By Dr Joe
Cooking veggies doesn’t have to imply stir-fry all of the time. Yes, we need fatty acids from our cooking oils but we don’t need fat in every meal. Trying to cook vegetables without oil and make them palatable at the same time can however pose a challenge.
That’s the challenge I was ready for. How do you go about doing that without the veggie meal losing it’s edge?
I thought about this and came up with an idea. Use the veggie stock powder as a starting point for the recipe and voilla, you got yourself an oil-free mixed veggie recipe that still retains it’s flavoursome appeal.
One way to lose weight or maintain your weight is to employ a whole bunch of vegetables in your diet. How often? Everyday, if you ask me. Vegtables are low in calories and they will fill you up. It’s that simple.
What do we need for the oil-free mixed veggie recipe?
Ingredients:
Broccoli X 1
Sweet peppers (bell peppers) X 2
Mushrooms X 300 g
Celery X 3 sticks
Leeks X 1
Garlic cloves X 2 crushed
Vegetable stock powder X 1 tbs and half [Vegetable stock on US Amazon]
Coriander
Ginger
Tumeric
Black Pepper
Salt
Nutritional facts for Broccoli per 100 g
| Calories | 33 kcal |
| Total fat | 0.4 g |
| Saturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Monounsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Polyunsaturated fat | 0.0 g |
| Cholesterol | 0.0 g |
| Total Carbohydrate | 7 g |
| Sugars | 1.7 g |
| Fibre | 2.6 g |
| Protein | 2.9 g |
| Sodium | 33 mg |
| Potassium | 318 mg |
How to make the oil-free mixed veggie
>> Slice up your sweet peppers and deseed them. Slice the onions, the mushrooms, celery sticks, leeks, broccoli and garlic cloves. Crush the garlic.
>> Add a small amount of water to your wok or skillet. Heat up the water and add the vegetable stock powder. Mix the veggie stock with the water. It will form a thick paste. Now reduce the heat, otherwise you will find the stock drying up very quickly. You may add a little water if you find the stock drying up in front of your very eyes.
> Remember, what we are trying to achieve here is to use the water in the vegetables as our cooking sauce rather than water from the mains. If you have too much water from the onset, the veggies are going to flood, so keep the water to a minimum.
>> Now add the mushrooms and the garlic. Stir. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes, stirring intermittently.
>> Add celery and leeks. Stir. Allow to cook for about 2 minutes. The water in the vegetables will begin exuding from within providing you with your cooking medium.
>> Chuck in the sweet peppers ( bell peppers) and the broccoli. Stir. Cook for 3 minutes.
>> Time to season up – Black pepper, Coriander, Ginger, Turmeric and some salt to taste. Stir together.
>> Allow to cook for about 4 more minutes. Turn off heat.
That’s it. Your oil-free mixed veggie is ready. Serve in a bowl and enjoy your low-calorie meal full of antioxidants and phytonutrients.
Does the oil-free mixed veggie stand up to blood sugar scrutiny? It sure does. I got a blood sugar reading of 4.7 mmol/l (84.6 mg/dl). Healthy!
Dr. Joe