Only the lazy have not heard about the benefits of vegetables. It is a source of fiber and vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Plus, they are simply delicious. Therefore, vegetable dishes should be on your table every day. Nutrition experts recommend eating at least 800 grams of fresh and cooked vegetables every day. This allows you to reduce calorie intake and improve nutrient absorption.
Choices available
A wide range of dishes are prepared from vegetables using almost all methods of heat treatment. Vegetable dishes have high nutritional value. With each serving, a person receives healthy, slow carbohydrates, which are spent on the needs of the body.
The calorie content of vegetables is low, which allows them to be widely used in dietary nutrition. The fair sex knows this well, as they periodically arrange fasting days for themselves. By adding milk and cottage cheese, butter and sauces to them, you get the opportunity to regulate nutritional value and calorie content. Vegetable dishes can be prepared using one or a mixture of them. They also go well with cereals. Vegetables can be boiled and fried, poached and stewed. They are perfectly complemented by various sauces. They serve vegetable dishes with butter and processed cheese, mayonnaise and other favorite additives.
Dietitians' choice
Cooking dishes from vegetables and mushrooms is characterized by low time costs. Stewing zucchini is much faster than cooking lamb or beef. But among all the cooking methods, nutritionists emphasize the usefulness of steamed dishes. Therefore, it is recommended to buy a double boiler, and most importantly, accustom yourself to the new taste. When you try steamed broccoli for the first time, you are unlikely to be delighted with it. But this method of preparation allows you to preserve the attractive appearance of the product and all its beneficial properties.
Alternative cooking method
If you don’t have a steamer, this is not a reason to give up vegetables. Dishes and side dishes made from them are excellent in a regular saucepan. The main thing is to follow a number of rules, which we will now tell you about.
- Almost all vegetables, except beets, green peas and carrots, should be placed in boiling, slightly salted water. You will need approximately 10 g per liter of water.
- Sufficient amount of water must be used for cooking. For 1 kg of food you will need approximately 800 ml of water.
- After the vegetables have boiled, you need to reduce the heat and cover the pan with a lid. Then the water will not evaporate, and the food will cook faster.
- Tender spinach leaves, beans and asparagus should be boiled in plenty of water to help prevent color loss.
- If the vegetables are frozen, then they are immersed in water directly from the freezer.
Simple slicing
Now let's look at the recipes. Each of you can prepare simple and tasty vegetable dishes; it won’t take much of your time. And the easiest way to diversify the table is to cut vegetables. It can be made as an individual plate decoration or placed on a central dish. It is best to take seasonal vegetables and herbs for this. An excellent option would be juicy lettuce leaves, cucumbers and tomatoes cut into large pieces. In winter, an alternative would be carrots and cabbage cut into bars.
Remembering simple vegetable dishes, it is worth noting light salads. Shredded cabbage with carrots, dressed with butter, is a wonderful, tasty and nutritious salad. Korean-style carrots, bell peppers, pickled onions - all this is prepared in a matter of minutes and perfectly complements every meal.
Vegetable cocktails
Vegetable smoothies are something that will help you lose weight and gain strength. They are extremely useful, helping the immune system and the body as a whole.
Beetroot
This delicacy contains a large amount of folic acid, iron and betaine. These elements are able to accelerate the movement of oxygen through tissue cells, which allows it to reach the brain much faster.
What you will need:
- 1-2 pieces of carrots;
- 1 small beet;
- ginger root;
- orange.
You should squeeze the juice out of the beets, then leave it for a while. It is strictly forbidden to consume it fresh, so you need to place the juice in the refrigerator for several hours. Then, using a blender, you need to mix the orange, carrots (after peeling and cutting them), and ginger. This mixture is combined with beet juice.
You need to add water to the cocktail, the volume is approximately the same as that of the mixed ingredients.
Tomato
Tomatoes are a vegetable that contains a lot of potassium. This element is able to normalize the functioning of the heart and help the stomach produce gastric juice.
