The title is a little misleading, since I really don’t like most veggies. What I really mean is I’m going through one of my “meat makes me gag” stages. I fixed spaghetti the other day because that’s what hubby wanted. He wanted me to make enough for him to have leftovers for work through the week. I did eat a plate of it, but my mouth and stomach were rebelling a bit. I’ve been through these phases before. Yesterday, for lunch, I got a veggie plate at the grocery store consisting of Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, and green beans. Did I mention I don’t like veggies? I really tried to eat the green beans. I ate as many as I could before the gag reflex started. I think I’ll go for a salad at lunch today. But I’m trying to think up some good dishes to fix for myself that contain no meat. Keep in mind…I DON’T like most veggies. Did I say that already? LOL.
So, anyone got any ideas? I love onions. I like beans. I’m still going to try Kait Nolan‘s polenta recipe (I already have the yellow cornmeal). But I don’t like most green veggies. I like zucchini, but it has to be exactly the right texture. I LOVE cheese. I’m open to suggestions….
lauralynnelliott.com 
My husband keeps saying I can’t be a vegetarian because I don’t just love all vegetables. Which I think is ludicrous. That’s like saying you can’t be a meat-eater if you refuse to eat pork, isn’t it? While my vegetable intake is way up these days, a more accurate description of me would be a carbivore.
My suggestion is to go for whole grains. Eat the kinds of things you want, but substitute whole grain products for what we’ve grown accustomed to. You’ll get more fiber, protein, and other nutrients, plus you’ll feel fuller on less. If you like mushrooms, they’re also high in protein and fiber while fat free, low-cal, and full of other good stuff. Add them to everything. Also, re-evaluate old information about “complete” protein and how much protein we actually need, if that’s a concern. If you eat a reasonable variety of foods, even if they’re all plant-based foods, it just shouldn’t be a problem.
One thing that’s really versatile is pizza dough. This weekend, try mixing up a batch or two of whole grain pizza dough. You can store it in the fridge and break off gobs as needed, or separate it into balls, freeze, and thaw overnight in the fridge and while you’re at work.
You can do all kinds of variations on pizza. Around here we have to call it “flatbread” because my husband finds anything non-traditional or gourmet referred to as pizza to be somehow offensive. Instead of tomato sauce, try BBQ, a light layer of alfredo, spinach dip, pesto, etc. You can use any combination of the vegetables that you do like, and the different sauces will help keep them interesting. Brush the crust with olive oil, layer on thinly sliced cooked potato and onion (or leeks, or green onions) (and something green if you can manage it), then drizzle with a small amount of a zesty, creamy salad dressing after its baked.
One nice thing is that you can easily put meat on one portion (pepperoni, italian sausage, flavored chicken sausage, cold cuts, leftover rotisserie chicken, leftover anything, ground beef, meat seasoned for tacos…)
Try using less cheese than you’re accustomed to and see if you still like it. You can always melt another layer of cheese on later, but learning to be happy with smaller amounts of cheese will be better for you than the smothering layer application that drips grease.
Sometimes it helps inspiration to think in themes and use combinations that work for other foods. Like tacos, a favorite salad, what’s good in a quiche, specialty sandwiches, etc.
Also, if you can make a chicken breast, pork chop, steak, etc. for your husband, then serve him a smaller portion of a topped flatbread as a side along with a salad.
And a lot of ideas that work for pizza work for pasta too. If you don’t cook up batches of beans for the freezer, stock a few cans of different kinds of beans in your pantry and add some to whatever you’re making if you’re concerned about protein or need to make it more filling. Try using red beans like pintos and kidneys where you’d use red meat, white beans like navy or cannellini for chicken.
Last week I made a batch of whole wheat bread dough and rolled it into a rectangle. Spread the center with low-fat cream cheese mixed with a little powdered sugar and almond extract, and put down a layer of dried cherries and raisins. Scored the dough on each side, wove the strips across the filling and sealed the ends. Brushed with egg, water, and honey, and baked it. Came out beautiful. Then I mixed up a little milk, powdered sugar, and lemon juice and drizzled that over it. Delicious, and I didn’t feel the least bit guilty about eating it.
I also keep whole grain pita bread in the house. I need to start making that myself, but it works really well if you’ve got a serving of sauteed vegetables, a scoop of vegetables, and egg or two… A little feta cheese added has a lot of flavor.
This past week I made a baked macaroni and cheese in which I added onion, carrots, celery, and zucchini to the sauce. Last year I would have turned up my nose at that, but it smelled amazing and was really good. I grated the vegetables in the food processor so they were practically pureed and then sauteed them before adding them to the cheese sauce. Of course I used whole wheat macaroni (which is not always easy to find, but I had some from the whole foods store). Chopped grape tomatoes on top of a light layer of seasoned dry bread crumbs was a really nice addition.
You don’t have to like a lot of vegetables in order to eat more of them. Just concentrate on what you do like and look for new ways to eat more of those. Hope that helps.
