Hidden Vegetables Slash Calories in Entrees

If you want to lose weight, you have to take control of what you eat. And to eat fewer calories – and be healthy – you have to eat vegetables.

I’m lucky, I guess. I love vegetables. I love a fresh salad of dark, leafy greens. If I can fill my plate up with grilled vegetables, I’m a happy girl.

So where does that leave the vegetable hater?

You have to be creative.

By hiding vegetables in regular dishes you normally eat, you can slash the number of calories you consume, bump up your intake of fiber and improve your overall nutrition.

Researchers at Pennsylvania State University found they could make volunteers lose one pound of body fat in 10 days by adding pureed vegetables to their meals. And most of them didn’t even know it!

Pureed yellow squash was added to macaroni and cheese. Pureed cauliflower went into a chicken and rice casserole. Carrot bread contained extra carrots.

Volunteers ate as much as they wanted, according to the study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

About half of the 41 people in the study said something was different about the meals but only two said they could taste the vegetables.

Fifteen to 25 percent of the food was vegetable puree by weight. When volunteers ate the entrees that were 25 percent puree, they slashed up to 360 calories a day. And they ate two servings more of vegetables per day compared to their eating habits before.

Now all we need are some recipes.

Alice Warchol is a fitness instructor and freelance health writer.

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