by Ashlee Lamar
We all know the health benefits of fruits and vegetables are numerous. The hardest part is adding them into our daily meal plans.
Experts recommend eight to nine servings of fruits and vegetables per day. This number may sound high, but here are some tips to help add more fruits and vegetables into your daily routine.
1. Choose fruits and vegetables for side dishes at all meals. Look for frozen vegetables that are sold in microwavable bags – this makes for quick and easy preparation.
2. Buy vegetables that require minimal preparation. Choose pre washed carrots, pre washed lettuce, or grape tomatoes.
3. Base your meals around vegetables. For example, try vegetable stir fry with chicken on the side, chef’s salad with grilled chicken or vegetable wraps.
4. Incorporate vegetables into snacks – try hummus with carrot sticks or apple slices with peanut butter.
5. Fortify your main dishes with vegetables. Add several spoonfuls of canned vegetables to your next soup. Or incorporate frozen spinach to your next lasagna dish.
Ashlee Lamar is a registered dietitian with Providence Medical Center.
Stuffed Peppers with Turkey and Vegetables
Ingredients:
– 4 bell peppers, tops and seeds removed
– 1 pound 93% lean ground turkey
– 2 tablespoons olive oil
– ½ onion, chopped
– 1 cup sliced mushrooms
– 1 zucchini, chopped
– ½ red bell pepper, chopped
– 1 cup fresh spinach
– 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
– 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
– 1 tablespoon tomato paste
– Italian seasoning to taste
– Garlic powder to taste
– Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Fill large sauce pan with water and bring to boil.
3. Remove the tops and seeds from peppers. Add peppers to boiling water and cook 5 minutes. Remove from water.
4. In large skillet over medium heat, cook the ground turkey until browned and thoroughly cooked. Drain and set aside.
5. Heat oil in skillet.
6. Combine onion, mushrooms, zucchini, red bell pepper and spinach. Cook until tender.
7. Add the cooked ground turkey and feta cheese.
8. Mix in the tomatoes, tomato paste, and season with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Mix well.
9. Divide the skillet mixture amongst the four peppers and fill each pepper to the top with mixture.
10. Place peppers on baking sheet. Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Serve warm.
Serving size: 1 pepper Servings per recipe: 4 peppers
Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com.