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Ideas for spicing-up vegetables

M

Mauriac

Well-Known Member
Messages
72
Type of diabetes
Prediabetes
Treatment type
Diet only
As part of my low carb eating I eat a lot of vegetables, especially broccoli, cauliflower and French beans. I find them a bit dull so normally add a little soy sauce to give them a bit more flavour. It would be good to have some other things that I could dress them with that are low carb, not too high on calories and don't require a lot of preparation. Does anyone have any ideas please?
 
Butter, lots of it salt and pepper.
Or grated Parmesan cheese
Calories are irrelevant if you are following the low carb diet that helps most people control their diabetes
 
Pepper, Tabasco, kimchi ... I eat lots of kimchi lol
 
A wonderful topping is a mix of
1/3 nutritional yeast
1/3 ground cashews
1/3 ground macadamia
You can substitute whichever nuts you prefer, sprinkle over the top and store mix in jar for easy access.
You can also add chili etc to the mix.

lemon on broccoli or asparagus is particularly good,

margarine/butter and garlic on grilled string beans

aminos/soy sauce sprayed over broccoli with melted grated cheese

Stir fry in sesame oil with ginger and garlic or sesame seeds sprinkled on your veggies

Coconut cream with ginger (or curry) or any seasoning you like cooked with cauliflower rice
(you can mix in small pieces of veggies too)

Sour cream mixed with chives and garlic topping or dip

Any gravy mixed with your veggies
 
Last edited:
Thanks for all the suggestions (I've only just seen them as I didn't get an alert for any of them).

@LaoDan I'd read about kimchi but only recently (about a month ago) saw it in the supermarket and bought some. I agree it is good as spicing things up, although it is quite high in salt so I need to go easy on it. Fortunately a little goes quite a long way.

@Marie 2 what are aminos please?
 
Mauriac said:
Thanks for all the suggestions (I've only just seen them as I didn't get an alert for any of them).
Click to expand...
Took me over a year to find out you need to adjust your alert preferences .
Just hover over your name at the top right on a computer or tap it on your phone and a little pop up menu appears where you can select and adjust them.
 
Antje77 said:
Took me over a year to find out you need to adjust your alert preferences .
Just hover over your name at the top right on a computer or tap it on your phone and a little pop up menu appears where you can select and adjust them.
Click to expand...
Thank you! I've discovered from that that if I set up a thread I need to 'watch' it because people are unlikely to quote you, they will simply reply to the thread, and so you only get a notification if they 'mention' you (again not likely) or you are watching the thread.
 
Resurrecting a slightly old thread here, but Shichimi Togarashi is a great low carb, low sodium way to spice up veg. Miso too, although it can cause raised BGL in some people. As for salads, I like to try different oil and vinegar combos. There are lots of different types and flavours of vinegar, you just have to check the carbs if that's something you need to watch, as some (like balsamics) are quite sugary or have figs and dates added. Oils can also add flavour; walnut, hazelnut, avocado, linseed, fruity olive oil, etc, as well as oils flavoured with chilli, garlic, lemon or truffle. Also, toasted nuts and seeds. I do a mix of chia, hemp, sunflower, pumpkin, walnuts and almonds, toss them in a little tamari, and then toast them in a moderate oven. They keep in the fridge for a few weeks and are delicious on salads and veg.
 
Antje77 said:
Hi Violet, I recently bought miso, but I'm pretty much puzzled at how to use it, even after a Google search, so as of yet, I haven't. Any tips?
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I love Japanese food so I make a broth from mushroom dashi (stock) and miso, and add veggies, noodles and tofu. Miso is usually quite thick, so whatever you add it to, loosening it up with a dash of hot water first helps blend it without lumps. For the full health benefits, you shouldn't boil it - just put it in at the end and let it simmer. It's yummy blended into mayonnaise with sriracha and in other salad dressings. I make miso and orange sauce to serve with broccoli, tofu and rice. There's a traditional Japanese dish called miso glazed eggplant that is delicious. But you don't need to just stick to Asian style dishes, you can use it in soups and stews to give them a umami kick. I also like to mix together vegan butter and shiro (white) miso and smoosh that all over corn cobs before baking. In fact, miso butter is nice on any veg.
 
Back in the 70s I worked for Allied Lyons and did storage testing, so lots of things came to be put on test, often far more than needed, so I used to take home all the herbs and spices you can imagine, and as I worked my way through them I just replaced those available and even started to grow them in the garden, eventually setting up a green house for their comfort.
My use of herbs and spices still seems to exceed many people so I can only advise trying out some aromatic substances for yourselves.
 
Thanks, @VioletFoxtrot !
Looks like I simply need to experiment with it
The mayonnaise with miso and sriracha sounds particularly promising to start with, as you can taste it as you go, being used cold.
The loosening it up with hot water sounds particularly helpful too!
 
@Antje77
Miso has a slight meaty taste so it's nice to add to gravies and soups.
I included a recipe for gravy and for soup specifically, but usually I am just add them as I throw some things in a soup pot or add it to a gravy I make from scratch to add color and flavor.
Here are some sites with some recipes

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/miso-recipes/
https://simple-veganista.com/tag/miso/
https://simpleveganblog.com/15-minute-simple-vegan-miso-soup/
https://www.plantbasedrecipe.com/articles/miso-gravy-recipe/
 
Thanks @Marie 2 , I'll definitely check those links out tomorrow!
So far, from what I've heard is the flavour will disappear more or less with reheating. If that is true it won't be very practical to me, as I'm a one-person household (unless you count the dogs and cats who are always willing to rate my meals) and I usually cook for multiple days.
 
It mostly keeps it's flavor................just don't boil it or reheat it at too high of a heat.
 
I use curry and hot paprika every day. No need for salt and pepper,although I like both.
 
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