Hate fruit and vegetables?
Find out how you can still achieve your 5 A DAY.
Eating more fruit and vegetables are key to a healthier lifestyle and may reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke and some cancers. They are also a great source of fibre which is important for our gut health.
However, some children and adults find fruit and vegetables boring, tasteless or plain disgusting.
Below are some ideas on how to disguise them within meals and ways to make them more appealing to the fruit and veg averse:
- try blending vegetables into casseroles, soups and sauces
- spread tomato paste onto toast/tortilla topped with cheese and put under the grill
- give jelly an extra bite by adding fresh or canned fruit
- mix mashed celeriac, squash, sweet potato, swede or cauliflower with mashed potato
- try baked apple with honey, cinnamon and a sprinkling of chopped nuts
- try adding lentils or pulses to cottage pie, shepherd’s pie and spaghetti bolognaise
- try using grated carrot/beetroot/courgette in baking — adds moistness to cakes
- use onions and garlic as a base for all your sauces
- try stewed fruit with custard/ice cream
- substitute avocado for butter in sandwiches
- Put a very ripe banana (skinless and wrapped in cling film) in the freezer. Once frozen, blitz it up and it tastes very similar to ice cream.
- Try making 100% fruit juice ice lollies
- Add frozen berries to a home-made milk-shake in a blender
- Try stir fried or roasted veg which taste very different to steamed or boiled
Aim to have 5 or more portions of fruit and vegetables a day. Try and eat a variety of colours to get the different combinations of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients.
