Throw some frozen spinach in your smoothies!

Just last night a friend was telling me that she purees a bunch of onions, celery, carrots, etc. and adds the puree to meatloaf - to sneak veggies into her son's diet.
I use the Vidalia onion chopper to quickly dice/cube many veggies to make it easier to get them into tuna salad, etc.

Definitely spinach or kale in smoothies. It might take awhile to get used to "green drinks" but I crave them now.

Kale chips!
http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/ingredients-vegetables/unmeat-how-to-eat-a-bunch-of-kale-in-one-sitting-078886

Also, apples and carrots actually have similar tastes & textures, so sometimes I'll have a snack of carrots and PB rather than the more traditional apple.

I've made meals out of roasted broccoli, or cabbage, or cauliflower - takes 5-10 minutes to prep (wash, dry, chop, oil & season), 15 minutes to cook in a hot oven, and infinite spice variations.

Make batches of soup and freeze.

Really, if you eat a lot of fruit, you can eat a lot of veggies, you just have to make it a point, then it will become a habit/addiction.

I'm a huge fan of veggies and hummus
I'll make a big batch of hummus at the start of the week and have a bag of veggies (carrots, celery, broccoli etc.) that are prep and ready to go. Whenever I need a snack it's there.

Join a CSA! The guilt of not getting thru your weekly pick-up will get you eating them faster than ever. (Worked for me!)

i eat a lot of veggies - check out my blog! my fave way to incorporate them are:

1. adding baby spinach to smoothies
2. frozen veggies to bulk up anything
3. roast a bunch and put them into sandwiches, dinners, etc.

Grill them. Grill pan or outdoor grill. Those grill marks and some miminimal fresh flavorings, lemon, Spanish paprika, butter,.... Works magic.

I like to make a giant batch of roasted vegetables --- potatoes, beets, carrots, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, green beans, whatever. We'll eat some for dinner and keep the rest in the fridge. My motto with wholesome foods: if I have them on hand, I'll use them. Roasted vegetables are great in sandwiches, warmed up and tossed with pasta or rice, topping a big green salad, sprinkled with cheese or nuts and broiled, or just warmed up and eaten as they are.

Don't forget that you can put lots of veggies in a sandwich, not just the usual lettuce and tomato. I especially like grated carrots, a big handful of dark greens (spinach, watercress, whatever), and thin-sliced cucumbers.

If you eat hummus or dips, vegetable are great with them, of course. Two tips to make them even more appealing:

- cut them for maximum surface area, not in sticks. If you cut carrots into coins or diagonally on the bias, you can spread or scoop dip with them. Cucumbers and summer squash work perfectly, too, and small tomatoes cut in halves make a nice base for hummus or dip.

- when appropriate, you can blanch or soak veggies to make them crisper or brighter or more flavorful. I almost never serve broccoli or beans raw on a crudité platter; instead I blanch them for one minute, shock in ice water, drain them well, and store them in the fridge. Carrots sliced thin and soaked in ice water get crispy and faintly sweet. I also like to use my fanciest sea salt --- just a tiny pinch! --- sprinkled over a veggie plate to give a little extra sparkle, savor, and crunch.

Think of simple dinners that you can make of one or two vegetables. One of my favorite wintertime suppers is a baked sweet potato with a huge side of braised greens. Add a hunk of bread and a chunk of cheese or some nuts and you have a very satisfying, very wholesome, very delicious meal. There are so many variations on this idea. In the summer I might have cold broccoli salad or a bowl of gazpacho and a side of summer squash.

