Early American settlers didn’t rely on their expert hunting skills to get them through the winter. They relied on their crops of vegetables, their constant, to keep them healthy and nourished. Today we take the fact that vegetables are readily available at the grocery store for granted. With the ease of obtaining vegetables I think we have forgotten how vital they always have been and always will be to our existence. You can’t grow a bag of cheese puffs in your backyard in a time of crisis. Respect for the farmer, for the gardener and for the vegetable has dwindled in the light of processed bags of food.
Vegetables come in a variety of shapes, colors and textures. Everyone has their favorite and their least favorite and the one they wish didn’t even exist but making sure you have institute a variety of this important food group in your diet is vital step in being healthy. The more variety in color you have the better, as each color group has its own benefits. Vegetables provide us with countless vitamins and minerals that the human body cannot create by itself.
Vegetables can be eaten fresh, grilled, boiled, stir fried, steamed, etc. They can make themselves a meal or make great sides with all of the different meat sources of protein. Baked chicken with boiled squash? Yes please. An omelet loaded with vegetables is a great source of protein and an excellent way of working vegetables into your breakfast (or go crazy and make omelets for dinner).
The key is finding complimentary vegetables to accent your protein rich dishes. Incorporating more vegetables into your diet can be accomplished by pre cutting veggies to eat as snacks throughout the day, grab frozen vegetables as a quick and easy side that has the same nutritional value as fresh veggies, stock up on low sodium canned veggies for side dishes, eat salads with multiple colored veggies, start meals with low sodium vegetable based soups, order a vegetable as a side dish in a restaurant instead of the usual fried side, look for in season vegetables to try something new.
About the author: Bridget Bean is an Extension Program Assistant and Better Living for Texans educator with the Brown County AgriLife Extension office. Bridget may be reached at 325-646-0386.