Healthy Vegetable Recipes For Good Summer Eatin’

I am a huge fan of meat as food and highly recommend most people INCREASE their consumption rather than decrease it, as most of the “health authorities” are pushing more and more.

But I am no proponent of carnivory, a fringe diet where you eat nothing BUT meat. Instead, I think that the “big two” that you should be eating are both meat and veggies. And it is time that the latter get their due respect here with some healthy vegetable recipes. Seeing as it’s summertime for most readers, I think it’s best to take a look at grilled vegetables and salads, the two best types of healthy vegetable recipes during the warm summer months.

“Eat Your Broccoli!”

Although some traditional cultures such as the Maasai and the Inuit thrived on nothing but animal products, I think that our bodies are uniquely adapted to a large vegetable intake. On the African savannah, where our species did the bulk of its evolution, vegetables were plentiful year-round, and our ancestors doubtless took advantage of this.

To this day, roots, tubers, leaves, and other plant matter play a large role in many traditional societies. Your mother’s insistence that you eat your broccoli does have some precedence.

Shish-Kebabin’ In the Summertime!

Have I not yet convinced you that I am a big fan of grilling? Grab yourself some skewers for a couple bucks at the supermarket. Then pick up some of these vegetables:

• Onions
• Peppers
• Summer Squash
• Mushrooms
• Asparagus
• Eggplant

Slice and dice these veggies up, then skewer them. Pour some olive oil, melted butter, or coconut oil on top. Then sprinkle some salt and pepper all over everything. Mince up some fresh herbs or put some dried spices on them such as parsley, thyme, and oregano. Now throw them on the grill, turning occasionally to cook all the way through.

If you don’t have any skewers around, you can always throw your veggie mix into a pouch made of aluminum foil. Or you could use larger chunks of vegetables so they don’t fall through the grate.

Goin’ Raw

Don’t worry, I’m not gonna get all “woo-woo” here and talk about the benefits of eating raw (which are mostly bogus anyway), but another great dish to add to your repertoire during the warmer months are salads. Using raw ingredients takes the cooking out of the equation, which can save you valuable time.

I know, we guys don’t like the idea of salads, but that’s because most of the ones we are accustomed to eating are pretty benign. My suggestion is to top off every salad with some leftover roast chicken, beef, grilled salmon, bacon, cheese, or hardboiled eggs for some solid protein.

The great thing about salads is the same for grilled vegetables and all the other recipes on this site: no measuring and no strict guidelines. Just grab a bunch of vegetables that are great raw, slice and dice them if you need to, and toss ‘em all together. Here’s some ideas:

• Red leaf, green leaf, or romaine lettuce
• Spinach
• Tomatoes
• Radishes
• Olives
• Red onion
• Artichoke hearts
• Avocado
• Celery

Easy, Healthy Salad Dressing

Now you need to top it all off. But before you try to use your favorite prepackaged salad dressing, take a look at the ingredients list. That should make you feel better about throwing it away, because salad dressings are one of the most unhealthy things you can find at the grocery store, full of high fructose corn syrup, corn oil, and soybean oil. Best to make your own. It’s crazy easy, just watch.

Vinaigrette is one of the classic sauces, and for good reason. It’s easy, delicious, and uses simple ingredients. Here’s a basic blueprint to ensure you never need to get the prepackaged garbage ever again.

The “peanut butter and jelly” of vinaigrette is fat and acid. For the fat, use nothing but olive oil. Most animal fats are solid at room temperature, which doesn’t make for easy pouring, and most vegetable oils are made in factories and are chock-full of inflammation-causing linoleic acid. Olive oil is one of the few vegetable oils that doesn’t fit that description. And it’s damned tasty, too.

The acid can be either lemon juice or vinegar. Just make sure the vinegar is something good like red wine, white wine, balsamic, or apple cider. “White vinegar” is suited for little more than cleaning your windows.

The Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Lemon juice or vinegar
• Salt and pepper
• Garlic (optional, but recommended)
• Dijon mustard (optional, but recommended)

The Recipe

1. Get an empty jar like a mason jar or an empty pickle jar.
2. Pour the olive oil and vinegar (or lemon juice) into the jar. Make sure it’s about three parts olive oil to one part vinegar, but don’t waste your time with measuring cups. Just eyeball it.
3. Add some salt and pepper.
4. Mince up a couple cloves of garlic and throw them in along with a bit of Dijon mustard. (This step is optional, but I strongly suggest you break out the knife skills and mustard. It really adds a lot.)
5. Cap the jar and shake the hell out of it.

Voila! Easy, simple, healthy salad dressing. Experiment with different vinegars and add different herbs to the mix and you’ll never get bored of it.

Any other healthy vegetable recipes you like in the summer? Let me know!

Tagged as: grilling, real food, recipes, salads, vegetables