Trick me into eating vegetables!

July 11, 2012 5:24 PM

I joined a CSA to eat more vegetables but.... I kinda....hate vegetables. What are some great recipes to make me actually want to eat this stuff?

I DO eat relatively healthy. I eat mostly organic foods, and a good mix of protien, dairy, grains, just a little bit of sweets (that are also organic or homemade). But I don't eat nearly enough veggies, mostly due to the fact that I seriously don't like the taste of most of them. I mean, I'm an adult so i FORCE myself to eat some vegetables every day, but it makes me miserable and it's an agony to get through them. Blechh.

However, the other day I got a huge thing of kale from my CSA. Now, kale is easily one of the grosser things I've ever eaten. BUT someone showed me how to make kale chips, and, miracle, I consumed all the kale and wanted more! So what I'm looking for is similar suggestions/recipes/magic tricks that take ordinary vegetables and somehow make them more palatable. Make believe I'm a fussy toddler.

Things I absolutely will not eat under any circumstances - mushrooms, beans, and eggplant. There's no magic on earth that can make those things edible.

posted by silverstatue to food & drink (59 answers total)

Do you like hot sauce? Put hot sauce on them.
posted by box at 5:28 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'm picky, too. I suggest very seriously that you consider hiding veggies in other things, like spaghetti sauce. You can hide almost anything in spaghetti sauce (not broccoli heads, though.) Strong flavors like tomato and goopy things (like cheese sauce) are your best friends. Also embrace spices - garlic and onion and oregano and cayenne pepper are great for making you forget that you're eating something you don't care for.

I also found this book helpful.
posted by SMPA at 5:33 PM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Oh, oh, also - powdered vegetables for the freaking win.
posted by SMPA at 5:34 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Butter and salt. Start with a lot, and gradually wean yourself off to healthier levels (and eventually olive oil). Everything tastes better with butter and salt. (And for yellow summer squash, bacon.)
posted by fiercecupcake at 5:35 PM on July 11, 2012 [8 favorites]

Get a steamer and steam them. (I have had an electric steamer for decades, gifted to me but I would buy another if I had to in a heartbeat.)
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:35 PM on July 11, 2012

Spinach and other greens: rinse (do not dry), cook on stovetop until wilted, add garlic and lemon juice, nom. Cooking completely changes the flavor. If you still don't like it, don't hate me.
posted by Flannery Culp at 5:35 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh, and if there are just a few you like, why not just eat them and not fret about the rest?
posted by St. Alia of the Bunnies at 5:36 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Making them in to purees and then hiding them in pasta sauce basically negates most of the fiber and vitamins, so why bother? Eat what you like and trade the stuff you don't like.
posted by Ideefixe at 5:38 PM on July 11, 2012

Roasting! Coat diced/halved veggies in olive oil, salt, pepper, rice vinegar and roast in oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, pausing halfway through to toss veggies well. Just did this with my fresh-picked Brussels sprouts and they were awesome.
posted by MonkeyToes at 5:38 PM on July 11, 2012 [14 favorites]

If you like that disguising-vegetables approach, there are several cookbooks, aimed at parents mostly, on the subject--check out Missy Chase Lapine's and Jessica Seinfeld's.
posted by box at 5:41 PM on July 11, 2012

Most vegetables can be roasted into OMG deliciousness. Basic formula:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
Slice or chop into relatively uniform sized pieces. Not too thin, not too thick.
option a: Toss the pieces in a ziploc bag with a glug of olive oil, salt, pepper, and any herbs or spices you're feeling excited about.
Arrange on a baking sheet lined with tin foil so that the pieces of veg are not touching.
option b: Drizzle olive oil over the veg while they're on the baking sheet, then season with salt, pepper, herbs, spices, etc. Don't be overwhelmed -- even with just olive oil, salt and pepper, they will come out delicious.
Roast in the oven for 10-20 minutes, until you start to see a little bit of browning at the edges. For things that can be discretely flipped (like coins of zucchini), flip halfway through.

