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Vegetables You Can Sub for Carbs

September 26, 2017

Achieving the goals that you’ve set comes down to commitment to both your fitness and your diet. At Houston Gym, we have a selection of workouts that you can complete in order to achieve your goals, but the diet aspect of your goals are things that you will have to tackle outside in the comfort of your home.

With as many fad diets and products that you can find to consume and throw into your diet, we figured it would be great if we could cover one of the things that will never fail when added to a diet: vegetables.

This food group is old as time, but food fanatics and health gurus have found fun ways to incorporate this food group into a healthy diet that is not only healthy but delicious. Below are a few of the vegetables that people have incorporated into delicious meals that mimic some of our favorite carb loads.

Cauliflower

This is definitely one of the vegetables that getting tons of press and recognition for the many dishes that it can create. If you’re a fan of carbs, this ingredient is one that you should keep handy because let me tell you, the recipes are endless. From common favorites like pizza and rice to tough items like bread, cauliflower can be made into some incredible things!

When you start using this cauliflower for an ingredient, you will throw the cauliflower into a food processor so that it is broken down into extremely small pieces. You’ll see that when these pieces are broken down to this size, they will have additional water that you’ll need to take care of. Put a towel on the inside of a strainer, and then put the cauliflower pieces into the towel. Let them soak up for a little bit, but then you will want to wrap them up into the towel and wring out the additional water. This could take some time, but believe us, it’s worth it!

After that, you can use these cauliflower pieces in a variety of recipes! Create delicious bread with the help of an egg and some cheese, or you can fry up these pieces with a stir-fry. Either way, you wind up with a delicious substitute that is free of carbs.

Zucchini

We mentioned pizza crust and bread in the portion of the blog above, but one of the most commonly sought after is pasta. There are so many different boxed kinds of pasta that are claiming to be made entirely from vegetables, but when you look into the list of ingredients there are a variety of items that are not any different than those that are found in common pasta.

An alternative that we love being able to use is zucchini! There are a few different ways to make the most of this vegetable in regards to pasta. The most common method that people are using starts off with a spaghetti squash, one that makes it incredibly easy to make up some pasta.

Start by cutting this giant squash in half and pit the seeds and insides. When you’ve completed that, you’ll put some oil and seasoning on the inside part of the squash, and then place them face down on a cookie sheet. Pre-heat your oven to 420 degrees and roast the two sides of the zucchini squash for about 50 minutes. When it is finally done, pull it out of the oven and let it cool. After a few minutes, you’ll be able to pull the inside of the squash apart with the help of two forks. You’ll see that when you do this with the fork, the squash turns into a spaghetti-like texture, or shall we say angel hair, since it’s even thinner. Add some delicious sauce, meat, or whatever you’d like. This is a meal that you can’t feel guilty about!

If you’re looking for another option to make the most of some zucchini, you can also enjoy this substitute with the help of a spiralizer. You can find these in just about any grocery store nowadays, but they’re also pretty easy to come by online, either way, they’re definitely an investment worth making. This tool makes it easy for you to spiralize your entire zucchini into curly noodles that you can use to substitute as spaghetti. You can either bake these noodles into a dish, or you can throw them into a pan and cook them on the stove top, but either way, you decide to do it you can count on the meal is delicious!

Broccoli

While it isn’t exactly cauliflower, and the taste is a little more prominent, this vegetable is another that has plenty of flavors and can easily be turned into delicious foods. One of the recipes that we found that we couldn’t get over was broccoli tater tots! If you’re someone that loves a good breakfast, tater tots included, you can enjoy them when you make them out of something healthy.

When you make them, you will complete the exact same process from above. Then you will mix them with an egg, some parmesan and a dash of pepper and salt. Then you will clump them into tater top shapes and bake them until crispy. Believe us, this is a recipe that you will not regret trying or adding to your breakfast.

These are only two of the vegetables that you can find and turn into delicious meals, but they’re far from the only ones. We’ve seen all sorts of crazy and creative recipes just by finding ways to cook up these two vegetables. You can find everything from fantastic buns made from squash to delicious brownies made from beets and beans. The main point that we want to cover is that you should be eating vegetables and doing your best to maintain a healthy diet, but it doesn’t have to be an end-all to your favorite meals. There are people that love carbs and sweets just as much as you, and they’re doing everything that they can to find substitutes and workarounds, so give it a try because we’re sure that you’ll find something that you love.

Hopefully, the food groups that we covered in today’s blog will help you find healthy alternatives. Now, don’t get us wrong, carbs are definitely an important part of your daily intake and everyone at our fitness center loves them, especially as an athlete. However, there is a limit to how many consuming in order for your body to remain healthy, and these are all great substitutes that will hopefully help you continue to enjoy the same meals while maintaining an overall better diet.