I've also started loading up my standard dinner recipes with more and more vegetables: frittata at my house is mostly well-seasoned vegetables just bound together with egg; peanut sesame noodles have a full serving of veg (carrots, scallions, broccoli, peppers, whatever) in each bowl and I serve it with a spicy fresh cucumber salad/relish; baked stuffed potatoes (which you can make in advance and bake as needed) are crammed full of spinach and mushrooms and onions and scallions. Whenever I can sneak a little more fresh produce into my diet, I do. Every bit helps.

i like sauteeing arugula or chard with some (at least one) other veggies as a side dish at dinner. the other night i had sliced zucchini, chopped onions and chard sauteed in olive oil with garlic--i ate it with crusty bread and it tastes delicious! you can also try bok choy, leeks, etc.

carrie
check out my healthy/cheap eating blog at masteroffineeats.blogspot.com

A girl at work buys carrots, radishes, celery, etc on her weekly grocery trip and then is disciplined enough to slice it up as soon as she gets home and pre-packages it in containers to take to work/school/gym. So she always is whipping out a container of mixed raw veggies to snack on! I think she sometimes has some little dip containers involved, too.

Wash and prep the veg as soon as you come home from the grocery store. that way, they'll be ready to use right away.

When cooking pasta, throw veggies into the pot to cook with it. Peas, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli all work well.

Pick a vegetable, any vegetable, and lightly boil it for 3-5 minutes (cooked, but not mush). Put a handful or 2 on your plate with butter, and chill the rest under cold water. Store the extra in the fridge for QUICK use the next day. I love doing this with broccoli, then I can toss it in frittatas. (And oh hush about boiling vegetables. It's really not a big deal, and easy and fast is important sometimes.)

Frittatas! You can put ANYTHING in a frittata.

When chopping up vegetables, chop extra to use later. For example, when dicing an onion or bell pepper, I dice 2 and store the extra in small Gladware containers. Easy!

Beans count as vegetables, you know. Search for some beany recipes. They make great cold salads too!

For veggies that need prepping and cooking, do this when you get home from the store and then use the cooked veggies all week. For example, saute some diced squash (or corn, or mushrooms, etc.) with salt and pepper, and store it in the fridge. It will keep for about a week, during which you can toss it into omelets, pasta, or whatever else you feel like making. In fact, even if you don't feel like cooking it right away, wash and dice it--then you can throw it into the pan whenever you feel like it without being deterred by prepping.

When it comes to vegetables, I clean them and prep them for eating as soon as I get home. I make a big salad and eat off it for a few days, cut carrots and celery into sticks for lunches or dinner, and don't put any produce into the fridge dirty. Then when I need a snack its all ready to go or if I come home from work starving I can have a bowl of salad while I make dinner.

It may seem like the veggies will go bad faster because they are prepped but honestly, they're so much easier to eat they never last that long.

One of my favorite lunches to take to work is a mixed-greens salad - mix up some dressing in the bottom of an empty yogurt container, add some sort of protein in the bottom (like garbanzo beans) and layer the veggies/lettuce on top. When you're ready to eat it at work, just shake up the container! That way the dressing coats everything without making it soggy.

I eat a LOT of veggies, and my favorite prep is definitely a little spritz of olive oil, S&P, some dried herbs, put under the broiler for a few minutes. It's a cross between grilling and roasting, and it works for pretty much anything and everything.

3 words: Green Monster Smoothie!!!! My favorite smoothie contains: 1/2 cup yogurt, 1/2 cup milk, 1/2 cup frozen fruit, 1/2 frozen banana, and 2-3 cups packed spinach.

I know it sounds nasty but you CAN'T taste the spinach... it's amazing. try it!

I also like loading squash and zucchini onto pizzas because the sauce covers most of the veggie flavor.

http://www.twohealthyplates.com -- you can find both recipes here

Certain things pre-cook & store very well. So you could steam a bunch of broccoli, eat some of it hot right then with vinaigrette, and then use it the next couple of nights to make a brocc/blue cheese salad, then an Asian-inspired side dish with soy, garlic, sesame oil & rice wine vinegar.

I also will chop & cook a bunch of rough greens--collards, turnips, kale, etc. all at once and then add that in bits to whatever else I make that week. I really like adding cooked greens to meat loaf. Adds moisture, color & flavor.

And I second/third, etc. add veg to sandwiches. I make simple lunch everyday to take to work, but add sliced peppers, cucumbers, shredded carrots, and leaves to every ordinary sandwich. I keep all the things in one container in the fridge and quickly slice off what I need in the a.m. It doesn't even take 5 minutes.

