7 Easy Ways to Eat More Colourful Fruit and Veggies

It’s spring and time for colour. Do you agree?

I believe everyone could use a big dose of colour in their lives right now.

Thank goodness for spring because it's exploding with colour!

With the season’s warmth and sunshine, trees perk up and decorate our yards and streets with blossoms. Flowers wake up and show off their brilliance, brightening up our gardens and patios. And, farm fresh produce delights us with its colourful presence on our kitchen tables.

Wouldn’t you agree that colourful food is fun? That’s just one of the reasons why we should eat more of it. (Spoiler alert! This newsletter will encourage everyone, including myself, to eat more fruits and veggies.)

Why? Because they are good for us. They are filled with vitamins, minerals and fibre. We should aim to eat at least 7 to 10 fruits and veggies a day, and preferably five different coloured ones to get the array of vitamins and mineral our bodies need to maintain good health.

But that’s boring…right? It turns food into medicine. Not fun. That’s why I suggest eating veggies and fruit because they’re filled with colour, which us brings enjoyment and cheers us up.

With that in mind, here are seven easy ways to create pleasure in your life by eating more colourful fruit and veggies.

1. Start in the morning. Cut up an orange or spoon red strawberries or blueberries onto your morning yogurt. How about placing banana slices onto peanut butter and toast?

2. Snack on a juicy red apple, yellow pear, orange peach, or crimson cherries throughout the day when you get hungry.

3. Have a veg in your lunch. Perhaps a vegetable soup made with broccoli, carrots and zucchini, or a veggie sandwich with avocado, tomato and cucumber. How about eating carrot sticks instead of potato chips with that sandwich?

4. If you’re hungry before dinner, snack on celery sticks or carrot sticks smothered with cream cheese or ranch salad dressing.

5. Include a vegetable side dish with every meal in your meal plan. This could be a green salad, or steamed or roasted veggies.

6. Try adding more veggies into every meal you make. For instance, if a recipe calls for one carrot, add two. Perhaps you can add celery as well as carrots into a recipe. If a recipe calls for half a cup of peas, increase the amount to one cup. Instead of a small tomato in your salad, cut up two or three.

7. Go to a farmer’s market and become inspired by all the fresh produce that is available. You’re sure to come home with a bounty of colourful food to eat throughout the week.

To get you started, I’ve included a quick pasta recipe to try with colourful asparagus.

Quick Pasta Dish with Asparagus, Mushrooms Tomatoes and Fresh Basil 

Pasta with Asparagus and Mushrooms

 

If you love asparagus, you will have to try this fast to prepare and yummy to eat recipe.

Serves 4

1 pound (454 g) linguine
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red onion, chopped small
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or less
1/2 pound mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 small tomatoes, cut small
1 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat water to boil in a big pot.  

Start cooking the linguine in the pot of boiling water according to the package’s instructions.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic and sauté five minutes.

Meanwhile, add red pepper flakes and mushrooms to the onion mixture and sauté four more minutes. If the pan gets dry, you can add some boiling water from the pasta pot.

Add tomatoes, asparagus, basil and mix all together.

Turn down heat to medium, cover, and let simmer about four to five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Drain the pasta. Add the pasta back into the big pot and add the vegetable mixture.

Season with salt and pepper and toss to combine.

Serve passing freshly grated Parmesan cheese.