Vegetable seasonings: How to prepare delicious vegetables with herbs and spices | Herbalife Advice
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 21 Jan 2013
When you cook a piece of chicken, you don't just boil it and eat it, do you? Of course you don't - a little seasoning makes that plain-tasting chicken taste a whole lot better. Well the same holds true for vegetables, too. Plenty of people tell me that they would eat more vegetables if they just weren't so boring. Turns out, they're usually just steaming them and eating them plain, maybe with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. And while there's nothing wrong with that, you might enjoy your veggies a lot more -- and eat more of them, too -- if you perk up the flavor with some seasoning.
If you keep on hand some fresh or dried herbs and spices, lemons, limes, garlic, vinegar, soy sauce, chicken broth, and some flavorful oils, you've got plenty of seasoning options.
There are no hard and fast rules for pairing herbs with different vegetables -- so experiment and see what you like. That's part of the fun of cooking. If you're not sure how and herb or spice will taste, start with just a little so you don't overpower the flavor of the vegetables. Also, they're usually best tossed in just as soon as the veggies are finished cooking.
Then, you can add a little liquid -- citrus juice, broth, wine, vinegar or soy sauce. Again, try different ones. Cider vinegar and citrus are sharp, rice vinegar is mild, and balsamic vinegar is syrupy and a little bit sweet. Garlic is great on most vegetables -- especially broccoli and leafy greens -- and you can just grate it on top and give it a stir. Finally, it takes just a few drops of a highly flavorful oil, like olive, walnut or sesame, to amp up the flavor of your vegetables with just a few calories.
The right seasonings can definitely take your veggies from dull to delicious. Here are some of my favorite combinations.
- For carrots, try lime juice, dill, a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper.
- For leafy greens, saute in a little olive oil with thinly sliced red onion, garlic and a splash of balsamic vinegar.
- For green beans, stir in a bit of lemon juice, mustard, a little olive oil, and salt and pepper at the end of cooking.
- And for broccoli, a mixture of soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and a drizzle of sesame oil does wonders.
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Herbalife nutritionist, Susan Bowerman explains the best ways to season your veggies. Boiled vegetables can be boring, try these seasonings to spice up the flavor by using herbs, spices, oils, broths, citrus, garlic, vinegar, salt & pepper. Take your veggies from dull to delicious by seasoning your veggies. These great tricks for carrots, leafy greens, green beans & broccoli will bring out the flavor in your veggies.