Let’s face it. Healthy food isn’t always the most exciting. If you’re like us, you’re dead tired of eating khichdi for dinners and ordering a sad-looking salad every time you go to a restaurant. Surely, there had to be sneaky ways we can include some fruits and vegetables into our meals. Fortunately, Harman Sawhney, brand chef, Hoppipola, Mumbai, agrees. Here’s what he had to say:
Make veggie-based soups
If you cringe at the thought of vegetables, soups are an excellent way to consume multiple servings of vegetables at once. You can make veggies the base by pureeing them and adding spices. Moreover, it’s simple to cook veggies into broth- or cream-based soups. Adding even a small amount of extra veggies, such as broccoli and zucchini is a great way to increase your intake of fiber, vitamins and minerals. And we could all do with more of those, right?
Blend with smoothies
Smoothies make for a refreshing breakfast or snack. Typically, they are made by combining fruit with ice, milk or water in a blender. However, you can also add veggies to smoothies without compromising the flavour. You can add veggies like kale, spinach, beetroot, zucchini, broccoli and beans.
Redesign your fast food
Give a healthy twist to your comfort food. For instance, add lots of vegetables to sandwiches. While lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers are the common choices, you can go for avocado, eggplant and chard. They will fill up your stomach easily and also provide you with nutrients. If you’re a pasta fan, add in tons of veggies of your choice. It’ll assuage some of your guilt, if nothing else!
Disguise with water
Despite knowing how important water is for your body to function properly, most of us don’t meet the recommended 8-10 cups of water every day. To make the mundane a little exciting, fuse water with cucumber, lemon slices and mint leaves and carry it around in a bottle.
Stay cool
Try your hand at making a chilled watermelon gazpacho soup. We got Chef Chetan Patil, The Central Kitchen, Mumbai, to share his recipe.
Ingredients:
Fresh watermelon (seeded); Cucumbers; Onions; Bell peppers; Jalapeños; Extra virgin olive oil; Apple cider vinegar; Salt; Ground black pepper
For garnish:
Small cucumber (diced, seeded) ; Small bell pepper (diced, seeded); Small onion (diced); Chopped parsley
Method:
Blend all ingredients together in mixture to make a smooth puree. Keep it in the refrigerator for an hour. Garnish with diced veg and serve chilled.