squeezing lemon juice over bitter greens helps somewhat. The sour/sweet of the lemon distracts the tasted buds.

M mother in law used to cook a lot of her spring veggies in a white sauce that she made with cream, flour, butter and nutmeg or cinnamon. She said the spice "cut" the bitterness.

No reason you couldnt make a cream sauce minus the flour.

I like zucchini boats. you cut them in half, hollow out the seeds a little, then load up with allowable meat and cheese and mushrooms, salt and pepper. That really turns the summer squash and zucchini into little holders of the good stuff.

Steam sauté is a cooking method for any vegetable, and if lazy, I use an already prepped bag of kale, broccoli slaw, or cabbage slaw.
Put 1T of olive oil and 1/2 cup water in a fry pan with cover. Toss veg. around a bit while it is steaming, and a little olive oil steams onto all the surfaces. Then can add more butter or spices when it is cooked to whatever tenderness you want..or nothing if you are using the veg to replace pasta and will cover it with a sauce. Steamed julienned zucchini is my favorite pasta substitute.
Zoodles.http://nomnompaleo.com/post/5695132...odles-meatballs

Seejay..those boats look yummy. Meat sauces and fillings are a great way to cover the veggie, which is needed as a vehicle anyway.

I too like the zucchini "tato skins", my husband who dislikes most veggies will eat them.
Same thing as above, cut ends off of the zucchini, scrape out the seeds with a spoon, flavor with salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and shredded bacon, put in the oven at 450 for 20 minutes, take out, top with cheese, place in oven for 1 more minute, take out and top with sour cream. Yummy!

I've also noticed that as I went down the carb latter, the bitter things started to taste sweet. I used to think spinach and kale was bitter, not any more, it is neutral. lettuce is actually very sweet to me now, even dark green romaine. perhaps as you proceed with less sweet items, bitter items will become more sweet to you.
I haven't read Bernsteins book, but it seems westman and atkins seem to be similar if not the same.
my bg is anywhere from 83-110, but mainly it is around 90-110, morning being the highest at 110, usually after meals is in the 90's. I don't really know how to get it lower other than to lose weight, and that doesn't seem to be going very well for me, hopefully it will start soon.
I too am always looking for new vegetable ideas, my husband will not eat cauliflower or turnip for fake potatoes, rice. Good luck!

Seejay, I made the boats last night and it was delicious very yummy. I used hamburger, some spices and mexican cheese. Thanks for the suggestion

Janet, I ordered a julinee kitchen tool so I can try out that spagetti suggestion. I have this louisiana chicken recipe (cream, bell pepers, onions, red pepper flakes, chicken, ect..) that I made and still have some frozen. I am going to try it out with that and see how it does. Let you know

ooh yum. I've never tried the mexican cheese, good one!

Hey seejay and woofan,

Thanks for the advice on the baby greens. I bought baby spinach and you guys are right it is not as bitter. I had it in a salad today and really didn't notice a lot of difference between the romaine and the spinach.

Thanks for the tip, it was so greatly appreciated

I have sooo been there. Also, of the pepper family, green is the bitterest, red a little less bitter, and yellow the best of all.

same with summer squash. yellow is less bitter than zucchini even though both are pretty bland. !

People laugh at iceberg lettuce but it provides a cool crisp neutral and soluble fiber too.

I find yellow and orange peppers to be as sweet as fruit. Just love that sweet crunch, all on it's own or delivering something lc to my mouth. I think iceberg and butter lettuce are each perfectly named. One is cool and crisp like crunching into a thin sliver of ice and the other is soft and buttery. Love 'em both.

For lunch today I microwaved steam-in-the bag green beans and ate a bowl of them with nothing else except 2 Tbs butter and a good long shake of salt. I know it seems like an odd meal, but I'm experimenting with less protein and that simple bowl of food was tasty and filling. No bitterness at all, BTW. (Hope microwaving those bags is not carcinogenic).

It might be the season. I have SAD and vegetables taste bitter to me during winter.

I know my SAD is lifting when I want and can enjoy eating a salad.

Hey WhoFan,

I find Red Bells can get quite sweet as well especially pan frying them tender, same with yellow onions.

I have had steak tips and green beans for lunch all week. I love green beans

Experimenting with less protein? Did you hit a platue?

Hi Zuileikka,

Yeah my husband has SAD. It is tough on him ever winter.

I am finding those as time goes on my tastes are changing. But I will definitely keep an eye on it.

Thanks for the suggestion

Mmmm, for creamy coating, try boursin cheese melted onto cooked veggies like brussles sprouts. I just stir in a dollop after they are cooked and drained, super easy. Also ups your fats which helps with BS control.

Worse than a plateau - I've gained 8lbs which puts me 5lbs over my maintenance weight. It might not sound like much to some people, but I'm having the devil of a time getting it off - and it'll soon be beach weather!

I suspect that over the last couple of years my body has learned how to turn protein into glucose, as a sort of defense mechanism once it realized there would be so very, very few glucose carbs coming it's way for ever more, LOL.

For example, last night I had a ribeye steak and gained 1.2lbs this morning. I swear I had eaten super clean all day. I think my body used that steak for glucose and spiked my insulin with it. I really do, because I used to LOSE weight after a clean day and steak dinner.

So, trying to up the non-starchy veg and fat, and cut out a lot of protein. It's difficult though. Even if you like veg and don't find it bitter, it's just not as satiating as protein.