[Part #3 of our Daily Dozen series]
We’ve already covered 4 items since Monday: beans, berries, other fruits and cruciferous vegetables.
The next 2 items are GREENS and OTHER VEGETABLES
1. GREENS
These are your green leafy vegetables: arugula, beet greens, collard greens, kale, mesclun mix, mustard greens, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens.
How much? Eat two servings a day. One serving is 1 cup raw or 1/2 cup cooked.
Greens are considered one of the healthiest vegetables. The nitric oxide formed from plant-based nitrate may play a role in the prevention of heart disease and high blood pressure.
You can add greens to almost everything! Of course, they’re amazing in salads. Eat a salad for lunch or start your dinner with a small salad, what an easy way to get one to two cups of leafy greens!
But there is more you can do with greens. Add them to soup, chili, spaghetti sauce, vegetable curry,… Hide them into smoothies and your family won’t notice if you use blueberries (the dark purple will cover the green colour). Or make it a fun drink by making green, tasty smoothies or juice on purpose, you never know, they might just love it (my kids do!). Start every Buddha Bowl with a bed of greens, put arugula on top of a pizza, or cook some greens with onions, mushrooms and garlic as a delicious side dish.
2. OTHER VEGETABLES
Any other vegetable you can think of: carrots, potatoes (preferably purple), asparagus, squash, beets, onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplants, artichokes, sweet potatoes, yams, mushrooms, okra,…
How much? Eat 2 servings per day (or more if you’d like of course!). One serving is 1/2 cup raw or cooked non-leafy vegetables, 1 cup raw leafy vegetables, 1/2 cup of vegetable juice or 1/4 cup of dried mushrooms.
So if we do a quick recap for the vegetables, you’ll be eating: 1 serving of cruciferous, 2 servings of greens and 2 servings of other vegetables. Are you curious to see how you would feel if you were to eat like this? I encourage you to try by adding them (slowly) to your diet!
By eating a wide variety, you can get the most diverse nutrients, including fibers, vitamins, minerals, anti-oxydants and phytonutrients. Those are different in each plant so make sure you don’t eat the same veggie every day.
Ways to eat your veggies: in soups, salads, purees, ratatouilles, pad thai, pasta sauces, lasagnas, casseroles, juices, smoothies,… You can even add some veggies to your desserts, think carrot cake or zucchini bread!
Tell me how you like to eat your greens and veggies in the comments below!