Dr. Leelavathi V

A healthy, balanced diet is important for any person for leading a healthy life. However, it is quite likely for you to get bored with the same dietary pattern.

Here are some changes you can make to your regular healthy diet to make it more interesting.

1. Change your way of cutting: Cutting the vegetables for your salad in the same way using your chopping board makes your diet look boring. You can change the way you cut the vegetables to make it more exciting. You can try stick forms, grating and shaving techniques instead of regular chopping. You can also food-process the vegetables to change their texture.

2. Add your own ingredients to existing salad recipes: You may try adding cooked vegetables with raw vegetables, by chopping each vegetable into a different pattern. A simple change in the cutting technique and mixing some vegetables will make your meals more attractive.

3. Dressings, Dips and Sauces: Dips and sauces are one of the best ways to liven up your meals. You can add any kind of fresh dip, sauce or dressing to a vegetable meal. This would transform the entire taste of the meal. Mixing varieties of dips will enable you to create tastier and creamier dips, which can be used in many ways. Dips enable you to lead a healthy lifestyle along with tasty meals. Dips and sauces can be used as a salad topping or dressing, can be applied over hot vegetables and be used in various other forms. They also make the meal more bulky. Such dips can be prepared at home or can be bought from stores. You can carry them while you travel to enjoy extra tasty but healthy meals everywhere you go.

4. Try new food items: Experimenting with ingredients and introducing new foods in your diet add variety and cut the monotony. You should try ingredients which you never used before. There are lots of different fruits and vegetables in the market to choose from. You should visit different grocery stores, markets and gourmet stores in order to find new food items. Nowadays, a huge variety of fruits and vegetables is available.

5. Use Herbs and Spices: You can totally change the look of a meal by adding fresh herbs or spices. Using different herbs and spices enables you to change the taste of existing recipes. Herbs such as mint, coriander, basil, parsley and others can enhance your salad’s taste. Spices blend in all kinds of preparations to produce new taste and smell. Try different spices and herbs to get delightful results.

You can spice up your regular healthy meals in many different ways. This makes your meals tastier and more attractive. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a dietitian-nutritionist and ask a free question.