7 tips on how to add colour to your meals

Adding colour and variety to your meals can make them more exciting, and can encourage you to try different foods whilst benefiting your health. But how can you add colour to your meals?

1. Mix up your fruit and vegetables

Fruit and vegetables are full of colour and nutrients. Try to pick some new vegetables each time you go the shops, often shops have varied vegetables dependant on what's in season and what they can get, so challenge yourself to find a new vegetable and try it out. Farmers markets, farm shops or smaller local fruit and vegetable stores are a great place to look for more exciting varieties of foods.

2. Try out new ways of cooking

Do you always boil your vegetables? Or stick to just one way of cooking? Why not try out new ways of cooking your vegetables to add a variety of colours to your plate. Try baking, roasting, broiling, steaming, barbecuing, grilling or slow cooking. Each of these will bring out different tastes, looks and textures to the food.

3. Herbs

Different variety's of herbs can add colour, flavour and texture to your meals. Again, experiment with how to cook them - stir them into dishes for a more subtle taste or sprinkle fresh over the top for a hint of freshness.

4. Spices

Similar to herbs, spices can add that extra kick and a bit of flavour to your meals. Spices like paprika often give a red tinge with a sweet and spicy taste. Why not try experimenting with spices?

5. Make your own sauces

Shop bought sauces can often contain extra sugar and processed carbs. Try making your own sauces, using bases such as tinned tomatoes and then mixing in herbs and spices. These sauces will taste much fresher as well as keeping your carbs low.

6. Seasonal foods

Get to know what is in season at the moment and try to find the seasonal produce in your local supermarket or farmers market. Changing your diet and the types of food you eat depending on the seasons is a great way to make sure you're getting variety and colour in your diet. Seasonal vegetables are usually super fresh, tasty and easy to find. In season now are things such as globe artichokes, cavolo nero (a type of cabbage), kale, kohlrabi and celeriac. See what you can find in your stores!

7. Secret vegetables

If you're trying to get more colour into your diet but find yourself moving away from adding extra veggies, why not try to sneak them onto your plate? You can create vegetable sauces and purees, stir them into baked meals, add them to slow cooker meals - they will still be adding colour to your plate but you won't even notice they are there. Spinach is a great vegetable to add to curries as a lot of it wilts down to what seems like a tiny amount.

For more information on how to add colour to your meals check out our recipes section when you sign up the Low Carb Program.