SO DELICIOUS. Brussels sprouts, summer squash, carrots (try with cumin and a little bit of honey), sweet potatoes (sliced into big match sticks these are your basic oven sweet potato "fries"), broccoli, cauliflower (again with the cumin!)... all very good for roasting.
posted by telegraph at 5:41 PM on July 11, 2012 [13 favorites]

argh sorry i forgot TOMATOES roasted in this way are out of this world. throw a whole head of garlic in there too with the top lopped off and a little oil rubbed on top and then just LOSE your SHIT.
posted by telegraph at 5:42 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Best Broccoli of your life.
posted by Nickel Pickle at 5:43 PM on July 11, 2012 [12 favorites]

Another vote for roasting. I was very particular with veggies, but roasting is some miracle technique that changes the flavor and texture to deliciousness for me. (Seriously, I make roasted brussel sprouts for a snack sometimes).
posted by kimdog at 5:44 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

When I had a CSA a few summers ago, I used it as an excuse to re-learn vegetables. I'm pretty low-maintenance when it comes to food choices, but some things (tomatoes and blueberries come to mind) have a huge, huge difference in flavor depending on where and how they're grown.

So, everything I got, I tried raw first. Then I tried roasted with just enough salt and olive oil to give it a bit of seasoning. And then I'd try doing fancier things with it (sauteeing, stuffing with quinoa and cheese (zucchinis, I'm looking at you), making sauces, etc).

Try going into it with no preconceived I hate veggies notions. The asparagus you've always known very likely isn't the same asparagus you get in your box every week.
posted by phunniemee at 5:45 PM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

Leafy greens should be rinsed, torn into smallish pieces, and thrown in nearly-finished tomato soup; cook until they turn completely dark green and soft.

For anything else, take some oil (or butter, or lard). Toss it in a frying pan and get it hot. Throw in chopped garlic and ginger, wait a minute, toss in the chopped vegetables. Wait a few minutes, cover in soy sauce. You can add meat together with the vegetables if you like. Cook everything until it's blended. You can have it straight or over rice or noodles.
posted by 23 at 5:45 PM on July 11, 2012

I too used to hate veggies.

Yes yes yes to roasting - I am lazy and usually just do olive oil and salt and maybe some garlic. Almost anything is excellent this way.

Kale is also good if you dry it off, roll up the bunch and cut very thin slices, and then quickly toss around in some oil and garlic until it turns bright green. Usually it doesn't get all gross and limp but is a bit crisp and tasty.

Honestly I saute most things in some olive oil and misc spices (sesame seeds are good, red pepper flakes, garlic) just until they turn brightly colored and become a little tender but not mushy. Not mushy makes a huge difference.

Grill some polenta, then layer the rounds with thin steamed or sauted slices of zucchini, mozzarella, and basil.

In pasta with a cream sauce. Or add a little grated parmesan on top of roasted veggies.

Buy some pizza dough, layer on some cheese, then thin slices of zucchini, then drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice on and bake. Also works with asparagus, or figs and prosciutto, or broccoli, or whatever.
posted by sepviva at 5:51 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Try going into it with no preconceived I hate veggies notions. The asparagus you've always known very likely isn't the same asparagus you get in your box every week.

This is so true. I refused to touch asparagus until a couple of years ago simply because the only asparagus I had experience with was the nasty stuff in a can. Roasted asparagus is delicious!!

I was kind of a freak as a kid and still loved (raw, mostly) veggies despite my mom cooking them into a bland mush, however, now that I am cooking for myself I find that I can find a way to really like most veggies. My biggest victory in the past year has been finding ways to like beets which I never thought would be possible.

Also, using butter and salt is a good idea, and I would also add parmesan cheese if you like it. A little goes a long way.

