Grilling is a healthy way to prepare vegetables while enhancing their natural flavors. If the weather isn’t permitting you to grill outdoors, you don’t have to wait until the next sunny day to prepare the produce the way you would like.

Spaghetti squash is easy to prepare and can be used as a pasta substitute for low-carbohydrate and gluten-free diets. This big, yellow, oval squash has flesh that comes out in long strings like spaghetti noodles when fully cooked.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends incorporating vegetables into your diet to reduce the risk of chronic diseases and provide your body with the nutrients it needs for good health. Vegetable crackers can deliver some of the benefits of eating vegetables in a snack format that's convenient and tasty.

Just as Mom always said, your vegetables are good for you; they are loaded with numerous nutrients. These foods can also be delicious and enjoyable, depending on what varieties you choose and how you cook them.

With the highest possible Aggregate Nutrient Density Index, or ANDI, score of 1000, kale is considered a superfood. The ANDI score reflects a food's nutritional density in comparison to its calories per serving.

Griddles are available in either flat electric or slotted stovetop varieties and both are considered a fast and generally healthy option for cooking. A study published in the "Journal of Food Science"

Fajitas were born of necessity. Mexican ranch workers in the 1930s and 19040s were given tough cuts of butchered steer as part of their wages. They learned how to make the best of chewy skirt steak by grilling it, cutting it into narrow strips and rolling it into a tortilla along with piles of fried peppers and onions.

Mangetout, also called snow peas, get their name -- translated from French, it means "eat all" -- from their characteristic edible pods. Technically unripe, the pods and their undeveloped peas are eaten together, either raw and crunchy or cooked to soften and sweeten but still retain a little bite.

Rapini is a green vegetable that is sometimes called Italian broccoli. It has a long stem with small buds and small, thin leaves, and originated in the Mediterranean. You can eat all parts of rapini, although the stems usually take longer to cook than the rest of the plant.

The USDA's 2010 report, Dietary Guidelines for Americans, recommends increasing the amount of fruits and vegetables we eat each day. The report notes that it is particularly important to increase our consumption of dark green, red and orange vegetables.

Eating vegetables is important to good health, and knowing how to prepare them in a way that preserves their fiber content as well as the vitamins and minerals will make your meals all the more nutritious. When possible, eat veggies raw instead of cooked.

Everyone knows fresh vegetables are nutritious, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends that you eat at least 2.5 cups daily. But fresh vegetables can be pricey at times, and they risk being contaminated with harmful bacteria.