Components:
- half a grapefruit;
- a glass of freshly squeezed tomato juice;
- parsley;
- water;
- a tablespoon of red sweet pepper.
The grapefruit is thoroughly crushed in a blender, and parsley is added to it. Then this mass is mixed with tomato juice and pepper. The components are mixed. If desired, you can add a small amount of water. Since this cocktail contains a lot of organic acids, it is better to consume it gradually.
You will learn how to prepare a vegetable dinner quickly and tasty from the video.
Vegetable dishes are the basis of a balanced diet. The importance of vegetables for the body is determined not only by their biological value (the main suppliers of vitamins, minerals and trace elements), but also by their beneficial effect on the entire process of digestion and absorption of nutrients. To stay healthy and active, a person should consume at least 600g every day. vegetables and greens. Therefore, we are not lazy and prepare more tasty and healthy vegetable dishes.
All vegetable recipes
Zucchini cake with tomatoes
A very tasty and unusual cake - an excellent dish for a holiday or for a special occasion. It’s easy to prepare, it turns out tasty, cheap and beautiful. An excellent alternative to meat dishes.
Zucchini-eggplant caviar
Prepare this vitamin caviar from zucchini, eggplant, lettuce, onions, carrots and tomatoes. It is prepared quickly and easily, it turns out tasty and healthy, an excellent light dinner.
Ratatouille - French vegetable dish
Prepare this very tasty, healthy and practical dish of eggplant, zucchini and tomatoes. Ratatouille was once considered a poor man's food, but today it is served in the most luxurious restaurants in the world.
Vegetable bean stew
This dish is prepared very quickly and simply, and if you have a jar of canned beans and lecho, then preparing a vegetable stew takes just a few minutes.
Lentil cutlets
Try these incredibly tender and juicy lentil cutlets with onions and carrots. They are prepared quite simply and taste a little like potato zrazy.
Garlic caviar with nuts
The flu is raging outside, and garlic is drying in the refrigerator? Then I recommend preparing vitamin caviar from garlic - an excellent remedy for preventing and fighting colds and flu.
Stuffed eggplants
If you are planning to cook something new and unusual, and at the same time it will be quick and inexpensive, then try this recipe. The eggplants turn out tasty and completely without bitterness.
Georgian salad
Of course, every housewife has a huge number of snacks made from fresh vegetables in her arsenal. But this option is great for holidays and everyday life. It is simple and at the same time spicy, very tasty and not high in calories. To prepare it you will need to take 400 g of beets, cabbage and carrots. In this case, any cabbage will do. It can be cabbage, kohlrabi and cauliflower.
The highlight of the salad is that it contains a large bunch of parsley or cilantro. Raw beets need to be peeled and grated on a medium grater. Do the same with carrots. Chop the cabbage and add the greens. Season with vegetable oil and apple cider vinegar.
Benefits of cooking vegetables in the oven
The benefits of roasting vegetables are numerous and objective. Not only is this a simple method, you don't even need a recipe or any additional ingredients other than good cooking oil and salt. Pan-roasting adds a savory depth of flavor that can only be achieved after the Maillard reaction has occurred, a bit of caramelization, and crispy edges that make for a satisfying eating experience.
If you're still not convinced, just think about the difference between boiled Brussels sprouts and oven-roasted ones. While the boiled sprout is soft, flimsy and smelly, the baked sprout is slightly charred and sweet, with wonderful little crispy leaves that add a zesty flavor and a bit of bitterness. In fact, I can't think of a single vegetable that doesn't benefit from roasting in the oven. Even salad greens like romaine can be roasted for a more complex, flavor-packed version of the usual fresh version.
Heat treatment
There are many ways to prepare simple vegetable dishes. The recipes we present today were used by our grandmothers. But everything new is forgotten old. Therefore, today we refresh our memory and supplement it with new dish options.
