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Looking for ways to get your recommended five to nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables? The Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services suggests that simple addition may be the right formula. Pile extra produce onto your favorite foods for flavor and goodness that really add up. Everyday foods will taste better, look better and offer even greater nutritional punch. In the Commonwealth, choose Virginia Grown produce for variety that extends from apples to zucchini, just-picked freshness, and unparalleled quality.

Here are some easy ways to incorporate five to nine daily servings of Virginia Grown produce into your regular menu.

Breakfast

• Start the day with your usual bowl of cereal but pump it up by adding fresh strawberries, blueberries or nectarines.
• Fortify your favorite juice by whirring it into a smoothie. Add low-fat vanilla yogurt, berries and ice and you have breakfast to go.
• For a unique taste, microwave chopped asparagus and mushrooms until crisp-tender, then add them to beaten eggs just before scrambling.
• Top waffles or pancakes with raspberries or blackberries and you can tally up extra fiber and vitamin C along with great taste.

Snacks

• Take along a variety of ready-to-eat Virginia Grown treats such as grape tomatoes, apple slices, or Virginia peanuts for a quick pick-me-up.
• Add fresh herbs to sour cream or plain yogurt and you've got a delicious dip for cucumber slices, green beans and pepper strips.
• Add honey to low fat sour cream or plain yogurt and you have an easy condiment for melon chunks and Asian pear slices.

Lunch

• In addition to the usual sandwich fixings, layer on sliced Virginia Grown peppers, cucumbers and baby spinach or a combination of salad greens.
• Color coordinate a salad by building crisp lettuces, broccoli, snap beans, cucumbers and peppers into a garden of greens.
• Wrap up a mixture of your favorite fillings in a tortilla along with extra chopped tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers to enhance both taste and nutrition.
• Add crunch to chicken salad by adding crisp, diced apples.

Dinner

• Incorporate a variety of diced vegetables into ground beef, pork, chicken or turkey for a delicious new burger taste or enlarge the concept for a change-of-pace meatloaf.
• Sauté a medley of chopped vegetables. Mix them into rice for a flavorful pilaf or into tomato sauce for an innovative topping for pasta.
• Pizzas, burgers and baked potatoes are natural landing pads for the extra zest and zing that Virginia Grown vegetables can add. Load them up with your favorites.
• How about a colorful slaw that combines chopped cabbage with some uncommon partners such as field-fresh peas, diced red bell pepper and sweet corn along with the usual ingredients.

Grilling

• Add thick slices of eggplant, kebobs of squash, cherry tomatoes and peppers, or sweet corn in the husk to the selection of meat, poultry and seafood. Grilling enhances the flavors and the process is simple. Brush the vegetables with a prepared marinade, pop them on the grill, turn every five minutes until tender. Soak the corn in cold water for ten minutes, pull back the husks only far enough to remove the silk, replace the husks, wrap in foil and roast for about 30 minutes with the grill top down, turning 1/3 turn every ten minutes.

Dessert

• For a sweet treat and the perfect ending to any meal, simply bite into fresh, juicy Virginia Grown peaches, nectarines, berries, Asian pears, apples, cantaloupe or watermelon.
• Layer lemon yogurt, blueberries, vanilla yogurt and raspberries in an elegant wine glass.
• Top ice cream or frozen yogurt with Virginia Grown blackberries.
• Purée raspberries and drizzle over chunks of cantaloupe and watermelon.
• Don't forget shortcake - any berry will work well. Add a dollop of whipped cream.
• Try blueberry, blackberry or peach upside down cake.
• Choose sweet potato pie, blackberry cobbler, apple cake or peach ice cream, just to name a few.

When you add Virginia Grown fruits and vegetables to the menu, you add great taste, terrific texture, beautiful color and good nutrition. To find out where you can purchase Virginia Grown fruits and vegetables, when specific varieties are available, how to make delicious dishes featuring fresh produce, how much nutrition each variety provides and much more, check out other sections of this Web site.