If you or a close family member hates consuming vegetable; just want to live on meat, dal and/ or potatoes, it is time to be concerned. I am married for 8 months and realized hubby dear lives on meats; I was concerned! Honed my cookery act and today can proclaim that he relishes eating veggies.

Whether you like it or not, vegetables are unavoidable! We all know, they are powerhouses of vitamins, minerals, proteins, fibre, natural water content, antioxidants and other powerful phytochemicals. One cannot underestimate the importance of vegetables.

Few tricks to make your loved ones enjoy veggies

1. Eat salads: Slice tomatoes, onions, radishes, carrots, cucumber etc; may be mix with boiled eggs/ cold cuts and use with / instead of food.
2. Add vegetables to your favourite meat dishes e.g. fish/ chicken/ meat in spinach or capsicum dishes
3. Mix and match the foods with other food items e.g mix veg pulao/ biryani; soya chunk pulao
4. Serve the raw vegetables with a tasty homemade healthy dip (made of curd/ avocado) as they are quite appetising.
5. Consume 2-3 tier (slices) sandwiches with generous helping of vegetables / salad items e.g. lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, capsicum, onions, boiled potato etc
6. Consume juices of vegetables (may even add fruits with pulp) eg carrot juice, tomato, mint, snake gourd etc
7. Consume vegetable soups (may be with garnish of boneless chicken/ prawns)
8. Marinate with tasty sauces and consume grilled by simply sprinkling with salt and pepper (may be chat masala).

This is especially significant for kids as today’s generation needs tasty/ visually appealing food.

Vinita Pai, newly married, Sr manager in a telecom company; amateur cookery expert, loves to try newer, visually appealing vegetarian dishes.