True Story. My mom had a stroke in November 2020 caused by an aneurysm. This left my dad to be the primary cook. Since I knew that a Mediterranean diet was the best thing for my mom to reduce her risk of having another stroke, I went to work to see how we could increase her vegetable intake and reduce sugar intake. The problem is that my dad is an INCREDIBLY picky eater and this can also reflect in his cooking. He once told me the chicken salad sandwich I made looked like it was dropped in grass clippings (and yes he literally said this). All because it had a little bit of fresh dill in it. Obviously this was very new to him. But he did say he liked the flavor of it…
After this experience, it became clear to me that my dad was more of a visual eater. So we needed to find something that was visually appealing AND tasted good. I came across an avocado chocolate mousse recipe and thought I would try this on him instead since it didn’t look or taste like it had avocado in it. Don’t worry, he knew it had avocado in it before trying it. My experiment worked! He liked it and there were no comments about how it looked. My dad was well on his way to following a more Mediterranean lifestyle which meant so was my mom.
So if you or someone you know is a similar visual eater like my dad and you want to get more vegetables in, here are 5 easy ways to get started:
Pasta sauce
You can blend most veggies into this sauce without them ever being noticed! Some great options to start with could be steamed carrots or cooked red peppers. Use this pasta sauce in your next spaghetti or lasagna dish.
Here’s a quick and easy tomato sauce recipe.
Lasagna
Want to take an extra step up by adding more veggies to your lasagna? In addition to using the veggie packed pasta sauce I mentioned above, you can add in a layer of minced summer squash or riced cauliflower (I suggest yellow squash if the green color throws you off). You can leave this as an extra thin layer or mix it into the ricotta layer.
Chocolate Pudding/Mousse/Brownies
Chocolate can mask just about any flavor and green fruit/veggie. Avocado can even create a creamier texture in pudding and mousse. For chocolate brownies, you can easily hide the green color of shredded zucchini.
For recipe ideas, be sure to check out my Pinterest board.
Smoothies
Here is where color matching comes in handy. When adding a veggie to your smoothie, make sure it matches the color of the fruit you are adding in. For example, beets go great with blueberries. Spinach goes great with kiwi. Cooked and cooled sweet potato goes great with orange or mango.
Stews and Soups
A great way to hide those veggies is in the liquid of a soup or stew. Cooked carrots and butternut squash can help thicken up broths when blended and added. You can also add in riced cauliflower which is easy enough to hide by itself.
Want to know how to get started on the Mediterranean diet? Schedule a discovery call with me and we can get the conversation started!