Make your meals healthier with veggies

Having a variety of food from all the essential food groups provides you and your family with a balanced and healthy lifestyle. Vegetables, being one of the essential food groups, provide you with a wide array of nutrients.

To prepare meals rich in vegetables, check out the following recommendations and guidelines:

1. Salad preparation:

Serve a variety of raw vegetables to increase nutritional value.
Make sure to serve the salads that your children like, in order to encourage them to eat it.
Choose vegetables from all colors in order to get different nutrients like minerals and vitamins.

Examples of salads: Tabbouleh, fattoush, rocca salad, greek salad.

2. Soup preparation:

Serve soups on a regular basis and use different kinds of vegetables when preparing it.
Add chunks of vegetables to your soup instead of blenderizing it, in order to preserve vitamins and dietary fiber.

3. Main course preparation:

Add vegetable pieces to main courses, since they add color and variety in taste.
Serve cooked vegetables with your main dish-the best way to cook them is through steaming in order to preserve the nutrients.

Main courses rich in vegetables include vegetable stew, stuffed squash, green beans with rice, mulukhiah, cauliflower stew.

4. Children's meals preparation:

Wash vegetables, slice them in different shapes and put them in your children’s school lunch box, or add them in their sandwiches.

5. Starters preparation:

Make vegetables a part of your starters to serve your guests. Healthy starters ideas include chopped carrots with lemon juice, chopped cucumbers, broccoli, cauliflower and cherry tomatoes.

Good to remember:

Do not forget that raw or healthily cooked vegetables help you have glowing skin, as well as helping you stay slim as part of a healthy diet.

Did you know?

All vegetables are rich in dietary fiber, which is important in digestion, regulation of intestinal function and prevention of constipation.