- The vinaigrette. What feast in Soviet times was complete without this salad? It contains the healthiest vegetables that everyone grew in their own summer cottage. To prepare it, you will need to take equal quantities of beets and carrots, potatoes and boil until tender. Chop into cubes or cubes. Add sauerkraut and pickles to taste. Some housewives add green peas, boiled or canned beans, and onions.
- New potatoes can be a self-sufficient dish in themselves. To do this, you need to boil it in its uniform, peel it and pour oil on it.
- In a similar way, you can cook asparagus and green peas, boiled beans.
- Boiled potatoes, carrots and beets can easily be turned into the most delicate puree.
Allowance
This is the most common cooking method. You can make delicious vegetable dishes quickly and easily. For poaching, use carrots and turnips, pumpkin and zucchini, cabbage and tomatoes, and spinach. They are cooked in their own juice or with a small amount of butter. The small amount of liquid that remains after cooking is not discarded. It ensures the juiciness of the dish.
All of these vegetables can be prepared as an independent dish. Vegetables in milk sauce are also very successful.
Or you can add cauliflower or canned green peas to any basic vegetable. In a saucepan, this dish turns out quickly, with minimal effort.
Vegetables cooked in foil
@iamcookru
When you cook eggplants, tomatoes and zucchini in foil, you should pack them individually, just like potatoes. But carrots and beans can be wrapped in a piece of foil “with the whole group.”
Ingredients:
- 2 carrots
- 3 bell peppers
- 4 tomatoes
- 200 g green beans
- 1.5 tsp. provencal herbs
- 1.5 tsp. dry basil
- 4 tbsp. l. oils
- 1/3 tsp. spices called asafoetida
- salt, pepper - to taste
Vegetables (except beans) need to be cut in half, sprinkled with seasonings, sprinkled with oil and placed on pieces of foil, and then carefully sealed. Bake in the oven at 200 degrees for 25 minutes.
Lifehack:
It is best to bake medium-sized potatoes, intact peppers, mature eggplants and young zucchini in foil. As for tomatoes, you should take large and unripe ones.
Vegetables up your sleeve
@anneta_maks
The main advantage of the sleeve is that the vegetables in it turn out to be very juicy. And if you don’t skimp on the seasonings, then they will be aromatic ones. We advise you to definitely add new potatoes to your vegetable set - they turn out especially well when cooked this way.
Ingredients:
- 2 zucchini
- 1 eggplant
- 2 bell peppers
- 4 new potatoes
- 3 cloves garlic
- salt, pepper, Italian herbs, olive oil - to taste
Wash and cut the vegetables into large pieces. Drizzle them with oil, sprinkle with herbs and put them in your sleeve. Cook for 45 minutes at 200 degrees and don’t forget to add salt before serving!
Lifehack:
An excellent dressing for baked vegetables would be a mixture of homemade yogurt, garlic and finely chopped cilantro.
Frying
Probably the most delicious dishes from simple vegetables are obtained through the process of frying. To do this, you need to take raw vegetables and prepare them for heat treatment. Once washed and cleaned, they need to be chopped. During the frying process, vegetables lose a significant amount of moisture. Thanks to this, a crispy crust forms on the surface, and the taste is bright. A familiar dish to everyone is fried potatoes. This is a great alternative for lunch or dinner if you don't have time to prepare anything else. But there are a number of other options, each of which can be a great option for a weeknight dinner.
Vegetable cutlets
These recipes are passed on from one housewife to another. Delicious vegetable dishes are a great option for Lent. But even in everyday cuisine, they can add variety to your table and make your diet more balanced. Cutlets are made from cabbage and potatoes, carrots and beets. Mashed cottage cheese and a little minced meat can be added to the dish. Housewives often use eggs and flour, fried onions and melted butter.
Cooking vegetables is a key skill for every mother who wants to introduce her child to tasty and healthy food. Cutlets can be made from pre-boiled and pureed vegetables. It is not forbidden to grate half of it. The cutlets are fried in oil until the crust sets, and then finished in the oven.
