Greens.... Veggies.... Talk to me...

[Themachine01]

Just curious as to how all you guys prepare your veggies, Im not a salad eater, never have been, so I have to eat my veggies other ways such as boiling, steaming, and microwave. I know that microwaving mixed veggies takes a lot of the nutrients out of them, that why Im curiuos as to how you guys eat veggies besides salad?

 

[ashley2212]

I mix raw broccoli in with a sweet potato, chicken and olive oil for lunch. Sometimes it's brown rice instead of the sweet potato.

 

[~SC~]

Microwaving does not really harm the veggies, it's boiling them IN water and taking them out that does. Microwave or steaming is great.

~SC~

 

[Themachine01]

Microwaving does not really harm the veggies, it's boiling them IN water and taking them out that does. Microwave or steaming is great.

~SC~

So then a frozen bag of mixed veggies, heated in the microwave, aint that bad of a choice for veggies?

 

[jenscats5]

Buy some fresh veggies such as radicchio, tomatoes, bell peppers, eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, onions, leeks, garlic & chop all into cubes, & toss with olive oil then roast in a 425 degree F oven for about 25 min till brown....

Costco also sells bags of frozen veggies that are reasonable & nice, like broccoli & they have a nice stir fry mix.

 

[Mavy]

Eh bro, if you dont have a good steamer I highly suggest investing in one. I bought a kickass one where you can put different foods in different levels, and addd flavours etc, it rules. I use it only for my daytime meals though.

This is what I do everynight before I go to bed. I load the steamer up with either veggies (all kinds, and peppers too), or rice. Set the timer and let it steam then I go to bed. When I wake up the next day, there is a bowl of steamed veggies or steamed brown rice ready to be added to my lunch as a side dish. I usually pop a couple of chicken breasts in the toaster oven as soon as I wake up, and by the time I am done cooking my breakfast burrito, the chicken breasts are done. I pop them into a container with either the steamed rice or veggies. Then I am off. I have got it down to a science my time management for cooking, lol... cause i dont have a lot of time. Its all about the multi tasking. hehehe.

If you are in a hurry, the steamer sucks! Cooking 1 cup of brown rice takes 55 minutes. If you can leave it, and come back to it, than thats where it rocks.

Veggies are also good on the grill bro. I eat red pepper omelletes for breakfast on the BBQ a lot in the summer, damn they are good (mix up egg, olive oil, onion, mushroom, cheese. Cut a huge red pepper in half, and poor the egg mixture into the half peppers. Add more cheese to the top, cook em on the grill. Its an omellete inside a grilled pepper, freaking good).

Other than that i steam all veggies or grill them (use skewers too). I do fry Spinach in Extra-V olive oil and garllic though, and add a bit of feta to it. Very good. Thats the only veggie I fry.

Mavy

 

[Diamond J]

Steamers are great, and so is grilling, real easy to do too. You might want to think about just throwing some on there with your meat. Variations of Fajitas seem to be workin well for me too grill you meat and meanwhile throw whatever veggies you want in a skillet and simmer then throw you meat in there and douce it in hot sauce... yum yum I'm not one for salads either but I can always go for a nice spinach salad, baby spinach with some mushrooms, onions, peppers, sprouts a little bit of cheese etc and some nice light dressing and your good to go buddy.

 

[~SC~]

So then a frozen bag of mixed veggies, heated in the microwave, aint that bad of a choice for veggies?

Sure! I'd just watch the corn/carrots/peas.

~SC~

 

[Themachine01]

Sure! I'd just watch the corn/carrots/peas.

~SC~

They're that best part though

 

[mcr]

I stir fry mine with chicken and wholegrain rice.

 

[mcr]

Sure! I'd just watch the corn/carrots/peas.

What is bad about carrots and peas? Is it just that they're higher in sugar than other veggies? Just wondering because they're in my bag of mixed veggies. Which veggies should you be going for?

 

[JKurz1]

Do Microwave Ovens Destroy Nutrients in Food?

“Phenolic compound contents in edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking” by F. Vallejo in the October 2003 issue of the Journal of Science, Food and Agriculture found cooking by various methods destroyed, to different degrees, potentially healthful natural plant chemicals, such as flavonoids.

Loss of Flavonoids from Broccoli:

Microwave
97%

Boiling
66%

Pressure Cooking
47%


Light steaming was found to be the preferred way to preserve these chemicals. Raw would be the best.

These finding caused the emotions of opponents of microwave cooking to overflow with excitement. Headlines over the Internet read, “Microwave cooking is bad for your health.” However, as this paper goes on to point out, other studies do not show a high loss of these substances with microwaving. For example, the following two studies show microwave cooking is better at preserving flavonoids than other methods:

1) Loss of Flavonoid compound from Potatoes:

Baked
100%

Microwave
45%

Boiling
60%


2) Loss of Flavonoids from Tomatoes:

Microwave
65%

Boiling
82%


Natural plant chemicals (phytochemicals) play an important role in preventing cancer and artery disease (atherosclerosis, like stroke and heart attack); therefore, efforts should be made to preserve these substances. The best way to accomplish this is to eat the fruits and vegetables lightly cooked or raw. Other nutrients, such as vitamins, are also affected by all methods of cooking. But even so, plant foods are so overabundantly supplied with nutrients that even thoroughly cooked they provide excellent nutrition.

The microwave has been the focus of many attacks, but concerns are usually unsupported by the scientific facts. After looking over the present data, I still conclude that microwave cooking is as safe as other methods of cooking. Research has been extensive over the last 50 years, so I doubt any future studies will cause a shift in my position. (Do avoid having microwaves contact you by making sure your oven does not leak.)

Vallejo F. Phenolic compound contents in edible parts of broccoli inflorescences after domestic cooking. J Sci Food Agric (2003) 83:1151-16.