I really don't think there is a need to "hide" the veggies in anything simply for the purpose of disguising the fact that you are eating vegetables...it sounds like you are open to embracing them and learning to like them, and it is entirely possible to find ways to enjoy them in all of their glory if you are interested in trying out different ways of preparing them. Of course there could be some that you simply don't like, but I think that most problems with veggies are a result of preconceived notions about what "vegetables" are, coupled with having only had them in their boiled, bland, most disgusting forms. Experiment and enjoy!
posted by fromageball at 6:13 PM on July 11, 2012

Adding caramelized onions or leeks go a very long way toward making veggies more appealing to my toddler. It might work for you too. Worth a try.
posted by ambrosia at 6:14 PM on July 11, 2012

You need Kale Chips. Kale chips are the healthiest food on the planet masquerading as the thinnest, tastiest potato chips you have ever had. My incredibly fussy preschooler who will literally eat nothing but popsicles and macaroni and cheese declared these delicious.
posted by apparently at 6:15 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

> Making them in to purees and then hiding them in pasta sauce basically negates most of the fiber and vitamins, so why bother?

Pureeing and cooking does break down some of the fiber and vitamins in some vegetables, but it doesn't negate the fiber and vitamins. Also, you don't actually have to puree veggies to hide them in tomato sauce.
posted by desuetude at 6:15 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

A lot of vegetables' flavors change dramatically when they're roasted. Make sure you salt them enough - it makes a big difference and might be part of the reason kale chips are so appealing. Broccoli, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, asparagus, large green beans (like Romano beans), broccoli rabe, radicchio, endive, even cabbage are all green vegetables that take surprisingly well to roasting. Go with telegraph's process, then at the end taste, and add more salt. Trust me on that.

Zucchini, eggplant, asparagus, and traditionally roasted vegetables like carrots, onion, potatoes, and so on will also be great grilled. Slice about 1/4" thick, coat in oil, salt, spices, whatever, and grill until done.

If you have to puree and hide your vegetables in something else, don't worry about losing too many benefits of them - it's still better than not eating them at all. You can replace some of the tomato in a tomato sauce with pureed carrots. Look into Indian vegetable dishes. They're often cooked into a kind of highly spiced mush and eaten with flatbreads and/or rice.
posted by WasabiFlux at 6:17 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

I'll be eating this roasted broccoli for dinner in just a few minutes.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:18 PM on July 11, 2012

Oh, and quoting myself: Oh good, an excuse to link to my beloved Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad recipe! I use a little less garlic and a little less olive oil.
posted by The corpse in the library at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Chocolate chip zucchini brownies.

Chocolate chip beet cookies.

Yep, that's how I spent my CSA last summer.
posted by thejoshu at 6:20 PM on July 11, 2012 [3 favorites]

I can't describe how it was done exactly, but my husband roasted Brussels sprouts on the grill (in Pyrx pan, tossed w/olive oil, vinegar and spices) at a temperature so high that the greens caramelized and became almost as sweet as candy. OMG SO GOOD.
posted by MonkeyToes at 6:24 PM on July 11, 2012

Nthing roasting, to a good degree of brownness, with lots of garlic. Cauliflower and broccoli are great this way.

But I also grow and eat a lot of this stuff, and to avoid sheer boredom I have a million techniques for chard and kale. Most of them begin with chopping and sauteeing in garlic and olive oil, which softens them and makes them taste rich (and reduces bulk dramatically).

Sauteed kale or chard goes well in:

-quiche - drop the sauteed greens in a pie crust, add 4 whisked eggs, some seasoning, and a sprinkle of cheese on top.
-pasta - brown a link or two of Italian sausage with some garlic in a pan. Add greens, sautee, and mix with pasta (short or long). Toss with a little olive oil if you want, and a sprinkle of red pepper and some Parmesan grated on top.
-Spanakopita - basically greens layered with phyllo pastry from the store and some feta cheese. Fantastic. A million recipes online - just substitute the spinach for whatever greens you have
-potatoes - parboil some small potato chunks. Add to a pan of sauteed kale and brown in olive oil. Great side dish.
-omelets - sauteed kale and cheese are great omelet stuffing
-salad - I just tried a new recipe which made fresh kale really awesome : it was basically a homemade honey mustard dressing. There's so much flavor in the dressing that you really just taste the kale as a vague, green crunch.
posted by Miko at 6:33 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

If you chop them up into really, really tiny pieces, it makes them easier to eat. Add tiny bits of zucchini and mushroom and kale to your scrambled eggs or tacos. If you start small and get acclimated to the taste, it might be easier for you to scale up!
posted by 200burritos at 6:35 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Put them in the blender whole. Chug it. I actually do it with fruits and vegetables together and it’s quite delicious. But even if you make the non-delicious drink, it’s still easier and faster to eat a big pile of vegetables that way.