Baked vegetables
And of course, in order to cook vegetables deliciously, do not forget about classic baking. This method of preparation comes from time immemorial and is most suitable for human consumption, with the exception of a raw food diet. What vegetables are best for roasting? Yes, almost any. Potatoes, cabbage, eggplants, zucchini and many others.
Variations of combinations are very numerous. Baked potatoes with eggplants, eggplants stuffed with vegetables, cabbage casserole, zucchini with carrots. . . The list can be endless.
Every housewife will find the most optimal and affordable recipe for herself. But I would like to mention that cauliflower and broccoli retain a maximum of vitamins when baked and acquire a refined taste. This dish is loved by true gourmets and is prepared in almost any restaurant in Western and Eastern Europe.
Well, for a greater taste effect, you can add mushrooms to any baked vegetables. Vegetable dishes prepared in this way are perceived by the body as complete nutrition and absolutely do not leave you feeling hungry.
The desire for beauty and health is inherent in every person. And if you approach this issue consistently and rationally, then tormenting yourself with half-starved diets will become an absolutely unnecessary measure.
Cauliflower cutlets
An easy and very tasty dish. If you wish, you can replace the cauliflower with broccoli, potatoes or carrots. It will still turn out tasty and healthy. You will need 700-800 g of vegetables, 2 eggs for stickiness and a large onion, a little flour (4 tablespoons) and oil for frying. If you pour sour cream on them, the children will definitely ask for more.
- In this recipe, it is recommended to separate cauliflower forks into florets, rinse and boil for 7 minutes. Vegetables should not be overcooked.
- Drain them in a colander and leave to cool completely. Separately, fry the onion until soft.
- Now you need to grind the mass. It's better not to use a blender, because these are not pancakes. Here you need pieces of a larger fraction. Then the products will be lush and dense.
- Add onion and eggs, stir and add flour one spoon at a time. Leave for 5 minutes for the mass to swell.
- It will be very tasty if you add greens to this mixture.
- Form cutlets and fry them in hot oil until golden brown. After this, pat them dry with a paper towel and finish cooking in the oven. Sprinkle with cheese before serving.
In a similar way, you can prepare carrot cutlets, cabbage schnitzel, potato zrazy and croquettes, and pumpkin pancakes. For kids, steam them in a slow cooker.
Vegetarian treat
This curried carrot soup is a healthy and colorful vegetable dish. The recipe may seem a little complicated, but the results are worth it. To make it you will need half a kilo of carrots; blue onion, onion, potato, chili pepper, lemon grass stem, bouillon cube from any manufacturer - 1 piece in total, a small piece of ginger, 3 cloves of garlic, 1 large spoon each of soy sauce and sugar, 1 teaspoon each of salt, turmeric and coriander powder; vegetable oil.
First, prepare the curry: you need to peel the ginger, onions, garlic, chili pepper, lemon grass (if you don’t have it, you can replace it with lemongrass paste or not use it at all), grind it in a blender, add soy sauce, a large spoon of vegetable oil, sugar, salt, turmeric, coriander and mix thoroughly with a blender. The resulting mixture can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 4 days.
Peel and wash onions, potatoes, carrots. Cut carrots into slices, onions and potatoes into small cubes. Fry the onion in vegetable oil until soft, add half a glass of curry, stirring, fry for another couple of minutes. Dilute a bouillon cube in about one and a half liters of water, pour into the onion and curry, add the rest of the vegetables, simmer over low heat until the carrots are soft. Then cool, bring the soup to a puree consistency in a blender, serve with herbs and sour cream - you get a purely vegetable dish, which is incredibly tasty.
Extinguishing
Complex vegetable dishes can become a complete lunch or dinner, healthy and enriching the body with vitamins and minerals. You can stew each type of vegetable separately or prepare a stew by putting them all together in a pan. Before this, they are lightly fried, after which they are placed in a common saucepan, a little broth and tomato paste are added. It could be stewed cabbage, beets or potatoes with mushrooms. Let's try to cook a classic ratatouille together. This tasty and bright dish is perfect not only for every day, but also for the holiday table.
