Quick and easy vegetable preparation
Preparing fruit and vegetables doesn’t have to take a long time. For many items washing is all that’s needed. Check out our Quick Tips below.

Ten quick ways to Eat in Colour…

1. Add one or more of chopped peppers, courgettes, mushrooms, onions, aubergine etc etc to a ready made tomato or curry sauce for colour, texture and taste.

2. Serve fish and chips with green beans tossed in salad dressing - they take only three minutes to cook and add great colour to the plate.

3. Grate carrots, beetroot or courgettes in your minced meat spaghetti sauce. It's a great way to get three portions of great tasting veg into a family favourite.

4. Roasted vegetables couldn't be easier - peel and cut potatoes, parsnip, beetroot, sweet potatoes and carrots in to little chunks. Pop in a baking tray, toss in a little of your Sunday roasting fat or a drizzle olive oil. Roast in the oven for 40 minutes while you wait for the roast to finish.

5. Skewer pieces of onion, courgette, mushroom and pepper. Drizzle with a little olive oil and pop under the grill for a few minutes. Swap one of these kebabs for half of those chips on your plate!

6. Drain a tin or a handful of frozen sweetcorn and toast under the grill on a piece of foil until brown. The sweetcorn kernels take on a great nutty flavour and are wonderful sprinkled over soup and salads.

7. Cream cheese and peanut butter make vegetable sticks into a fantastic snack (and more satisfying than a bag of crisps).

8. Add a handful of berries or small pieces of fruit to yoghurt or hot or cold custard for an instant pudding.

9. The quickest pudding in the world - stuff halved peaches with a mixture of crushed digestive biscuits and fromage frais. Sprinkle with brown sugar and pop under a hot grill until the top bubbles.

10. Serve fruit pieces with melted chocolate at kids parties – exciting and fun and makes a little chocolate go a long way.

• Boil and mash – potatoes, parsnips and swede
  
• Grate ideas - beetroot, carrots and cabbage
  
• Halve, stone and slice – avocado, mango, nectarines and peaches
  
• Halve and eat with a spoon – kiwi & Sharon fruit
  
• No need to peel – instead scrub potatoes, parsnips, carrots and other root vegetables, then chop and boil, steam or roast
  
• Peel and chop – onion, squash, shallots and swede
  
• Peel and eat – bananas, oranges
  
• Trim and cook – asparagus, okra
  
• Shell and cook – broad beans & fresh soy beans and peas
  
• Slice and easy – cabbage and lettuce
  
• Top and tail – berries, green beans and mange tout
  
• Wash and eat - beansprouts, celery, chicory, cucumber, fennel, lettuce, radish, spring onions, tomatoes, watercress and all fruit that doesn’t need peeling
  
• Wash and cook spinach and other leafy greens, broccoli, corn-on-the-cob
  
• Wash, slice and cook – aubergine, Brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, Chinese leaves, courgettes, globe artichokes, leeks, marrow, peppers, Swiss chard