Winter is here. It's that time of the year when we tend to take shortcuts with cooking and turn lazy. We prefer to keep ourselves warm and remain inside quilts. This results in reduced mobility, which, in turn, fiddles with our digestion process. Thus, it is imperative to tweak our dietary habits for the winter months and include more green leafy vegetables that are a great source of nutrients and can be easily digested. But eating vegetables cooked in the same way every day can be boring. So, how about trying newer ways to make these vegetables desirable again?
Here are 7 ways in which you can increase your vegetable intake this winter, without having to make drastic changes to your diet.
1) Make a vegetable dal:
Pulses are a great source of protein. In some areas, people add grated lauki to dal. Mostly this is done with chana dal, but you can do it with other pulses as well. The lauki chana dal is a typical north Indian Punjabi-style curry. Or you can try making dalma, a signature dish from Odisha. In this, a host of vegetables is boiled with dal and seasoned with ghee and other spices.
You can add variety of vegetables to your salad.
2) Salads:
A salad is the easiest way to add fresh vegetables to your diet. Cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, cucumber, gram, and spinach tossed with a dressing of yogurt, honey, salt, and pepper — lip-smacking and healthy, isn't it? Here's how you can make a mixed vegetable salad.
3) Dips:
If you need more than just a vegetable salad, go for dips or snacks. Instead of snacking on oily chips and fingers, why not munch on healthy alternatives. A big advantage of dips is that it can be prepared with almost any vegetable. Try making this tasty carrot dip or a tomato and celery dip.
4) Idli:
This popular south Indian meal is made with rice batter, and paired with delicious sambar. Idli can be a great way to add vegetables to your diet. Finely chop some vegetables such as carrot and garnish the idli with that. Or you can add a whole range of vegetables depending on your choice in the sambar. Try making this high protein tadka veg idli.
Vegetables make delicious curry.
5) Gravy and curry dishes:
During some days, you can also return to the regular ways to eat vegetables. Making a mixed vegetable dish such as avial is an interesting way to add many greens to your diet. Another way is to try making ghanta, a traditional Odia mixed vegetable curry.
6) Smoothie:
Smoothies made with leafy veggies such as spinach and carrots can be easily camouflaged with fruits like bananas, pineapples, and mangoes to prepare smoothies. Loaded with vital nutrients, it will keep you hydrated as well as energised. Try making this smoothie filled with greens and protein.
7) Add vegetables in dalia, oats, khichdi, poha, upma:
We all have these tasty dishes at regular intervals. Why not tweak them and add a mix of our favourite vegetables. It would be a great energy booster for the day. Here's the recipe for daliya vegetable khichdi.
Consuming your share of vegetables for the day wouldn't be unpleasant if you follow these 7 ways to add them into your diet.