too many or too little vegetables?

[imsovain]

2 questions:

I've recently been trying to replace some of the carbs I get from fruits with carbs from vegetables. I'm finding that this allows me to consume a fairly ridiculous amount of vegetables. Are there any rules of thumb to go by to realize that another cup of cabbage would be better replaced by another cup of radicchio?

On the other hand, it has usually been been my habit in the past to put small amounts of vegetables in salads, perhaps too small. Are there minimum amounts that might be beneficial?

[LisaS]

I'd go to maximize variety, colors, number of plant families.

[Gaelen]

Are there any rules of thumb to go by to realize that another cup of cabbage would be better replaced by another cup of radicchio?

For that, I'd go by your own personal tastes and preferences, and as LisaS mentioned--maximize variety in colors, textures and families of vegetables.

[Zuleika]

There are some veggies that are not nutritional powerhouses -- zuchinni and iceberg lettuce come to mind. But if you're mixing it up a lot, it's hard to go wrong as long as you stay away from the starchy vegs (potatos, corn, peas, most winter squash).

But if you get lots of variety, it doesn't really matter so much. I try to have two different veggies every meal and I usually eat dinner leftovers for lunch the next day. So in a given day, I'll have at least four different veggies. I usually have fruit for breakfast or sometimes for a snack.

For example, one day I made a chicken dish served on spinach with spaghetti squash on the side. I had the leftovers of that for lunch the next day, and for dinner I had stir-fried pork with red peppers and zuchinni. Now, red peppers are good for variety (I'm trying to remember what vitamin the red color is a sign of, but they also have vitamin C). Zuchinni and red peppers for a whole day aren't the greatest, but since I had two other things (spinach and spaghetti squash) earlier, it rounds out okay.