Better Off Dead (or Time to Talk About Vegetables)

Have you seen the movie "Better Off Dead" with John Cusack?  It's about a guy who can't get over the girl he's just lost to the school jock - and it's hilarious.  Some of my favorite scenes, though,  involve the meals that Cusack's mother cooks in the movie.  When she invites the next door neighbors over with their French foreign exchange student, she impresses them by serving French Fries, French Bread, and French Dressing.  But the best are her attempts to cook healthy food for her family.  She boils bacon to remove the fat and it ends up looking like, well......snot.  Then there's the scene that made me laugh so hard, I cried.  She makes this gelatinous blob for dinner that literally crawls off of Cusack's plate.  The movie is hilarious, but, unfortunately, too many people see many of the most healthy vegetables as something the mom in "Better Off Dead" has concocted.  And they don't have to be that way. 

Even Brussels Sprouts can be delicious when cooked with some lite butter, turkey (or low-fat) bacon, and parmesan cheese.  Spinach, when cooked in Spanakopita (a Greek dish using filo dough), or in a souffle or quiche, can be amazing.  Or try it sauteed with an egg and some cheese on top.  Mashed cauliflower is so good that one of my son's friends has seconds when she has supper with us.  Brocolli is incredible baked in a lite cheese sauce.  If you don't think you like eggplant, you have never tried a good Baba Ganouj.  And asparagus pasta is simply delicious!  And it's so easy to make that I'll include the recipe here for you:  Saute about 5 cloves of minced garlic in a T. of olive oil and a T. of light butter.  Add 1/2 t. crushed red pepper, a pound of asparagus cut into 2" pieces.  Salt and pepper them and cook until tender.  Meanwhile cook a pound of penne pasta as directed.  Drain pasta and add asparagus mixture and 1/2 cup parmesan and serve. 

Carrots are wonderful raw or cooked and lightly seasoned.  And most people like peas, mixed vegetables, corn, and succotash.  And you lose none of the nutrients if you cook the frozen variety.

Vary the vegetables you eat by color to reap maximum health benefits.  Red vegetables contain lycopene which helps protect against breast and prostate cancer.  Orange are full of alpha and beta carotene and convert to vitmain A, which is good for your eyes, bones, and immune system.  Green contain indoles and help to prevent various cancers.  Yellow-green ones like corn, artichokes, squash, and leafy greens contain lutein, which helps prevent macular degeneration, and some beta carotene.  And blue/purple, like eggplant, are heart-healthy and improve bain function.

So that's the skinny on vegetables...Hope that I've helped you to move them from being equivalent to the slop that the mom cooked in "Better Off Dead" to something you will look forward to including in your diet each and every day.  Remember, if you are male, you need 9 servings of vegetables and fruits a day.  (Women - we need 7).  I know it sounds like a lot, but I'll cover serving sizes (another somewhat shocking topic) in another Blog and you'll see that it can be easily done.  Until then, happy and healthy eating!