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April 13, 2016
Five Ways to Veggie-fy Your Diet
In Conversation: Warriors Dancer and Nutrition Consultant Amira Mourad
Amira Mourad, nutrition consultant and dancer for the NBA Golden State Warriors’ dance team knows full well what it’s like to be healthy and super busy. She shared five tips for easily including more veggies into your everyday life.
1. Sneak vegetables in wherever you can.
For me, a meal isn’t complete without some sort of veggie. Some tricks:
- Add spinach to just about anything. I blend it into smoothies, I look for it in juices, and I toss it into stir fries. Hummus and veggies also make a great afternoon snack, and brussels sprouts or asparagus act as an easy dinner side.
- Sub noodles for zoodles. I recently bought a spiralizer and have been making zucchini noodles with marinara sauce, which is a great veg dish when you’re craving pasta.
- Hide veggies in your protein. Add spinach or beets to ground tempeh, for example.
2. Remember: Salad is your friend.
I have salad for lunch every day, and I keep it interesting by switching up my greens. When I’m making kale, I’ll chop it finely and massage it with olive oil, lemon, and salt. When I’m on the go, I find a salad bar where I can grab arugula and top it with cucumbers, tomatoes, and whatever other vegetables look good.
3. Keep it simple.
Roasting vegetables in the oven is about as easy as it gets. You can keep meal-prep to under 20 minutes by roasting, say, asparagus with olive oil, salt, and pepper at 400F for 15 minutes while you make whatever protein you’re having.
4. Prep on weekends.
I always have prepared snacks at the ready. My second snack of the day is grape tomatoes, carrots, celery, and hummus. Each weekend, I chop the veggies and make hummus, so during the week I just grab a bag of it on my way out. When I have kale that’s on its last leg or I’m craving something with crunch, I’ll make kale chips. All you do is massage the kale with olive oil, salt, pepper, and sometimes cayenne, then pop it into the oven at 160F for 20 minutes.
5. Take a veggie break for dessert.
Until I figure out a way to sneak spinach into my favorite dark chocolate truffle bar and make it work, dessert is the one meal I let be veggie free. Whenever I crave sweet, I go straight for dark chocolate and enjoy every bite.