According to the Eat For Health government website, most Australians eat only half the recommended quantity of vegetables each day. The recommendation is 5 serves a day, and a serve is about 75g. That is about 1/2 cup of cooked vegetables, beans or lentils, sweet corn or potato/sweet potato or leafy greens. Or 1 cup of raw veg such as tomato, cucumber, lettuce, celery. 

For optimal health and healing, I would recommend more than that, more like 8 servings. Vegetables are full of phytonutrients- which just means nutrition from plants. And eating a variety of types of vegetables, including different colours, is the best way to get a range of those cancer and chronic disease preventing chemicals. We know that eating a diet high in plant nutrients, is preventative for many diseases. It also helps slow down ageing, balances blood sugar, and helps us feel full. 

But vegetables are boring, right? 

Well, no. Perhaps your mother didn’t know how to cook vegetables in a way that made them interesting to you as a child, or perhaps your tastebuds have been overwhelmed and overexcited with processed sugary and fatty foods designed to make you overeat and buy more. The odds are stacked against us from a young age, in this era of processed foods. But once we realise that, we can retrain our taste buds to fully appreciate the taste of food in its more natural state. Then the processed foods somewhat lose their appeal because they lack subtlety. 

Here are some ways to experiment with adding more vegetables into your day: 

Juicing. 

While fibre is also good, juicing has its own benefits in getting a lot of vegetable goodness into us at once, flooding our cells with immediately available nutrition and vitality. I recommend sticking to vegetables for juicing, except for oranges, apples and lemons, just to keep the sugar low. Some suggestions: celery, cucumber, parsley, carrots, beetroot, mint, baby spinach, ginger. 

Smoothies

Smoothies are another great way to add in more vegetables, and you can mix vegetables and fruit together, because the fibre is retained making them slower to be absorbed. Leafy greens are particularly suited to smoothies, and a decent handful of baby spinach, kale or parsley in a smoothie is pretty much tasteless. 

Soups

Whatever your favourite soup, it is likely it will only benefit from more added vegetables. Many soups are based around vegetables- borscht for example. 

Casseroles and Curries

Even a great meat casserole or curry can be enhanced with more vegetables. Many Indian curries are vegetable based- my favourite is palak paneer, based on spinach. 

Egg dishes

If you eat eggs, then you can add vegetables into egg dishes easily. From parsley to grated cauliflower or broccoli, potatoes and mushrooms, every egg dish has a vegetable filled alternative.

Pancakes

There are recipes for squash/ pumpkin pancakes! Be adventurous!

Pasta

You can add vegetables into a pasta dish- a bolognaise sauce can hide a lot of grated vegetables!- or you can turn the vegetables into the pasta, by making zucchini noodles instead of using normal pasta! There are also many legume pastas available now, and legumes are considered vegetables. 

Add Herbs

Herbs are another form of greens that count as vegetables and provide both flavour and cancer-preventing antioxidants. I love parsley and add it to many meals in larger quantities than a sprig of garnish. Coriander too. Rosemary, oregano, mint, nettles, sage, basil and not to mention garlic are all also valuable. When I bake vegetables I will add a lot of herbs as well. Pesto can be made from different herbs and added to dishes. I will often add herbs to mashed potatoes. 

Baking

You can add vegetables to baked goods. Carrot cake, zucchini bread, beetroot brownies. 

Whether or not you are vegan, (and many vegans also don’t eat enough vegetables!) you can easily raid the vegetarian and vegan cookbooks and websites for ideas on delicious vegetable-based meals and snacks. There are kid friendly ones too, and ones for fussy eaters. There are so many good resources online. Once you have acknowledged you probably aren’t eating enough vegetables for healing or optimal health, there is a whole new world to explore- but just pick a couple of recipes that appeal, and experiment. 

Some links to get you started:

https://www.medicalmedium.com/medical-medium-blog-recipes.htm

https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/vegetable-recipes-for-kids/

https://www.themediterraneandish.com/

https://www.jamieoliver.com/search/?s=vegetables