Making vegetables fun!

I've never been very good at eating vegetables. Ever since i was a kid i was so fussy. My mum gave up by the time i reached my late teens, she figured if i hadnt eaten them by now i was never going to lol.

But i've just started a diet, and i'm looking for very low cal snacks. I was wondering if anyone had any tasty ways for me to introduce some veg into my diet?

I'll eat parnsips, potatoes and tomatoes if they are in a sauce. Same with onions if they are really chopped up. But i'm looking mostly for snacks like chopped carrots and dips.
 
I used to be really fussy about veggies as well, wouldn't eat any of them cooked and had a very narrow set of raw ones I'd touch.

What sorted me out was becoming a vegetarian, I rather had to eat the things then and now I love nearly all of them (not broad beans though, they're horrible).

For starters I'd try raw veggies. It is surprising how many taste good raw, it's not just carrots (my favorite are Brussels sprouts but I believe I may be unique in that respect). If you want to dunk them in something try a reduced fat hummus, peanut butter or tomato salsa but check the calories, salt and fat content. You can make your own dips as well from tinned pulses, chuck a drained tin in a food processor, add some garlic, a small amount of oil, a bit of lemon juice and some herbs or spices and whizz it up (my favorite is chickpeas with olive oil, lemon, garlic and cumin). Low fat salad dressings can add flavour and balsamic vinegar is great with both raw and cooked veg.

If you are OK with tomatoes try hiding other vegetables in a cooked sauce made from tomatoes. Over time you may find you start to like the taste (that's what happened to me). If you like pulses add some of these; they count as vegetables although of course they do have higher calories.

If you like parsnips and potatoes you may also like squash and sweet potatoes. They can both be added to any sauce but sweet potato is especially nice just on it's own, either roast or baked.

Mushrooms are also something that non-vegetable eaters quite often like. You can sauté them in a bit of water or vegetable stock and they have very few calories. The less flavored ones like button mushrooms are also good for bulking out other things like chili or mince.
 
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I agree with trying some raw veg - turnip is yummy raw and there's nothing quite so nice as peas straight from the pod : ) When you're cooking veg be careful not to cook them for too long - they should still be nice and firm and not overcooked and squishy!
 
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