Ratatouille
Save vegetable recipes in your notebook. They are very helpful when you need to quickly prepare a delicious dinner, but you are limited in products. You will need one bell pepper, eggplant and zucchini. Also take a couple of tomatoes, garlic and salt, herbs and spices, vegetable oil. As you can see, nothing special.
- Rinse all vegetables.
- Cover a baking sheet with foil and place tomatoes on it.
- Cut the pepper, eggplant and zucchini into two parts. Place one half at a time on a baking sheet, leave the remaining vegetables raw.
- Place the baking sheet in the oven, heated to 200 degrees. After 10 minutes you can take out the tomatoes, after 15 minutes the peppers, and the zucchini after 30 minutes.
- Remove the skins from the baked vegetables and place them in a blender, add the garlic.
- After whipping, you get a fragrant and tasty sauce.
Now the final part of the preparation. The remaining vegetables need to be cut into thin slices. Pour the sauce into the baking dish and place the vegetable slices in a circle, alternating them with each other. Sprinkle oil on top and add some spices. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 200 degrees.
Cook crispy vegetables using the grill
The secret is that only a grill can provide vegetables with constant air circulation both above and below. In general, there is no special wisdom in using a wire rack - you can simply place oiled vegetables on it, add salt and pepper, as well as other spices, and place in the oven. But there are a few simple tricks that will allow you to get the most delicious vegetable side dish.
- Don't be afraid to get your oven too hot. For grill cooking, 220-230 degrees is ideal.
- Use thin slices of vegetables instead of large pieces, this will help them get crispy inside and out faster. For example, a difference in the thickness of baked pumpkin slices of just half a centimeter changes crispy caramel pieces into tender and soft ones, one might even say “steamed”.
- Don't be afraid to use vegetable oil - you need even more of it than for frying in a pan and baking on a baking sheet. It is the oil that affects the golden brown crust of the vegetable, because it should crisp up and not just be dried out and dehydrated.
- The moister the vegetable, the more flavorful it will be when cooked on a wire rack. This is due to the fact that more steam comes out of it.
White cabbage, as well as cauliflower and broccoli, taste best on the grill; tomatoes, potatoes and carrots are not far behind them. If you want to get a very special golden-crispy crust, mix vegetable oil with corn or potato starch. Do this in a separate bowl, immerse the chopped vegetables in it, and then place the slices on the wire rack and place in the oven.
Baking
This is a cross between fried and stewed vegetables. They taste much more interesting than the latter, but at the same time they are much healthier than those fried in a frying pan. For baking, vegetables are sometimes first boiled, poached, fried or stewed, but you can also take them raw. You will need a baking sheet or portion pan. You can cover it with foil. The oven maintains a temperature of +280 degrees. Baking continues until a golden brown crust forms. These can be casseroles and puddings, stuffed vegetables and cabbage rolls. Tasty and healthy, they will become your family's favorite.
How to roast vegetables correctly?
To fry vegetables on a baking sheet in the oven, simply cut them into pieces of the same size and pour in a small amount of oil so that all the slices are completely covered with it. Place the vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook at 200-220 degrees until they are soft in the middle and crumbly around the edges. Cooking time depends on the type of vegetables being roasted.
- Thin and soft vegetables (yellow squash, zucchini, peppers, green beans, asparagus, tomatoes): 10-20 minutes.
- Lettuce (all types of green salads): 6-10 minutes, depending on how crisp you want them.
- Cabbage (white cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower): 15-25 minutes.
- Onions: 30-45 minutes.
- Mushrooms: 20-40 minutes, depending on size.
- Pumpkins: 30-60 minutes, depending on how tender you want them to be. The longer you bake, the drier the pumpkin will be.
