, they have either an oval or round dimple. Buy only the ovals!!! The round tend to have more seeds & less “meat”. To reduce it’s bitter tendencies even more, after you peel & slice it, sprinkle it with salt & then wait ½ an hour, rinse then continue with your recipe. (The salt draws out the water, which contains the bitter-tasting compounds.
Eggplants are worth the trouble: The insides are high in cancer-fighting polyphenols; the pigments are high in antioxidants.

next time....Rethinking Your Style!