Celebrate Eat Your Vegetables Day Every June 17

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Mom would love this day (but we won’t make you tell her it exists). She’s always telling you to eat your vegetables. Now there’s a whole day devoted to just that idea: Eat Your Vegetables Day.

If you’re trying to eat healthier, this can be a day to kick it up a notch; try a new vegetable or a new veggie recipe. Or it could be a day to remind yourself that donuts, fast-food burgers and energy bars do not make for a nutritious day.

Either way, it’s an important reminder that vegetables are an important part of a balanced diet.

We haven’t been able to discover who created Eat Your Vegetables Day or when. We bet it was a mom with stubborn, veggie-hating kids!

But the day is right smack in the middle of National Fresh Fruit and Vegetables Month. We suspect that’s not a coincidence.

 

Why You Should Eat Your Vegetables

Because mom is right: Vegetables are good for you.

They’re low in fat and calories. And they’re loaded with fiber.

They contain lots of vitamins and minerals, too. Which ones and how much depends on the vegetable, of course, but veggies tend to be good sources of:

• Vitamin K
• Vitamin A
• Vitamin B6

 

They’re also good sources of various antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant phytochemicals (biologically active plant compounds that are also good for human health).

Eating enough fruits and vegetables can lead to lower risk of many chronic diseases:

• Heart disease
• Diabetes (Type 2)
• Osteoporosis
• Some cancers

 

So what’s enough? According to the USDA Dietary Guidelines, depending on your age and gender, you should eat 3 to 5 servings of vegetables each day.

Scroll down for some ideas on celebrating this delicious and healthy unofficial holiday.

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Ideas For Celebrating Eat Your Vegetables Day

If you’re not a fan of vegetables, you might not want to celebrate today.

But you really should. Did you read the section above? They’re good for you.

Now, maybe you’re not a fan of frozen or canned green beans, or burned creamed corn. We agree with you there! But that’s not all there is to the world of vegetables.

Not even close.

So try a new vegetable or two. Or try making the familiar ones in new ways.

Try to have at least one vegetable with every meal and snack.

You can do it!

If you’re feeling really ambitious, go vegetarian for a day. Who knows, you might like it.

Home-grown veggies are best, but it might be just a little too early in the season to have much ready to pick in many areas of the country.

But the farmer’s markets should be in full swing by now. So stop by and load up on fresh veggies for this day.

Learn more about vegetables, both familiar and unfamiliar, and the different ways you can use them. Start with these:

• Kohlrabi: You can do all sorts of things with this veggie, including make them into fries, bake them, roast them or add them raw to salads. This page links you to a variety of interesting recipes.
• Zucchini: They’re for more than just zucchini bread. Turn them into soups, saute & season as a side dish or make zucchini chips/sticks. Check out the recipes on this page too.
• Purslane: Usually considered a weed, this veggie is actually pretty nutritious and oddly tasty. Apparently it’s great in salads or lightly sauteed.
• Cauliflower: Roast it, mash it or turn it into soup, among other ideas.
• Eggplant: No, don’t turn up your nose. Although we’ve heard this veggie described as the liver of the vegetable world, it’s actually amazing turned into Baba Ganoush.
• Butternut Squash: Baked, pureed and then spiced, this recipe for Velvety Butternut Squash is heavenly (although possibly more wintery than summery. Of course, you could always make this Garlic-Balsamic Grilled Butternut instead.

 

Need more inspiration for trying new veggies and recipes? Try one of these books:

• Vegetable Literacy: Cooking and Gardening with Twelve Families from the Edible Plant Kingdom, by Deborah Madison
• Vegetables Every Day: The Definitive Guide to Buying and Cooking Today’s Produce With More Than 350 Recipes, by Jack Bishop
• Vegetables, Revised: The Most Authoritative Guide to Buying, Preparing, and Cooking, with More than 300 Recipes, by James Peterson

 

If you have kids, let them help pick the veggies for each meal. It might make them more likely to eat them. And if your kids actually like their vegetables, well lucky you! Let them pick anyway. :)

What vegetable(s) will you be making today?

 

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