My main advice though; eat nearly nothing but vegetables for several weeks. You’ll learn to like them, that’s how humans are. If your eating meals and saying “this is the good part and that is the bad part” that will be reinforced in your mind with every meal.
posted by bongo_x at 6:53 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

Thanks for all the advice so far, everyone! I definitely have to experiment with roasting techniques :)
posted by silverstatue at 6:56 PM on July 11, 2012

I like to toss green beans with some oil and seasoning salt and roast them at 450, stirring and rearranging a few times until they are really, really crispy. Like, not "crisp tender" but crisp crisp, and you are starting to lose some of the unfortunate ones to being outright burnt. Because if you can get them to that point of being really crisp and mostly dried out without completely incinerating them, they miraculously stop tasting like green beans and start tasting like a snack food you could plausibly eat by the fistful.

Green beans are also really good if you fry up a piece of bacon, then saute them in the bacon fat (meanwhile pull out the bacon and chop it up and toss it back in), then finish off with a tablespoon of maple syrup (continue cooking for just a couple minutes longer).
posted by drlith at 7:07 PM on July 11, 2012 [2 favorites]

Can you explain what you don't like about vegetables specifically? Taste, texture, etc.? That can make a big difference.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 7:21 PM on July 11, 2012

One thing I've learned from feeding a picky child is that texture matters a great deal. He won't eat homemade tomato sauce with chunks of onion and tomato, and actually has a gag reaction if I try to push it on him. But if I puree the same darn thing with a stick blender, he says it's delicious. You can make spaghetti and meatballs with any number of reddish or orange-ish vegetables: saute onion in olive oil; add garlic; add wine; add chopped tomatoes; add chopped whatever (carrots, red peppers, etc.); let cook a bit while you form and broil your meatballs; puree the sauce; drop the broiled meatballs in; let cook another half-hour or so. You can add lightly cooked, finely chopped greens to your raw meatball mix. And make sure you're salting along the way -- sprinkle a little salt as you add each thing.

For spinach, I don't have to puree it to get him to tolerate it, I just have to chop it up really, really fine. I make a lazy man's spanikopita (because it's layered in a 9x13 Pyrex, not formed into miniature pies) with whatever greens I get in the CSA box -- just wilt them in a little olive oil over medium heat, chop them finely, and add to the rest of the filling ingredients (usually feta and eggs, and sometimes something like cottage cheese or cream cheese to smooth out the filling a bit). Make sure you remove the stems from chard and kale, so that the texture will be uniform.

Oh, and you'll probably be getting a lot of beets. Here's a recipe that uses a surprisingly large amount of beet puree and is freaking delicious (I use a dark ganache instead of the cream cheese frosting).
posted by palliser at 7:22 PM on July 11, 2012

We use the grill outdoors 4-5 times a week, all the year 'round.

Our CSA hasn't yet delivered a vegetable* that cannot be grilled to delicious effect. Couldn't be simpler: Salt+Pepper+Olive Oil and you're ready for the grill.

You can roast them in the oven instead to achieve the same effect.

----------------------------
*Fine, the greens they send get braised with garlic and salt+pepper+oliveoil in a pan with a lid. The Weber features a burner, but you can do it on yer stovetop, too.
posted by notyou at 7:40 PM on July 11, 2012 [1 favorite]

ROASTING++ if you do it right you'll end up with some browning on the vegetables which adds a TON of flavor.