Thank you, Susan! It’s good to gets ideas from someone who’s working on being at least partially vegetarian. My reasons, though, are the gaggy thing right now. But I can learn to eat less meat even when I’m not going through this stage. I’ve always been a big beef eater, and I know I need to cut down on red meat. I know there are a lot of things that can be done with meatless dishes, and I appreciate your input. I’m thinking about an onion and mushroom pizza right now…. 🙂
I think hubby would be happy with meatless dishes from time to time. He’s a much healthier eater than I am anyway. The first thing he does when he gets up in the evenings is eat a banana. Last night, he was eating strawberries and grapes. I should mimic him more.
I’m doing the same thing, trying to up the veggies but I hate them, lol. I’ve learned to get them really really tiny though using a food processor (like carrots, onions, peppers, etc) and then adding them to spaghetti sauce, soups, casseroles, etc and I barely notice them. (I also make a smooth spaghetti sauce, cause I hate chunks of tomatoes!) Susan’s pizza idea is good too. Since I only cook for me most of the time, I use tortillas (whole wheat usually, the ones for burritos, and top them mexican style-different types of beans, a lil bit of cheese, etc- and sticking them under the broiler to get things hot and melty, then topping them with lettuce and other things i do eat. I also add beans to soups (cannelini beans to chicken soup, usually black and kidney to chili as a substitute for meat). Rachel Ray has a bunch of really good “stoup” recipes that don’t use meat, but beans instead. This is one of my faves, but I don’t make the sandwiches with it, just the Black Bean Stoup. http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/rachael-ray/black-bean-stoup-and-southwestern-monte-cristo-sandwiches-recipe3/index.html
Yes! Finally someone else that understands about hating chunks of tomatoes! 🙂 You sound a lot like me. Thank you so much for the link to the recipe! And the tortilla thing sounds like a great idea.
If you like beans, hummus has a lot of folic acid & fiber, and if you eat beans regularly, your body digests them better. It makes an easy on-the-go lunch or snack if you use it as a dip for crackers, celery, or carrot sticks. You might also consider Googling tricks that parents use to sneak veggies into main dishes like adding a little pureed squash or pumpkin into mac & cheese or a small amount of mashed black beans into brownies. (Really–you won’t even know it’s in there! My family gobbled them up once, and I didn’t confess about the magic extra ingredient until they were almost gone.)
Hummus is ok in small amounts. I can’t eat much of it and it has to be spiced up really well. It’s good on pita chips. The problem with sneaking things in is that I’m the one doing the sneaking, so I know it’s there! LOL
I’ve heard of that black beans in brownies trick. The thing is…I would just as soon have black beans as the brownies in some cases. Depending on my mood. I need a good recipe to spice up black beans. 🙂
My daughter and I dont eat me, one of our favortie *and she dont like veggies* is that we will make a brown rice *the boil in a bag kind* and cover it with chedder cheese and then so she gets her veggies I will buys veggie spegitie sauce and put a lil of that on it. I like it and it meets my picky 4yr olds approval.
Thanks, Ali! Brown rice is a good suggestion, especially made the way you said. I appreciate the comment!
Try falafe; it’s delicious, or stuffed and grilled peppers. How about corn on the cob or vegetarian pizza with plenty of cheese, corn and pineapple?
I love good, sweet corn on the cob. Falafel is made with hummus,right? That’s something I need to look into.What would you stuff peppers with if you aren’t using ground beef? That’s what I’ve always used for stuffing peppers. Suggestions?
I’m sorry, but nothing weird goes on my pizza. Hahahahahaha. Seriously, pizza is my favorite food and I can’t even imagine corn or pineapple on it, although pineapple seems to be a popular ingredient. But mushrooms, onions, etc. I can handle. I know Susan suggested trying less cheese, but that’s something I won’t compromise on. But I CAN learn to eat fewer slices. I’m going grocery shopping today, so I need to figure out a plan before I leave work. Off to the food network I go. 🙂
Falafel is one of my favourite things to eat. Stuff the peppers with onions and other veggies and stick them in the oven for 35 minutes, then add some cheese and allow to melt for a few mins. Serve them with baked potatoes and sour cream – a delicious combination.
I don’t know if this will appeal to you, but it’s one of my favorites and is quick and easy to make:
You boil frozen corn until it’s done. You add any veggie you want. I usually cut up carrots, celery, zucchini, and tomatoes. You can cut up whatever you want in the dish though. Then I add Italian salad dressing and stir.
I think our bodies crave different foods because we need some nutrient in them. I tend to crave fruits, esp. watermelon.
Someone here at work told me that same thing…my body must be craving something since my tastes suddenly changed. I want to take advantage of this whole thing and see if I can cut down on my meat consumption even when I’m not gagging over it. LOL. Fish apparently isn’t part of my aversion to meat because I saw sushi (not the raw kind) yesterday and craved it, so I bought it and had it for dinner. That’s my lunch today, too. 🙂