Make over your meals: Vege dishes and salads

To Make Every Meal Healthier! this month’s small change to make (and to get into the habit of doing) is to make over your meals.

In the August 2012 issue of Healthy Food Guide magazine, every recipe is a healthy makeover of a regular dish. The tweaks to ingredients and methods are small, and once you get the hang of it, the healthy habit of ‘making over’ your own recipes will become second nature. Here are some tips to get you started.

Vegetable dishes and salads

• Instead of cheese sauces on cauliflower and broccoli, sprinkle with grated parmesan and grill for a few minutes. Same flavour combination, less fat.
• Watch creamy dressings on salads: some like Caesar or Ranch can make your side salad more fatty than a whole meal. Use a small amount of vinaigrette-style dressing, or try using just good-quality balsamic vinegar.
• Try using other veges instead of – or combined with – potatoes for interesting mash. Pumpkin, kumara, parsnip and cauliflower all make tasty and healthy mash.

See also

Makeover your meals: Meat dishes
Makeover your meals: Cheesy sauces and bakes
Makeover your meals: Pudding and dessert treats