In an effort to be a little healthier I have been upping my fruit and veg intake. I like most veg - except sprouts and cauliflower - and almost all fruit, although I do have an odd love/hate relationship with bananas.

I set myself a goal of eating more fruit and veg back in November and one way in which I wanted to do this was to find more interesting ways of cooking veg. The idea came about when Andy told me that he was fed up of eating kale. To be fair, I did cook kale a lot and I always used to cook it in exactly the same way, so I can't really blame him.

Andy really likes leeks so this was my first point of call. Normally I just boil them so they are cooked but not mushy. A Google search took me to the BBC Good Food website where I found Buttered Leeks. Obviously, cooking them in butter isn't really a healthy option so we tried it once, decided we liked it and put it under the heading of 'to be enjoyed once in a while'. They're fab with a roast dinner.


I then found Braised Leeks and Peas and as peas are another favourite of Andy's I knew I was onto a winner and they were quite delicious.

Next up, kale. I love kale so I wasn't going to stop cooking this altogether but I did need to mix it up a little. I saw a pic of baked kale on Instagram, asked how it was made (tear kale, coat with oil, salt and sugar, bake at 180c for 10 mins) and tried it the very next day - I LOVE this, it tastes just like crispy seaweed and *ahem* is also delicious if you forget to add the sugar.

I try not to use too much oil when making it and I've recently discovered that rape seed oil is better for you than olive oil, so I purchased a bottle and have been using it ever since. What's the in use eating more veg to be healthy and then drowning it in loads of oil?


The BBC Good Food website also introduced me to Chinese Style Kale. I already had the soy sauce and oyster sauce in the pantry so it couldn't have been easier. I don't use garlic cloves, instead I use a garlic paste (recommended by my Mum's Chef boyfriend) which is ridiculously easy. I love this with prawns, and salmon fillets but I think it would go well with any kind of meat.


We eat a lot of broccoli so I tried a recipe from the one and only cookbook that Andy owns. It's another simple dish, Broccoli with Soy Sauce and Sesame (similar here), that is packed with flavour.

I've been wondering why I haven't tried anything like this before. Up until now, veg have always just been an accompaniment to the meat part of the meal for me - but look at what I have been missing! Why didn't you tell me?


Of course as with every new obsession I have created a Pinterest board for veg recipes and this is where I found a recipe for Sauteed Sweet Potatoes and Spinach and oh my this is good!

I have so many more recipes I want try - including this one for Elizabeth's Cabbage Fritters - and I think it's safe to say that I'll never go back to just boiling my veg.

Any good veg recipes you'd like to share with me?

This post is part of Four Simply Goals by Elsie and Emma over at A Beautiful Mess.

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