Trying to get more veggies into your diet? March is all about the green – what with St. Patrick’s Day and the start of spring and all – so there’s no better time to try some easy vegetable recipes.
The five dishes below taste great and will help boost your veggie intake this spring.
Food blogger Angela Liddon touts this dish, which is packed with quinoa, spinach, avocado, zucchini, snap peas, carrots and pepitas. Not only does it look gorgeous, it’s also filled with tons of vitamins, fiber and fresh-from-the-garden goodness. It’s a bowlful of sunshine, so welcome after the dreary winter months.
Penne With Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes
Tender spring asparagus takes center stage in this penne dish with asparagus and cherry tomatoes from Italian food maven Giada De Laurentiis. This quick and easy dish takes just 15 minutes to get from stovetop from tabletop, making it perfect for a weeknight dinner.
Using chocolate as a base is a sneaky yet delicious way to get vegetables into, say, a finicky toddler or reluctant teen. With the addition of avocado, this chocolate avocado pudding from allrecipes.com gets an influx of vitamins and nutrients. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, avocados are full of vitamins B, C and E, as well as potassium. Yum!
Tacos are one of my favorite go-to meals. Sometimes I fill them with fake meat crumbles, and sometimes I use fish or black beans instead. But I never through about making them with shrimp until I saw this recipe from garlicmysoul.com. It’s so fresh and easy: Saute up some shrimp, toss with whatever roasted veggies you have, add some salsa and voila. Dinner! (Bonus: My 13-year-old daughter loved this dish. Mom for the win!)
Kale Smoothie With Pineapple and Banana
Don’t have time to eat your greens? Drink them instead! With just four ingredients – kale, coconut water, banana and pineapple – this smoothie recipe from realsimple.com will make you feel like you’re vacationing in the tropics, tasty mocktail in hand.
Have a few favorite healthy dinner ideas that you would like to share? Tell us in the comments.