Like most people, I often find myself trying– and struggling– to “eat more vegetables.” Ever since we started subscribing to our community-supported agriculture, we’ve been up to our ears with fresh, organic produce.
But have we been great about eating them? I’ll admit, it’s been challenging at times, even for enthusiastic home cooks like my husband and me.
The trouble with veggies is not that they don’t taste good; they do. But they often don’t provide enough energy for the amount of time they take to prepare, which can be frustrating for busy individuals.
The other issue with vegetables is that we forget to be creative with them. We get stuck between steaming and roasting, the result of which are usually uninteresting side dishes accompanying a far more interesting entree.
Anyway, farmer’s market-fresh vegan lettuce cups.
These are delicious and unbelievably simple. You can pretty much put anything in them: roots, squashes, chopped leafy greens. The key to making them a bit more substantive is the hummus. Oh, hummus, how I love it!
Ingredients (serves 1):
5-8 large lettuce leaves
3/4 cup – 1 cup hummus (I use this recipe)
2 cups fresh vegetables, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
salt, pepper and seasonings of choice
1 small avocado, diced
Directions
Over medium heat, sauté the chopped vegetables (not the avocado) in the olive oil with seasonings of choice until tender. Meanwhile, dollop hummus into lettuce cups. Once the sautéed vegetables have cooled, add them to the lettuce cups and top with avocado. Enjoy!
Thanks Mel!! 🙂
Yum! These look really delicious and easy to make
Thanks lady!! The lettuce was from our CSA– the best.
Ah thank you so much!! I use a Fuji X100S. It’s a small, fixed lens camera, and I love it! Also great to travel with.
These look so so good! Wow you’re a genius!! Plus that lettuce looks amazingly fresh! Thanks for the dinner idea Daisy!
Xx, Tiffany | http://www.sunshinedaydreamphotography.com
Seriously, your recipes always look so good.
btw what camera do you use, your pictures are always so great
xo
Hmm. I tend to stay away from factory-farmed meat… anything that wasn’t pasture raised and organic, I tend to skip. Perhaps you just need higher quality meat occasionally? We buy expensive meat and we don’t eat it that often, but it’s delicious, good for us and totally worth it!
Awesome, thanks for stopping by Katie!
Thanks girl! I’m SO excited for your CSA to start. Please post photos! And I’m not good at canning and pickling but it’s a great way to preserve a harvest.
Awesome! Ooh I love black beans! 🙂
Ah thank you Christina!! 🙂
You are so right, Rachel! And that Malaysian dish sounds amazing– probably crunchy and totally scrumptious. And I feel the same way about calories; I’d give up meat sooner than I’d give up carbs… mmm bread, rice, noodles, quinoa, etc.!
Yum!! I never thought to use hummus in lettuce cups. I will be trying these for sure!
This looks delicious! Our CSA starts on Tuesday and I’m already anticipating the need to get creative. My parents have a garden and are so good about canning and pickling things for when they just can’t keep up.
These look delicious! I think I’d add some black beans too. Pinning this one:)
Wishes & Reality
That looks absolutely delicious! Your photography skills also never cease to impress me, Daisy. Beautiful shots 🙂
The older I get, I’m finding my body tolerates less and less meat. Especially beef. It’s strange but I become physically ill after eating even a hamburger. Instead I eat lots of black bean and veggie burgers. I even love tofu! By no means am I vegetarian, but I do enjoy meat alternatives as they don’t make me sick.
The Chinese are experts at making veggies tasty, in my opinion. Of course sometimes perhaps a little too much salt, msg, and oil are used–but most of my veggie dishes are definitely inspired by the pan-fried style of cooking here, though I’ve found that a lot of veggies don’t even really need oil, I just “fry” them in a frying pan with a little water added. I love a very Malaysian dish–bright yellow stir-fried cabbage that has plenty of turmeric and mustard seeds and chilies and garlic to make it tasty. Those, plus plain old black pepper and cayenne, are probably my ultimate favorite flavors when cooking veggies. These look very yummy! Anything with avocado is a treat!
I know what you mean about having a hard time getting energy from veggies. We once fasted from meat and all processed/refined sugar for about a month and I felt exhausted and as if no matter how much I ate I couldn’t possibly eat enough calories and fat to keep me going. I started losing weight, which is NOT a good thing–and that’s why I’m never going to give up easy calories in bread and tortillas and other not-so-healthy things.
Thanks girl!!
Thanks Shannon! And yes, our fridge is always full of produce!
Ah you would love these!! Enjoy the farmers market!
It’s a great snack!
Yes!! Hahaha at the “part rabbit.” I like the occasional meat, but I’m not obsessed with it, and I guess my husband is pretty compliant! He’ll want a hotdog every now and then though!
Haha thanks girl!!
Ah thanks Shireen!! x
Yes!! I have to eat a lot of them till I’m full, but they’re just so clean and yummy 🙂
Thanks girl!
Ooh green smoothies are SUCH a good way to guarantee you get your veggies. Love it!
Those look so so so good! I need to make an effort to eat more veggies like this.
I love lettuce wraps and these look delicious! I am the same way with veggies. Always purchasing a good amount of them, but never truly making an effort to eat them. Waste of money and a loss on good nutrition. I need to step it up!
Shannon
Clothes & Quotes
oh my goodness, yum!! I’ve always been wanting to try lettuce wraps, and this now gives me a good excuse to try them! Can’t wait to pick up some fresh veggies at the store and farmers’ markets!
Looks like a good snack!
I swear I’m part rabbit. Give me a bowl of cut up veggies and I’m the happiest gal around. My fiance, not so much. It’s hard, but I’m able to find a “balance.” Which means pureeing and hiding veggies in half of our food and never telling him. My daughter is better with veggies, but all in all, I wish they’d eat them like me. These look delicious and perfect for a hot summer’s day. Something about veggies and summer just go so nicely and the water rich veggies feel so much better on the stomach than a greasy cheeseburger. (:
http://www.accordingtokiki.net
Oh you wrap the lettuce around the other ingredients and eat it all together– like a taco or a wrap! 🙂
That look’s absolutely delicious! I think I’ll go have lunch now!
Thank you for the recipe, Daisy! This sounds so easy and looks so darn good! xx
Shireen | Reflection of Sanity
Yum, yum! Such a creative take on vegetables. I love that this could be it’s own meal!
This looks so good and also beautiful!
Do you wrap the lettuce around everything? Or is the lettuce just a “bowl”?
Kristin // The Peculiar Treasure
thepeculiartreasureblog.com
So simple! I actually make a “green” smoothie every morning – I just combined all sorts of veggies/fruits I find in my fridge (even the ones starting to go off – you can’t taste it once it’s all blended together)! I don’t mind the taste but a teaspoon of peanut butter masks it all. Super easy and I don’t waste any food!
Nabihah | thesundaywardrobe.blogspot.com