Here are some recipes for how to properly prepare asparagus and brussel sprouts:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/11/thanksgiving-sides-recipe-brussels-sprouts-vegetables.html

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/11/the-food-lab-thanksgiving-sides-roasted-brussels-sprouts-and-shallots-with-balsamic-vinegar.html?ref=title

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/05/the-food-lab-all-about-asparagus.html?ref=title

A week's worth of asparagus recipes: http://www.seriouseats.com/2012/05/asparagus-and-ramp-soup-with-yogurt.html

and some carrot and potato recipes:

http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/11/the-best-roasted-sweet-potatoes-thanksgiving-sides-the-food-lab.html?ref=title

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/11/the-food-lab-thanksgiving-special-gingery-glazed-carrots.html?ref=title

http://www.seriouseats.com/2011/11/the-food-lab-thanksgiving-edition-ultra-crispy-roasted-potatoes.html?ref=title
posted by imagineerit at 7:43 PM on July 11, 2012

I have historically loathed vegetables but can co-sign the roasting technique. Even now that the weather is hot I'll suffer through turning the oven on so I can get my daily brocoli or brussels sprouts cravings met. Also works well with asparagus (though I don't mind that so much) and cauliflower. Most squashes.
posted by marylynn at 7:50 PM on July 11, 2012

-forgot one: risotto.
posted by Miko at 8:06 PM on July 11, 2012

I add a handful of raw kale to the blender when I am making a blueberry/yogurt smoothie. It ends up a nasty color, so use a non-see-through cup.

If you saute your chard/kale (or use any of the recipes from Miko up above), you can put a soft egg on top of it (over-easy, basted, or poached) and let the runny yolk add all kinds of delicious flavor to your vegetables.

Chili: When my daughter decided to be vegetarian, we switched our ground-beef chili recipe to be vegan. Since you are OK with meat, go ahead and use ground beef, then put raw carrots, celery, onions (and try mushrooms in this!!!) into the food processor and make tiny little nuggets of veggies. Saute in olive oil until softened. If you are staying vegetarian, we deglaze the pan with beer and add some cubes of meat-flavored vegetable broth to give the veggies a "meaty flavor"; if you are using meat you may not need that. Then use your favorite chili recipe (cumin, chili powder, garlic, beans, tomato sauce, etc).

We use that same trick for sloppy joes and tacos - anything with ground beef and strong spices can be enhanced (or replaced) with tiny sauteed veggie nuggets.
posted by CathyG at 8:13 PM on July 11, 2012

I do this with a lot of different veggies - squash, broccoli, green beans, turnips, the dreaded mushrooms, etc:

Crack an egg into a bowl, scramble, season with some salt and pepper.
Toss cut up pieces of veg into the bowl, swirl until coated with egg.
Add a few tablespoons of flour (preferably whole wheat). Stir. Add some more flour. Add some more salt and pepper and paprika/chili flakes/whatever spices make you happy. Stir.

When you have a fairly smooshy egg/flour covering on your veg, dump the whole bowl in a frying pan with just enough oil to coat the bottom. Doesn't even matter if some of the veg don't get prime pan-bottom real estate. Get all the egg/flour drippings out of the bowl and into the pan too. Put a cover on the frying pan and leave on at med to med-high for a while. Flip it all over when it's mostly golden with bits of brown on the bottom. Cover again and let it sit. Uncover and move it around, break bits of it apart, make sure egg is all cooked. Sprinkle a little more salt/pepper on there.

Drop onto a paper towel. Eat ever so happily.
posted by vegartanipla at 10:25 PM on July 11, 2012

You're a dude, right? With a barbeque?

Zuccinni, sliced thick (maybe 4/5ths of an inch thick), liberally dosed with kosher salt and garlic powder, does really well on a gril (bbq). 2-3 minutes on each side on low/medium.

Watermelon slices can also be interesting on a similar scale.
posted by porpoise at 12:47 AM on July 12, 2012

bongo_x: " I actually do it with fruits and vegetables together and it’s quite delicious. But even if you make the non-delicious drink, it’s still easier and faster to eat a big pile of vegetables that way."

Gazpacho made this way is excellent. A bunch of tomatoes, a big cucumber, some vinegar, some olive oil, half an onion and a clove or two of garlic blended smooth is rather delicious, and even more so after it chills overnight.

Vegetable smoothies are good, too. Just remember to add some salt. And the beefier the blender, the better.

