June 17th Is National Eat Your Vegetables Day
Incorporating vegetables into your daily diet is essential to your health and longevity, so it’s no surprise that there is a National Eat Your Vegetables Day.
It’s the perfect day to try a new vegetable or vegetable-heavy recipe and learn more about the positive effect vegetables have on your physical wellbeing.
There are a variety of ways you can celebrate National Eat Your Vegetables Day – instead of chips or cookies for a snack eat some vegetables sticks or a small salad; for dinner, make vegetables the entry instead of a side dish (or no dish at all).
Here are a couple recipes I came across that I thought sounded especially delicious…..
Ingredients:
3 cups broccoli florets
1 cup carrot, thinly sliced
6 ounces firm tofu, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking brown rice
Directions:
– Prepare rice according to package directions, then set aside, but keep warm.
– For sauce, in a small bowl stir together the broth, dry sherry, cornstarch, soy sauce, sugar, ginger & the optional red pepper (if desired), then set aside.
– Spray a cold wok or large skillet with nonstick cooking spray, then preheat over medium-high heat.
– Stir-fry carrots & garlic for 2 minutes.
– Add broccoli & stir-fry 3-4 minutes more, or until vegetables are crisp-tender, then push vegetables away from center of wok or skillet.
– Stir sauce, then add to center of wok or skillet, & cook, stirring, until thickened & bubbly.
– Add tofu & stir everything together to coat with sauce.
– Cook & stir for 1 minute more.
– Serve over brown rice.
Ingredients:
2 cups orzo pasta
1 12 cups broccoli floret
2 cups corn kernels (fresh, 3 ears)
1 cup red pepper (sweet, diced)
1 cup pepper (sweet orange, diced)
12 cup black olive (pitted halved)
12 cup red onion (diced)
14 cup fresh basil (shredded)
14 cup fresh parsley (chopped)
13 cup olive oil
3 tbsps white wine vinegar
1 clove garlic cloves (minced)
14 tsp pepper flakes (hot)
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
– In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook orzo, stirring occasionally, for 6 minutes. add broccoli and cook until broccoli is tender and pasta is al dente, about 1 minute.
– Drain well and refresh under cold running water; drain again. Return to pot or large bowl. Gently stir in corn, red and orange peppers, olives, onion, basil and parsley.
– In a measuring cup, whisk together oil, vinegar, garlic, hot pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Pour over salad and toss gently. (Salad can be covered and refrigerated for up to 2 hours. Bring to room temperature 30 minutes before serving).
Happy National Eat Your Vegetables Day! Do you have a favorite vegetable dish? We’d love for you to share the recipe in the comments section below!
