The spiral zucchini reminds me of a salad I had in Boulder last year and it was easily the best dish I've had in the past five years. Sounds crazy right? But a simple raw zucchini salad still resonates:

Zucchini sliced lengthwise into long ribbons (probably on a mandolin but I was able to replicate it fairly reasonably by using a vegetable peeler?
Crumbled chèvre (could also use feta)
Crushed salted marcona almonds
Olive oil

Basically you just top the zucchini strips with a little of the cheese, a sprinkling of olives and then pour over a little olive oil to bring it all together.

I know it's not necessarily low calorie but you don't need a ton of the cheese, almonds or oil - the fresh zucchini is the main ingredient.

Why eat them raw? They're so delicious steamed!

Fresh broccoli is great marinated in Italian dressing. Cut them into florets and pare the stems a little. Keep them in the fridge for up to a week. They get softer each day.

Fresh spring rolls. Soak rice wrappers in water. Fill with carrots, mint, cucumber, lettuce, chicken, avocado, or whatever else you want!

I roast them - yes you use a little evoo but then I put in fridge and eat cold when I need something more than raw carrots. Love the idea to spiralize - I may need to invest in one!

Sorry, 16:09 here again: another easy thing to do is just change the shape of the veggies that you do like. One of the best things I ever got was a spiralizer. Raw beet noodles are awesome, as are zucchini noodles. I dress them up kind of like soba, so the cold temperature is just a bonus.


Make kebabs with raw veggies.. Yeah, it's the same thing as just eating them, but the presentation will help trick your brain into thinking it's more attractive. Make a simple dip to go along with the them.

I make lots of wraps - iceberg lettuce as the wrapper and fill with shredded veggies like kale, broccoli, carrots. Add a tiny bit of dressing, mustard, sriracha, etc. You can do the same thing with kale, but if you're not super used to kale, it's much more bitter and not as refreshing'y crunchy.

I also like iceberg cut into large pieces and sprinkled with Cajun seasoning - it's not quite like chips but they fill me up, they're tasty and savory, and I think the crunch is fun.

Yeah yeah, I know iceberg isn't trendy and probably for the poors, but when you're trying to stave off "the snackies", I find it much more fun to eat than kale (which I do love).

The tiny baby peppers are somehow way more fun to eat than carrot sticks.

You can also just make a simple dip with Greek or drained low fat yogurt.

I also soak cashews, blend with garlic, nutritional yeast, and basil to make a "pesto". Put a tsp or so at the end of a ribbon of zucchini, (cut with mandoline or a peeler- it ends up almost the same) and roll up. Two or three fills you up.

Blend them up for gazpacho, eat them with light mayo with wasabi, chop them small and mix with quinoa, stuff them in a low carb pita.

Red or orange cherry tomatoes need no embellishments! So good!!!

Also: gazpacho!

Anonymous wrote:Do you drunk alcohol? I stopped drinking any alcohol at all a few weeks ago and the weight is flying off my body

Or, if you want to keep drinking alcohol, I've been seeing a lot of cucumber infused cocktails lately, and I recently had a cocktail featuring carrot juice, ginger, and bourbon.

Yep I quit alcohol, trying to cut back on bread and rice as well. The smoothie is a good idea, hummus I'd have to check because I think I'd have to make a low-fat version.

Do you drunk alcohol? I stopped drinking any alcohol at all a few weeks ago and the weight is flying off my body

Sneak them in smoothies. Make a berry smoothie, but throw in a handful of spinach, kale, or even broccoli.

Hummus, tzatziki?

So I made a resolution to lose 50 lbs, and part of that diet involves just eating a lot of fresh vegetables. Salad-y vegetables (spinach, kale, etc) will go in a salad, but I will also eat carrots, cucumbers, celery, and so on.

I thought of eating them with cottage cheese to make them more appetizing, or dipping them in peanut butter. Any other ideas?