I never enjoyed vegetables but want to eat more...

Toonie

That kind of sums it up really. The vegetables I had as a child were horrible, over cooked and soggy to the point of no return. This has meant all I've ever really eaten are carrots, peas, cumcumber and tomatoes. A few years ago I started branching out and now eat some salad leaves (I really like fresh baby spinach and gem lettuces, sweetcorn, swede and green beans. This week I decided it was time to try and get some more green vegetables into me, but my biggest problem is the idea of soggy vegetables. The green beans I cook for a matter of minutes (3 at most) and find they are just about ok. Peas I quite happily eat raw, same with spinach.

I have bought some kale and was wondering if anyone could give me some advice on the best way to cook it, so that it won't be soggy. I'm hoping that I enjoy it as it would be great to have another vegetable in my diet.

Mags_cat

If you like chinese food, kale or other cabbage makes a great addition to a stir fry.

Slice it *really* thin and it will only take a minute or two in a hot wok and you can add some soy or oyster sauce.

Or - you can fry some small pieces of bacon until they're crispy, then add shredded kale/cabbage and fry that for a couple of minutes in the same pan - it take on the flavour of the bacon and makes for a slightly less oriental version

nuttyrockeress

I wouldn't eat any veg at all until I started to grow my own........

I wouldn't touch carrots until I grew my own this last year and now I love em!

Cauliflour i'm still not keen on unless it's cauli cheese.

I started off eating veg only if covered in gravy and mint sauce - ooo and dijon mustard

This year I am growing loads of veg as I know we will eat it now (or at least I will eat more )

missamoo

I have a steamer - the kind that fits over the top of a saucepan so while you are cooking your potatoes your veggies are also cooking and you are only using one hob. You can buy bamboo ones but I bought a saucepan that had 2 metal tiers with it. I find by using this I don't get soggy veggies and I'm also saving money on gas. Brocolli and cauliflower stay quite crisp if you keep an eye on them. Take them out as soon as they are shiny and green I find is best.

Also, I know in this day and age we are supposed to stay away from salt but a bit of salt always makes veggies taste that much nicer!

Ladyhawk

Have you tried butternut? It's my absolute favourite. It's particularly nice mashed with a bit of honey, butter and cinnamon.

I love most veggies... but have to admit I have never got on with kale, though that was probably just because I wasn't cooking it right.

And I second the pinch of salt advice - it really does bring out the flavour.

missamoo

Ooh, just remembered, have you tried them roasted? As if you are doing roast potatoes or even dry roasts but do it with your veggies instead. makes gorgeous carrots and parsnips. I often throw in a handful of my veggies in my roasting tin with my potatoes when i'm doing a roast. almost my fave part of the meal!

SailorSam

The only vegetable i would eat as a little kid was peas, even then only tinned processed ones.
Now i'll eat almost anything, but not processed stuff, only real food.

ThriftyFelicity

Trim the hard centre ribs from the kale leaves, then brush the leaves with olive oil. Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet, sprinkle with salt, and bake in a hot oven until crispy. Take care as they go from "crispy" to "burnt" quite quickly.

Kale is delicious this way... like kale crisps!

Lots of other veg is good roasted as well... cauliflower and sprouts are really nice. One of our favourite roasted veg combos is red pepper, carrots, asparagus and oyster mushrooms.

WRT avoiding soggy veg... if you steam veg as opposed to boiling, it's a lot less likely to get waterlogged.

phizzimum

I would echo others comments and recommend you invest in a steamer - it doesn't have to be expensive just get a metal one that can fit over a saucepan.

I find veg much more interesting if it's an integral part of the meal itself, as opposed to just sitting on the side of the plate. indian dishes are great as you don't feel like you're eating vegetables - have you ever tried sag aloo (spinach and potato)?

foxgloves

Like someone else has said, a good way to cook things like kale & savoy cabbage, spring greens, etc, is to slice it really finely into shreds with a very sharp knife, heat a bit of oil in a wok, add a crushed clove of garlic or two and chuck in the greens & stirfry for a few minutes. This is known as 'garlicky greens' in our house and is always popular and very easy to cook.

Toonie

I think I'll have a go at some stirred fried veg tonight to go with the chicken that I'm having. Another problem I have is I'm allergic to garlic, onion and celery (as well as pretty much all fruit apart from bananas, citrus and grapes). So, trying to up my veg intake is to compensate for the lack of vitamins from my allergies.

Would ginger work with kale? I like doing a stir fry with fresh ginger grated on.