Photo by Yulia Grigoryeva via Shutterstock

Hate Veggies? How to Trick Yourself Into Eating Them

There are a number of people out there who are not a huge fan of vegetables. I am one of them.

As a kid, I was not allowed to leave the table until I ate all of the vegetables on my plate. Needless to say, I sat there for a very long time. This childhood routine has been ingrained in me. When I think of vegetables, I am transported back to that table. I’ve often joked that I have PTSD from those long evenings of vegetable torture.

Maybe if I had tried vegetables that were better prepared at a young age I would not be in this predicament. But alas, I was forced to eat over-steamed, mushy broccoli and other barely edible vile weeds.

It goes without saying that this no way to indoctrinate a child to like veggies.

And while I don’t like the taste of vegetables, I know that they are extremely important. Vegetables are packed with fiber and nutrients, they help with digestion, weight management, disease prevention and longevity.

Since I follow a moderate keto diet and advocate healthy eating, I bet you’re wondering how I get my daily servings. My secret is a green powder called Athletic Greens. I add the powder to my Fat Water with an additional 15 ml of MCT oil. However, you can add Athletic Greens to any drink or smoothie. The great part — they are paleo, keto and vegan friendly. And as amazing as this sounds, it actually tastes good. This, coming from me, an avowed veggie-hater!

If you are not ready to go the powdered vegetable route, there are a ton of other great ways to get your daily vegetable servings. Or another option is to train yourself to like vegetables, which at some point in my life I will do. Maybe when I lose my teeth and taste buds!

10 Ways To Get Your Daily Servings of Vegetable

1. Add them to smoothies. Throw in a handful of raw spinach, steam and then frozen zucchini or cauliflower. If you blend them with frozen fruits such as bananas, blueberries or strawberries, nut butter and milk, you won’t taste them at all. Get creative with your smoothies and figure out your favorite combination.
2. Add pureed vegetables to tomato sauce. Steamed, pureed vegetables are a great addition to any pasta sauce. Add carrots, pumpkin, mushroom, onions or zucchini.
3. Mix steamed cauliflower with mashed potatoes. Add all of your favorite fixings — butter, salt, cream, roasted garlic. Make it delicious with that added veggie kick.
4. Add steamed and pureed pumpkin or sweet potato to pancake batter, oatmeal or greek yogurt. This will add a light sweetness to your meal, without overwhelming the flavor.
5. Spiralize zucchini and add it to your pasta dish. Make your whole meal with vegetables, or mix them with your pasta.
6. Add chopped veggies to a burger, meatloaf or meatballs. Mushrooms, carrots and zucchini are all great additions.
7. Be creative with your salads. Chop kale, spinach or chard and mix with more palatable lettuce for a twist on the Caesar salad.
8. Add fresh herbs to any meal. Herbs are a green too!
9. Add them to desserts. Sweet potato or spinach brownies, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, avocado chocolate mousse. These all sound odd, but they taste delicious.
10. Learn how to cook veggies so that you like the taste. Try grilling, roasting, steaming, sauteing or eat them raw with a dip like hummus or natural peanut butter.

Don’t let vegetables scare you or turn you off on your health journey. Get creative and find new ways to get in that nutrition. Vegetables are an important part of a well-balanced diet.