Winter Veggies for Healthy Nutrition

The cold weather is coming and so is the tendency to stay sheltered in place. So what’s to eat that is easy to cook in large quantities, freeze for later, and fits a modest budget? You want foods that are filling and have great nutrition value. Carrots and potatoes come easily to mind, but there are others that could become your new staples.

Beets: They add a lot of nutrition and colour as well as flavor to a meal without a lot of natural sugar. Roast them, boil them or add them to a stew. Extra flavor is important because it reduces the need to add extra fats and salt to make a food satisfying. Many people think it is difficult to cook with beets, but it’s as easy as any other vegetable.

Cabbage: This is a very versatile addition to many foods even if you don’t eat it as a side. It complements almost anything. In addition to having very little of its own sugar, it adds a lot of fibre to a meal. Use cabbage as a meal filler rather than over indulging on bread and potatoes.

Trying to save money by making meat and expensive vegetables last for multiple meals is a sound strategy. Bread and potatoes have their place as a neutral complement but they are high in carbs and you only need so much carbs at one time. Beets and Cabbage are inexpensive and do the job of filling up a plate with no risk of overindulging on carbs and sugars.

Making simple food more satisfying makes it less of a temptation to resort to more exciting or spicy processed food or fast food during the winter. After Christmas and New Year’s we see the reality of what we need to do to stay healthy over the winter. Finding ways to make healthy food interesting after all the rich holiday food helps us meet our personal health goals.