Pink Ritas and Lip Gloss

Its been a slow process adding vegetables into my diet. I have always been a fan of the old standbys: lettuce, carrots, cucumber, corn, peas, broccoli, cauliflower. But not so much with onions, peppers, and the likes. So this time around on weight watchers I am doing my hardest to add in more vegetables and learn to like them. I started with slow cooking onions, celery, and bell peppers (the Cajun “holy trinity”) and have now been able to successfully incorporate them into all of my cooking as long as they are diced and soft.

I have now moved on to something not as exciting but another vegetable: Sprouts. Sprouts are those stringy things you sometimes see at the salad bar or you may find them in certain wraps or sandwiches at Jason’s Deli. There are many varieties: broccoli sprouts, alfalfa sprouts, radish (aka spicy) sprouts, and bean sprouts. They are a pretty good way to add in a little amount of vitamins and nutrition without a lot of calories. With that said you do need to eat a lot to equal what you would get with a normal sized vegetable but in any case they should not be overlooked. I use them the same way you would use lettuce. Right now I’m adding in a fourth cup to my salads each night as well as adding them to my lunch sandwich. I tend to like bean sprouts (they are thicker) with my Asian cuisine. They go well with stir fry Chinese or Thai foods and my favorite Vietnamese place puts them with their pork/noodle/spring roll bowl dish that is delish. I find that I tend to like the bean sprouts raw as they give a little crunch to my meal. Give them a try at California Pizza Kitchen and order the Thai Chicken Pizza – its to die for.

Sprouts tend to give me a little something without too much or too many calories. I haven’t tried them in a pita or a wrap yet but I think I’ll give it a shot next weekend. If you have any different ways to use sprouts in meals let me know. I am always up for something new