Celebrating National Eat Your Veggies Day

Celebrating National Eat Your Veggies Day

Happy National Eat Your Veggies Day! This national celebration is intended to encourage people to eat more vegetables or try a new vegetable. Browse our resources for support on this health goal, recipe ideas and inspiration.

• Tricks to Increase Vegetable Intake

• If eating more vegetables is a goal, make sure vegetables are available and prepped when possible. Make veggie-centered snacks and meals such as a crudité platter, chopped salads, grain bowls and soups.

• How to Add Flavor to Vegetables

• Cooking with spices, herbs and heart-healthy fats such as plant oils adds flavor to vegetables. Also, the way vegetables are prepared impacts their flavor. Consider personal preferences, seasonality, time and other factors when choosing how to prepare vegetables.

• 10 Ideas for Adding More Veggies to Meals

• Vegetables offer vitamins, minerals and fiber, which all contribute to improving overall health. Also, vegetables provide an array of textures, flavors and colors to your plate.

• The Starchy Vegetable Spectrum

• Starchy vegetables include potatoes, sweet potatoes, peas and corn. Starchy vegetables contain more carbohydrates per portion than other vegetables, but their nutrient profile does not negate the health benefits that starchy vegetables provide.

• Cooked vs. Raw Vegetables: Which is More Nutritious?

• Bottom line: eat a variety of both raw and cooked vegetables. Cooking reduces the levels of some nutrients, but it also increases the bioavailability (how much your body absorbs) of other nutrients. Also, consider your preferred method of preparation for vegetables. The benefits to eating more vegetables outweigh any potential downsides of whether they are raw or cooked.

Some of our favorite vegetable-based recipes are:

• Tabbouleh

• Sesame Swiss Chard

• Quinoa Bowl with Spicy Peanut Dressing

• Chimichurri

• Butter Lettuce Salad

• Crunchy Cucumber Salad

• Hummus and Vegetable Collard Green Wraps

• Quick Pickled Red Cabbage

• Simple roasted veggies (broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower, potatoes, carrots, peppers, garlic, zucchini, pattypan squash)