And none of this is to say that roasting is not freakin' awesome. Asparagus, broccoli, kale chips, whatever. Throw some olive oil, salt, pepper, and whatever other seasonings strike your fancy that day onto almost any vegetable and roast it in the oven and you'll have delicious on your hands. I think broccoli is best with a teensy bit of sugar sprinkled on top before roasting.
posted by wierdo at 1:21 AM on July 12, 2012

I find the sort of broadness of "I Don't like Vegetables" weird in a way. To me there are certain dishes that require certain vegetables as part of the dish. How can you make ratatouille without Eggplant and Zucchini (Courgette) or Spanikoptia without Spinach?

I will eat pretty much any vegetable in from of me if its cooked well. I mean are we talking about "vegetables" as a pile of boiled veges on a plate next to a chunk of meat or dishes involving vegetables?

Plain boiled vegetables are pretty boring. but so is a chunk of boiled beef. Seriously have you ever just boiled a piece of meat for 10 mins and tried to eat it? Its horrible. I don't know why you would expect vegetables to be tasty after the same process.

here are some tasty Vegetable dishes I cook:
- Potato Gratin
- Roast Fennel
- Celeriac Mash with some milk and butter. mmm so good
- Ratatouille (eggplant and Zucchinni and peppers slowly cooked into a tasty tasyy mush - awesome)
- Penne Arabiata
- Meat and Vegetable stews = Carrot + Celery + Onion + Meat and Wine of vaarious combinations ?
- Blanched Broccoli in a salad with Oil and Balsamic dressing
- Sauerkraut
- Cabbage with Fennel Seeds and a little bacon or pancetta
- Beetroot or Mushroom Risotto
- Fresh Broadbeans and Smoked mackerel salad
- Roasted Beetroot and goats cheese salad
- Spanish tortilla
- Fresh Asparagus is always awesome with a bit of butter, lemon or freshly groated parmesan
- Globe Artichokes boiled then dipped in melted butter
- Brussel Sprouts braised with white wine, mustard and a little cream

Basically take any vegetable, cook with a small amount appropriate over flavoured meaty thing such as: bacon, some smoked meat or fish, Pancetta, Garlic, Chorizo, Wine, Sherry, Tomatoes, cream, and there you go.
posted by mary8nne at 4:55 AM on July 12, 2012

I joined a CSA for the exact same reason: o eat more veggies when I am a chronic veggie avoider. My solution was to add an order of eggs to my CSA, and now we have frittata for dinner about once a week. Really, what was I supposed to do with swiss chard? Cauliflower? Bok choy?? Cover it in eggs and cheese and it turns out I'll eat anything.
posted by kidsleepy at 6:15 AM on July 12, 2012

I dare you to not like eggplant after this:

Cut up into small cubes, line a large plate with paper towels or coffee filters, sprinkle with salt and some olive oil, microwave for 10 minutes, stirring once, then saute in olive oil on the stove in a pan until it gets sort of brown. It's so sweet and good.

But if you're really serious about not liking it, I guess don't bother.
posted by mgogol at 6:41 AM on July 12, 2012

Lo mein is a hell of a lot easier than you think and can accomodate just about any vegetable except for tomatoes. For one person, you need:

1/4 pound of some kind of meat
1/4 pound of lo mein noodles or spaghetti (in a pinch)
a cup of chopped up firm vegetables (carrots, celery, peppers, peas, etc. - if it's hard and crunchy, it counts)
a cup of chopped up soft vegetables (spinach, greens, etc.)
a little bit of minced ginger
a little bit of minced garlic
a little chopped onion
soy sauce
oyster sauce (this is important)

First thing, chop the meat of your choice into bite-size bits. Drizzle a little oil and soy sauce over it, and stir in the minced garlic and ginger. Let that sit while you're chopping all the vegetables. This recipe works a lot easier if you chop everything in advance and have it sitting in bowls by the stove.

Cook the noodles or spaghetti, then drain them.

