When you’re thinking about what changes to make to your eating habits, it can feel confusing (where to begin), overwhelming (what should I eat?) or both. There are a lot of places you can start that can helpful, and today I’m going to highlight one.
Add vegetables to your meals, in whatever way you can.
Seems a bit too basic, right? Not super extreme or crazy, nothing that requires you to buy fancy expensive powders or juices or any of that shit. Simplicity works, day in and day out.
We start with adding veggies because adding is more fun than taking things away. We’re all going to be way more likely to add something than take something away when we’re making change. Change can be a lot easier when it’s gradual.
Adding vegetables to your meals can look like a lot of different things:
-a side salad with some dressing, olive oil, or avocado
-roasted veggies
-a side soup that’s pureed cooked veggies
-adding veggies into the dish you’re cooking
-topping your meal with vegetable or herb pestos, sauerkraut or salsas
With summer in full swing and salsa ingredients poppin, making a Bell Pepper Pico de Gallo would be the perfect addition to your meal to add vegetables. This pico de gallo uses bell peppers for a fun and crunchier twist. By using bell peppers, this Bell Pepper Pico de Gallo is a lot more mild than other salsas and picos out there, which can be good if you’re the biggest fan of spice or cooking for people who aren’t super into heat.
It’s quick to make and enjoy. You can add it on top of your proteins, in your salads, of course in your tacos and yes, enjoy it as a dip with tortilla chips. You can use any color bell peppers you want, they come in so many colors. You can also add hotter chilis if you want to up the heat.
If you can, I would suggest getting organic varieties of peppers and tomatoes. Because they’re thin skinned, they can easily absorb pesticides, which, over time, can lead to endocrine issues.
Enjoy adding this Bell Pepper Pico de Gallo to your meals and adding vegetables to your meals and building up your healthy habits.
Want more bell pepper dishes from the Nutrition DL series? You can find them here:
Nutrition DL: Bell Peppers
Zucchini Corn Stuffed Bell Pepper with Chimichurri
Roasted Red Pepper Bean Dip
Red Pepper Soup
Ingredients
- 3-4 medium to large bell peppers of various colors
- 1 large tomato, diced
- 2 small jalapenos, deseeded and diced
- 2-3 cloves of garlic, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp chili powder/cayenne/chipotle (depending on your level of adventure)
- 1/2 juice of a lemon
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- salt, to taste
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir to incorporate.
Adjust seasonings per your taste. Refrigerate to store.
For the best flavor infusion, wait a few hours or until the next day.
