The Weekly Veg Prep

 

I want to make it as easy as possible to get fresh vegetable servings every day so I take about 30 minutes each week as I soon as I get home from the grocery or Farmer's Market and prep all the vegetables before I put them up. This way they're ready in bags for me to grab a handful to stir-fry, roast, or throw on a salad. It's quick and easy to make any veg recipe or my every week favorite: All Your Veggies in One Soup.

 From this wholesome stack of greens (and yellows and reds) I toss the peppers and squash into a colander and give them a good spray down with Veggie Wash to dissolve the evil waxes often applied before shipping. If you're lucky enough to be buying from a farmer who is bringing these right from his field, then a quick scrub with water is all you need. I don't wash the cauliflower or broccoli till later when ready to use because I don't want them to deteriorate from any moisture left behind. This problem is easy to avoid with the peppers and squash because they're easy to dry. Too many nooks and crannies in the broc, baby.

To quick slice the squash I use my ancient Ronco slice-o-matic. There are plenty of newer mandoline style slicing devices everywhere from Walmart to Bed, Bath, and Beyond. You don't have to search eBay for an awesome replica of my supercool Ronco slicer-dicer. It doesn't really dice. That just sounded fun to say. 

For the peppers, I cap and seed them and slice in thin strips about 1/4"  and bag separately. 

This is a lovely green cauliflower. My market also carries the yellow and purple cauliflower and when I get over my suspicions about it I'll try some. Here's a quick link with pictorial assistance on how to take this big fat baby down in a flash so it's ready to bag up too. (That link will take you to my other food blog and bonus instructions for making roasted cauliflower - go easy on the olive oil and it will count as a healthy lean veg, but, ummm, don't linger over there for long!)

And, here you go - a great stash of ready vegetables to start off a healthy week!

For those on the Take Shape for Life program, remember there are many other vegetables choices! These just happen to be my favorites and a good mix of yellow, green, red, white...you choose according to what you like best!