Put a frying pan on the stove and turn the heat up to high. (If you actually have a wok, all the better, but a frying pan works fine.) When it's hot, dump in the meat and cook that just until done. Scrape that back into the bowl and set aside. Then drizzle in more oil and let it get hot again, toss in the onion and fry that up for a couple minutes. Then, add a drizzle of soy sauce and the hard vegetables, stir it all up good, and let that all cook for a couple minutes. Then add another drizzle of soy sauce, a drizzle of oyster sauce, and the soft vegetables. Let that all cook up for a couple minutes. Then dump the meat back in, dump the noodles in too, and stir it all up together good. Drizzle some more oyster sauce over it all and stir that in. When it's all heated through, you're done.

If you want fried rice instead, just chop everything smaller and use about a cup of cooked rice instead of the cooked noodles.

Somehow when it comes in the form of "Chinese takeout" people will eat vegetables quite happily. And the use of oyster sauce makes things taste somehow more like "takeout".
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:43 AM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Don't overcook vegetables. Most people cook veggies far, far too long. Veggies should be crisp and have a natural taste. Sautee with garlic and olive oil. If you're in a major city, search Google, Yelp, etc. for the best vegetarian restaurant in the city and try it out. This at least gives you the idea that vegetables can be tasty.

As far as beans go, you can't even eat refried beans (filled with fat and spices) in a burrito? How about eggplant in a Thai curry or Indian dish? You generally don't even know those ingredients are even in there.
posted by cnc at 8:43 AM on July 12, 2012

Adding, when steaming veggies, they should be steamed LIGHTLY. Alton Brown's brocolli technique is a great example of this. Similarly, corn cobs (while only mildly an actual vegetable) should be boiled for 4 to 4.5 minutes. NEVER LONGER.
posted by cnc at 8:47 AM on July 12, 2012

Calzones with lots of veggies and cheese. (OK, these aren't real calzones, more like stuffed bread. Canned/prepared bread dough is fine.)

Soup.

Veggies and dip.

Big salad with a tasty dressing and a small quantity of something bready/unhealthy on the side.

Fritters, as vegartinipla suggested.

Quiche/frittata, as others have suggested above.
posted by chickenmagazine at 8:54 AM on July 12, 2012

Juicing!

You can drink 4 cups of kale in one glass, especially if you add apple, grapes or beets to make it sweet.

Then make muffins with the leftover pulp.

(you'll need a juicer for this -- but it can really increase your veggie intake!)
posted by vitabellosi at 9:03 AM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Grill.
posted by epanalepsis at 9:41 AM on July 12, 2012

Does your CSA distribute a cookbook? I have seen several such small CSA home-printed cookbooks. Or sometimes it would just be a PDF online with suggested recipes for that week's share.
posted by MonsieurBon at 9:54 AM on July 12, 2012

Definitely with the roasting. Cabbage (especially red cabbage) is great roasted too.

And if you ever end up with collard greens, here's what you do:

Rinse them well. Remove tough stalks. Slice into 1/2" ribbons.

Place in a large pot of water with a chopped onion and either a) a ham hock or bone, or b) a chipotle pepper (same smoke, no fat). Add a teaspoon of sugar and some salt (but be conscious of the salt in the ham, if you're using it).

Simmer. Simmer for a long-ass time. Simmer for longer than you think you should be simmering. Simmer until those collards melt in your mouth. Then, add some chopped garlic and a brief glug of apple cider vinegar. Cook until the garlic is cooked through.

Eat those greens, and don't tell yourself how good for you they are, because you'll think yourself a liar.

Best served with good, old fashioned pepper vinegar. Put a bunch of peppers in a jar, pour boiling apple cider vinegar over them, let them sit overnight, and then stash in the fridge.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:17 PM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

Do you like pesto? Frozen it keeps almost indefinitely. Blend chopped walnuts, cooked kale, garlic, and parmesan. Add olive oil a bit at a time while blending. To cook the kale, salt boiling water, bring to simmer, add kale, and keep tasting it around 8 minutes in until it tastes right, which could be anywhere from an additional 1-8 minutes.

I like pretty much any leafy vegetable stirred into cooking pasta, soup, mashed potatoes, rice, etc. I usually add them at the last minute, unless they're tougher than usual (like Kale).

