Quick: how many servings of vegetables should we eat each day? Chances are you're one of millions of Americans who are not meeting this important health goal. Prevention strategies for almost every chronic illness, including cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes, stress the importance of eating a variety of vegetables every day. We're not talking iceberg lettuce drenched in French dressing, either.

Here are delicious and quick-to-fix ways to include vegetables in your family's diet. With a little planning and imagination, you'll reach the goal of at least five servings of vegetables most days.

1. If they're not in the house, you can't eat them. Make sure you buy enough vegetables to last your family until the next shopping trip. If you prefer fresh veggies, you'll need to stop at the grocery store more often to stock up on the freshest choices. Frozen vegetables are an acceptable substitute as long as they are quickly cooked in a small amount of water.
2. Look to the rainbow. Try to choose vegetables of varied colors: red tomatoes, green broccoli, white onions, orange squash, purple beets. Colors tend to signify different phytochemicals, important healthful nutrients found in plants.
3. Feed a snack attack with veggies. A snack is, by definition, quick to eat and requires little preparation. Yes, vegetables CAN fit those requirements. Baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli florets, celery sticks, or green pepper strips can be your mid-morning or afternoon snack. Wash vegetables ahead of time and store them in plastic bags in the refrigerator to keep them fresh and save time when you want a snack.
4. Two is far better than one -- two types of vegetables served at dinner, that is. Serve a tossed salad with a baked potato, peas and carrots, tomato slices with steamed green beans, or crunchy raw carrots and fresh asparagus. You'll be adding choice, color, variety, flavor AND nutrition to your family's meal.
5. Mix it up. Add vegetables to every recipe you can think of: grated zucchini in spaghetti sauce, mixed vegetables layered in lasagna, bits of carrot and green or red pepper stirred into rice, dark green lettuce and sprouts added to sandwiches, onions and garlic on top of baked or grilled chicken.