-I store tons of cut up veggies in my fridge so they're easy to access and snack on. If they're not prepped and ready to go I won't turn to them for snacks.
Carrots, Celery, Cucumbers, Bell Peppers, Radishes and Cherry Tomatoes are my go to for snacking with either hummus or ranch dressing.

-Whenever I make pasta I always throw in frozen peas and spinach right before the timer is going to go off so that it's all ready to eat at once.

-In the summer I find that most of my meals are more veggie than anything else because there is so much out there.
potatoes, green beans, corn, zucchini and onions are my go to for the summer. Green beans are super fast, potatoes take a bit longer than everything else but I always make extra and store in the fridge. Corn, zucchini and asparagus on the grill are fast, easy and fresh.

In the winter I roast everything I can get my hands on. It takes a while but it's so worth it because the veggies carmalize and are delicious!
Beets, carrots, parsnips, sweet potatoes, turnips and onions to name a few.

I've found a TON of veggie dishes on this blog as well as smitten kitchen that make up a lot of my sides.

Good luck!

That picture has been my desktop for months now.... Lovely!

The minestrone recipe in cook's illustrated book for soups and stews is really easy and very good and then you have it for the rest of the week.

I make a big bowl of steamed veggies right when I get home and then I munch on it while I prep dinner. I get my vegetables and (bonus!) I fill up on them so I don't eat a big dinner. Win-win.

If you try Kale Chips - Don't burn them too much! It's a thin line between crispy and bitter. The first time I tried them, they were *awful* because I used a recipe with vinegar and I burnt them.
All it takes is olive oil, salt and good timing. Works with Brussel Sprout leaves too, which is cool b/c those get sweeter as they burn.

Couscous is a great base for incorporating veggies of all kinds. Here's a flavorful recipe that includes everything from turnips to cabbage, but still has lots of zest:

http://www.servedraw.com/2010/06/vegetable-couscous-we-dont-need-no-stinkin-meat/

Ranch dressing.

Easy ratatouille- chop onions, garlic, zucchini, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant and add to a pot with some olive oil, salt pepper and a little tomato paste. Let simmer for as long as you can (15 mins will do though) and drizzle with olive oil. Very hearty with bread!

Big batches of minestrone soup last forever and are full of veggies.

And peppers and tomatoes (or really any veggie) can be added to pasta sauces!

This time of year, I like to make a large pasta toss that can be eaten cold or hot, perfect for taking for lunch as leftovers. I purchase some fresh cavatelle pasta and add in lots of fresh veggies--yellow squash, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, peas, onion, etc. I sautee the veggies with a bit of garlic and then add the pasta back in with a little bit of the pasta cooking water, about a tablespoon of butter chopped up in small pieces and 1/4 cup fresh grated cheese. Delicious!

I'm also a fan of wraps with hummus, lots of mixed greens, red onion and cucumber. Maybe cut up veggies with hummus or a yogurt dip?

I am the opposite. I struggle to eat 1 piece of fruit a week but I love my vegies. I like hot meals. Fruit just doesn't factor into that very well.

Could'a had a V8.

Change the proportion of your meals. When I'm making a dish with pasta or grains, I like to measure out equal portions of vegetables and pasta. I find that this doubles the amount of whatever veg I'm eating while significantly reducing the amount of pasta/rice/couscous.

I also like to add spinach or whenever I can, usually to tomato sauce or pasta dishes. Peas are my other favorite add-in, they go great with summer pasta dishes.

Lastly, make a salad to go with every meal. No matter if it's green salad, or a chopped salad. I keep a jar of homemade apple cider vinaigrette on hand at all times because it goes with pretty much any vegetable, cooked or raw. Recent favorites I have dressed with the cider viniagrette

- grilled corn with basil and goat cheese
- sliced raw mushrooms with parsley
- roasted beets with arugula and walnuts
- sliced radishes and fresh baby spinach
- chopped cucumbers and green onions
- canned beets, bibb lettuce, and walnuts
- butter lettuce with chives

Big salads for lunch and a greater serving of veggies vs protein and/or starch for dinner. You just have to make it a habit and then it will become second nature.

