Boost your Health with Fruit and Veg

Eating the recommended servings of fruit and vegetables each day is guaranteed to improve anyone’s health.  The fibre, vitamins, minerals and other  elements – bioflavonoids, polyphenols and other antioxidants, all play an important part in keeping our immune systems strong and our bodies functioning efficiently.

In fact, a diet rich in fruit and vegetables can help maintain normal blood pressure,  reduce high cholesterol levels, control weight gain or even assist with weight loss, improve the condition of skin and hair,  and prevent some cancers and kidney stones.

Even heavy smokers gain some health improvements from adding three serves of fresh fruit and vegetables to their daily intake!

How Much is Enough Fruit and Veg?

Knowing the benefits of eating five serves of vegetables and two of fruit every day is one thing.  Managing to fit them into to a busy life and fussy kids is another! First, it helps to know what sort of quantities you need to prepare.

So how much is Five and Two?

A serve of vegetables is:

• 75g or 1/2 cup cooked vegetables
• 1 cup salad vegetables
• 1 potato

A serve of fruit is:

• 1 medium piece, eg, apple, banana, orange, pear
• 2 small pieces, eg, apricots, kiwi fruit, plums
• 1 cup diced pieces or canned fruit
• 1/2 cup juice
• dried fruit, eg, 4 dried apricot halves, 1 1/2 tablespoons sultanas.

Spice Up your Meals with Vegetables

Eating fruit and vegetables in the summer is easy.  There are many different salad recipes, and everyone likes salads. Fruit is appealing, so fresh and cool, and it can be made into sorbets or low-fat smoothies and icecreams.

But in the cooler weather salads no longer appeal, and unless you make an effort, it’s easy to fall back on the usual two or three – carrots, potatoes, a green vegetable to put alongside meat and fish.

Why not be more inventive and provide a completely vegetarian meal once a week, one packed with  lots of vegetables?  Or try using vegetables that you’ve never eaten before?

Fruits can be cooked into warming desserts like fruit crumbles or apple pie.

Cooking vegetables to retain their antioxidants

Whatever vegetables you choose to serve, try to cook them as little as possible, preferably steaming or grilling them, to retain their colour, flavour, and most importantly, their antioxidants. Even in winter, try to serve some salad as a side dish.

Winter Vegetable Dishes

Here are two suggestions for colourful and tasty winter vegetable dishes that are also packed with vitamins and fibre –  Winter Coleslaw, and Eggplant Siciliana.

Winter Coleslaw

• 1 medium head green cabbage
• 1 medium head red cabbage
• 3 large carrots
• 3 tablespoons sea salt

Discard the outer leaves and the hard core of the cabbages, and shred finely.  Place layers of cabbage in a very large bowl, sprinkling each layer with salt, and leave to soften for at least an hour. Scrub and grate the carrots.

After an hour, drain off any liquid from the cabbage and rinse well in several changes of water to wash off any salt. Stir in the grated carrot and make the dressing:

• 2/3 cup vinegar, preferably rice vinegar, but any vinegar you like, or vinegar with about 1/3  cup of light soy sauce or tamari
• ¼ cup light brown sugar
• 1 ½ tablespoons dark roasted sesame oil
• toasted sesame seeds (optional)
• minced scallions (optional)

Mix well together and pour over coleslaw, tossing to mix, then top with scallions and toasted sesame seeds, if used.

Keeps well in a covered container in the fridge for three to four days

Eggplant Siciliana

• 1 large eggplant (aubergine) or 2 small ones, peeled and diced – about 500 gm
• 1 large onion, peeled and chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 3 stalks of celery, sliced
• 2 red capsicums (bell peppers) seeded and diced (green may be used instead)
• ¼ cup oil
• ½ cup red lentils
• 425 gm  canned peeled chopped tomatoes (or fresh if you have them)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 cup stock or water
• 1 teaspoon salt,
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon drained capers, lightly chopped
• 12 black olives, stoned and quartered
• 

Heat the oil in a large pan over gentle heat and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is soft but not coloured. Add the red lentils, and cook, stirring, for two or three minutes.

Add the celery and capsicum and sauté for three or four minutes before adding the eggplant.  Continue cooking, stirring for another five minutes.

Now add the chopped tomatoes and their juice, tomato paste, vinegar, sugar, stock and salt and lots of black pepper, the black olives and capers.

Stir all together, bring to a simmer, and cook gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Serve with rice, noodles or flatbread.  Equally good eaten hot or at room temperature.

You might also like to read: Ways to Eat more Fruit and Veg,

Cook Green Veg the Right Way for Maximum Health and

Fruit and Veg Deter Lung Cancer