I'll nth roasting mixed vegetables. If you have leftovers, you can blend them to make a roast vegetable soup. In fact, I generally prefer any soup when the vegetables are roasted. I don't know if you make soup, if not:

1. Saute 1 chopped onion and garlic clove until soft.
2. Boil salted water (or stock) to cover all ingredients.
3. Bring the water to a simmer and add 3 cups of chopped ingredients and 1 tblspn of any spice. Garnish w/ herbs:
o Spinach, Parsely
o Butternut Squash, Ginger
o Cauliflower, Curry, Cilantro
o Rice, Peas (last minute), Parmesan
o Mushroom/White Wine, Thyme
o Diced Tomato, Garlic, Basil
o Egg, Scallions
o Potato, Paprika, Cheddar
o Black Bean, Chile Pepper, Lime, Cilantro
4. Cover the pot. Add water and any additional ingredients requiring less cooking time (like leafy greens) as needed. Should finish in no more than ½ an hour. Add a little lemon juice at the end.

If you want to thicken it, puree some (or all) the soup, and/or add a cup of yogurt, and/or add kneaded butter and flour in equal amounts until you get the desired consistency.

I also like the calzone idea. I don't know what vegetable I would not like in a calzone. Here's how I make mine:
1. Mix 3 parts flour, a pinch of salt, a tblspn of active yeast, and a tblspn of honey with 1 part water.
2. Knead the dough until elastic (ten minutes)
3. Shape into a flat circle. (letting it rise is not strictly needed).
4. Make the filling: Combine 1 cup shredded Mozzarella, 2 cups Ricotta, 2 tbspns Parmesan, 1 Egg, and a pinch of Oregano.
5. Optionally, add 1 cup of mixed:
o Cooked Sausage, Broccoli Rabe
o Pepper, Spinach
o Olive, Spinach, Extra Parmesan
o Tomato Sauce, Basil, Mozzarella
o Onion, Swiss Chard
o Onion, Olive, Peppers
o Mushroom, Spinach, Thyme
6. Fold dough over fillings and bake at 500F for 15-20 mins.

I hope this helps! Good luck!
posted by xammerboy at 4:45 PM on July 12, 2012 [1 favorite]

N-thing roasting. Grilling has a similar effect. I just wanted to chime in to say the key is that these veggies need to BROWN and maybe even get crisp. For my oven, that often means turning it up to 450. If at first you don't get shades of golden or brown on your veggies, turn it up! Also don't crowd the pan.
posted by purple_bird at 4:45 PM on July 12, 2012

Colcannon is a very delicious way to eat cabbage or kale.
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:00 PM on July 12, 2012

There are so many great ideas in here. Thanks again everyone. Except for the person who thought I was a dude! ha ha just kidding, thank you too, but for the record, I am a woman :)
posted by silverstatue at 7:45 PM on July 12, 2012

I use up a lot of CSA veg in making fried rice. Seriously, you can put almost anything in there and it works. Also pizza! I made a pizza tonight with pesto, chicken breast, some leftover grilled cauliflower, shredded zucchini, tomatoes and onions. Pasta, too; saute up some veg, add some garlic, some meat if you want it, wilt some greens in there, and mix with pasta and top with cheese. You can also use up a lot of veg making egg rolls, shepherd's pie, etc.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 9:37 PM on July 12, 2012

Juicing and soup are great ways to hide it. I find you can add spinach to so many things so easy: omelettes, spaghetti sauce, etc. Also stuff like zucchini and carrots-chop them in thin slices, and dip in hummus or your favorite salad dressing. I have had to force myself to like some veggies. Best to just introduce them slowly. Add cucumber to your sandwiches. Pack only a snack of veggies for work. You can find recepies online for cauliflower "mashed potatoes." Add small slices of any veggie to soup or sandwhiches. Chop up small slices in any casserole. Stir fry anything with rice.
posted by manicure12 at 1:09 PM on July 15, 2012

Miso butter can be added to pretty much anything. The stuff is like spreadable umami.
posted by lowest east side at 10:56 PM on December 6, 2012