Excellent ideas - thanks. In general, I find that as long as I cook vegetables with olive oil - grilled, stewed, etc. they are fine at room temperature - take out of frigo about 30 minutes before you eat. Stews that taste a little faded at room temp can be brought back to tasty with some olive oil or s&p or grated cheese.

I'm with dnlandes--V-8 (or similar vegetable drinks) are great if you're just trying to get your five. One 16-oz highball glass is like four servings of produce, and if you take it ice-cold, with some lemon or lime juice and a bit of hot sauce (i.e., a Virgin Mary), it's very refreshing on a hot day.

(Also refreshing on a hot day, and full of vegetables: gazpacho.)

I work in a law firm...I'm always on the go. I like packing celery and endives as snacks lately. Also juicing a cucumber on it's own, or sometimes with an apple and a few grapes makes for a nice refreshing cooler.

I have this book called Vegetables Everyday by Jack Bishop and it's been a life saver in helping me pick out veggies, and get familiar with the less popular ones. There's lots of recipies and styles of cooking them, from simple and classic styles, to more complicated and fantsy pants. I now have a love affair with beets and their chard because of it.
also, I get those Ziplock steam bags and load them up with veggies, herbs/spices, and a bit of butter and zap them while i'm at work. it's quick and easy, and you can control what goes in your steam pack. I always find the steam pack veggies are one type, or a bunch I love then one I hate, it ruins the whole thing :(

I am the same way, I have no problem getting my fruits in, but for some reason I have a mental block with vegis...one thing I have started doing is putting wheat grass juice in smoothies or just having a 2oz shot of wheat grass (which you can get at any Jamba Juice) a few times a week...

If you want real fast and real easy, do like me and use frozen vegetables.

Just this week, I made roasted veggie pitas for lunch. It takes a very little amount of time and you have lunch for a week.

I used organic pitas, split them spread them with a small amount of goat cheese that had roasted garlic and basil in it, then I put in the veggies.

The veggies are, 2 small zucchini-sliced, 1 medium eggplant-sliced, an onion, sliced into half moons, 2 yellow squash-sliced, 1 red bell pepper-sliced into 2 inch pieces. (All veggies should be sliced 1/4 inch thick). Put the eggplant on a piece of paper towel and sprinkle with salt-let stand 30 minutes. Toss all veggies in a large bowl with olive oil and put on two sheet pans. Roast at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, stirring the veggies and rotating pans from top to bottom halfway through. Season with salt and pepper, basil and parsley. Cool and put in airtight containers.

My go-to dishes for using up veggies are quiche, lasagna, pasta with veggies, gratins, and pureed soups. You really can't go wrong with piling on the veggies with any of those kinds of meals.

And you can add all kinds of veggies to your smoothies. It doesn't just have to be leafy greens. If you put lots of fruits you can mask some veggie flavors so give it a try. Carrots, beets, celery, whatever.

I agree with the green smoothie suggestions. I'm drinking one right now:
2 handfuls of baby spinach
2 beet leaves with stalk (I have lot of beets so figured I'd give it a try)
10 slices of frozen peaches
1 medium slice of watermelon (black seeds left in)
Water
Ice
I like my smoothies to be more like a juice so that's why I don't add any bananas or yogurt. I have a classic oster beehive blender that's available from the big box stores.

Once you get used to the taste of veggies and greens, you will start to grave them.

I meant "crave" not "grave"!!

When you make your "every day" dishes, find one veggie to add. If it's tossing frozen peas into mac and cheese, so be it. Or add zucchini or carrots to a jar of pasta sauce.

If you have a starchy side dish, add a veg. Diced veggies rice = pilaf, or stir sauteed greens into mashed potatoes.

Make stir fry and serve a small amount of rice with a large amount of veggies. Same works with pasta primavera, or make a flatbread pizza with lots of vegetables on top.