- Root vegetables (carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets): 35-60 minutes, depending on size.
Favorite images
If your family observes fasting, you can prepare dishes from vegetables and mushrooms. One of the simplest options would be potato zrazy with mushrooms. This dish can be called everyday, but zrazy disappears from the festive table very quickly. You will need the following ingredients:
- Potatoes for mashed potatoes - 1 kg.
- Champignons - 250 g.
- Bacon - 60 g.
- Onion is a small turnip.
- Butter - 10 g.
- Salt.
- Breadcrumbs.
- Vegetable oil.
The first step is to boil the potatoes. To do this, fill it with water and cook for about 30 minutes. Do not salt the water. Hot root vegetables should be mashed well with a fork. While the potatoes are cooking, you need to prepare the filling. To do this, you need to heat a frying pan, spread out the chopped bacon and fry until done. Add chopped onion, salt and add butter. When the liquid has evaporated, fry for another 15 minutes until done.
Cooking cutlets is very simple. To do this, take a spoonful of puree and place it on your palm, flatten it slightly, and put a spoonful of filling in the center and mold the edges. The finished cutlet is rolled in breadcrumbs, dipped in an egg and rolled in breadcrumbs again. Pour a thin layer of oil into a frying pan and fry until golden brown.
Casserole with chicken and vegetables
An option for those who don’t want to spend a lot of time preparing dinner is a casserole. You can make a casserole from anything; we suggest you make a healthy, incredibly tasty casserole that is perfect as an option for the whole family. If necessary, replace products to suit your taste.
Ingredients needed for the casserole:
- Penne pasta (feathers);
- Broccoli – 1 head;
- Champignons – 300 g;
- White onion – 1 small piece;
- Olive oil – 2 teaspoons;
- Garlic – 4 cloves;
- Boiled chicken – 350 g;
- Flour – 3 teaspoons;
- Chicken or vegetable broth - 1 cup;
- Milk – 1.5 cups;
- Mustard – 1 teaspoon;
- Cheese – 100 g;
- Salt – 1\2 teaspoon;
- Black pepper to taste.
Casserole with chicken and vegetables
Preparation:
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- Over medium heat, cook the pasta in lightly salted water until half cooked. A couple of minutes before this happens, add broccoli to the pasta, stir and boil. Once the pasta is ready, drain the water and dry the pasta and broccoli well.
- Place a large saucepan over medium heat, add 2 teaspoons of olive oil, heat and add finely chopped onion. Fry for 2-3 minutes, then stir and add sliced champignons and chopped garlic. Fry the vegetables for another 5-7 minutes until the mushrooms are completely cooked.
- After this time, add flour to the mushrooms and mix well so that the flour is evenly distributed over the vegetables. Cook for another 1.5-2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the broth and stir again, pour the milk into the saucepan, add mustard, salt and pepper. Cook until the mixture begins to boil, then remove it from the heat and immediately sprinkle with grated cheese. Stir and the sauce is ready!
- Pour boiled pasta, broccoli, champignon sauce, chopped chicken into a large baking dish and mix. If desired, sprinkle grated cheese and bread crumbs on top.
- Place the casserole in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes until the cheese has melted.
We take the dish out of the oven and serve warm to the table - bon appetit!
Eggplant chops
Another great dish that can successfully replace meat. To prepare, you will need to take two eggplants. Choose not too large, round shapes. Cut them lengthwise into slices, you can peel them. To remove the bitterness, you need to add salt and let it sit for 15 minutes.
As in the case of schnitzels, we will fry them in breading. Eggplants love oil, and breadcrumbs will prevent it from being absorbed too much. Prepare three bowls. In one, beat 2 eggs, in another, add 50 g of flour, and in the third, 100 g of crackers. Eggplants need to be lightly beaten with a hammer, rolled in flour, dipped in egg and then in breadcrumbs. Immediately fry in a frying pan on both sides. It is recommended to serve them with garlic sauce made from sour cream, garlic and dill.