When it comes to your meals, one dish shouldn’t cut it! For the most nutritious, delicious, filling meal experience, all it takes is adding a vegetable or two to your plate. Here are a few reasons why all of your dishes should include some produce.
Introduce New Flavors
You may be surprised at the list of flavors available to you through the things you’d find in a garden! Veggies are incredibly diverse in texture, density, and (most of all) flavor. Explore your options and experiment with flavors! Sweet veggies like bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and carrots pair well with savory, roasted meats, and with each other. Sauteed yellow onions can also add a sweetness to whatever dish you have cooking. Other vegetables like broccoli, brussel sprouts, eggplant, are all equally great additions to roasted dishes, stir fries, grilled or stewed or sauce-drenched things; every cooking method can draw out different strong and yummy flavors to the plate. Really, your possibilities are endless!
Balance Out the Meal
Not only are veggies good for adding flavor to your dishes, they also balance out the plate entirely! Usually, main dishes are full of carbohydrates, starches, and delicious fatty “macronutrients.” Veggies can fill the space on your plate and fill you up without adding more unnecessary carbs and fats, preventing overeating. In addition, vegetables, especially leafy greens, are naturally alkaline and help counteract acid in foods. This protects your stomach from painful digestion when acidity is high.
Provide Essential Nutrients
The rainbow of colors that veggies come in are an indicator of the variety of nutrients they offer! A good rule of thumb for putting together a dish is to make it as colorful as possible with natural foods: you want as many of those nutrients as possible. Your body needs nutrients to build muscle, bone, regulate and promote blood and oxygen flow, and even sustain mental, digestive and other organ function. Vegetables are densely packed with these essential micronutrients that are difficult to get elsewhere without supplements. As your body ingests and digests these nutrients, it is better equipped to process macronutrients for energy and maintain that energy to promote overall physical health.
Keep your body healthy and your meals diverse and delicious! Vegetables don’t have to be a dreaded part of any meal—try out different ways of preparing your produce and find recipes that you will love consistently, and will get you that healthy boost you need.
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