You can only eat healthy when you shop healthy. Our essential veg series is all about the foods found in our shopping trolleys every week that help us eat colourful (and makes out lives easier). We’ve broken our essential veg up into snacking/salads, cooking, canned and frozen.
Remember: the more colours the better, to ensure that you’re getting a variety of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
The essential veg. Snacking edition:
These veggies are versatile, available all year round, and are generally low in price. Choose from a variety of colours to ensure you get different minerals and vitamins, and flavours to your meals.
These are our top 5 veggies for snacking on or in salads, as they are colourful, full of flavour and of course can be eaten raw with minimal preparation. Apart of the tomato, these vegetables can be cut up in advance, kept in a container with a little water, and stored in the fridge to keep crisp and crunchy, and lunchbox or snack ready!
1. Carrot
Has got to be number one as it is just so versatile! Raw carrot sticks with your favourite dip. Eat whole, sliced or grated in salads.
Store unwashed in the fridge for about a week. Or to keep crunchy, keep in a container with some water, so they don’t dry out.
2. Cucumber
Cut into slices or strips, or try the tiny variety (aka “Qukes”), which are baby snacking cucumbers. Are great on their own, or served with dip.
Are “water sensitive” so store them towards the front of the fridge. Generally lasts 3-4 days. Can be stored at room temperature if eating within 1-2 days.
3. Tomato
Cut into wedges to snack on, or eat like an apple. Cherry tomatoes are a great size for snacking.
Store at room temperature, out of direct sunlight.
4. Capsicum
Is a great addition to an antipasto platter. Serve with dips, and cheese, or just enjoy on its own. Red, green and yellow, try them all!
Keep in fridge. Green capsicum lasts a few days longer (around 7 days) than red or yellow (5 days).
5. Celery
Cut into smaller lengths and fill with peanut butter, cream or cottage cheese for a snack. Also great for scooping up dips.
Wrap in tin foil if kept in fridge, to keep crisp, or place in vase/cup of shallow water on kitchen bench.
What are your essential snacking veg?
Read about our essential veg: fresh edition, essential veg : canned edition here and essential veg: freezer edition.
