If you are someone who cares very much about what they put into their bodies, or you are someone who is just starting to explore the world of healthy eating there is one amazing place to start: vegetable intake. While all vegetables are delicious and good for our bodies, this post is specifically about green vegetables in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. Green vegetables are full of nutrients and vitamins that your body needs to function at an optimal level. Keep in mind each vegetable has a different makeup of vitamins and minerals, so have fun and get creative with combinations and recipes!
Smoothies & Juice
If you are not comfortable with other vegetable preparations, one of the easiest places to start is with smoothies and juices. Not only can you incorporate a wide variety of flavors to keep them interesting, but you can also pack a lot of green vegetables into one beverage. The best green vegetables to start with for smoothies are spinach and kale because they have a more mild flavor that can be easily covered by fruit flavors or protein powders. To increase the creaminess of your smoothie you can even try avocado, but keep in mind you will need to drink it right away because avocado has a tendency to oxidize quickly.
Juicing is an amazing way to concentrate the flavor and health benefits of fruits and vegetables, and there are arguably even more options with flavor since you can work with vegetables that don’t blend into a smoothie such as carrots and celery. There are really only two downsides to juicing, the sugar content and the lack of fiber. So next time you are juicing try to use fruit as a flavoring element rather than the main content of the juice to keep your sugar consumption down.
Savory Soups
Especially during the winter months, soups and stews are an incredible way to include vegetables and add variety to the same recipes you have always used. It’s also important to note that just because the soup has vegetables in it, doesn’t mean the soup has to be vegetable-based. You can gather the same benefits from adding a couple of different kinds of vegetables to a meat-based soup as well. Great candidates for your next recipe are zucchini, kale, and swiss chard. Not only do they add great texture, but they increase the depth of flavor and bring an earthiness to any soup.
Fresh Herbs
It’s okay if you are only used to using dehydrated spices and seasonings in bottles because experimenting with fresh herbs will probably taste a little different every time. Herbs stand-alone in flavor, but they are also considered dark leafy greens, which make them perfect candidates to add to all sorts of different recipes. Herbs like thyme, oregano, and parsley are packed with incredible amounts of vitamins and minerals, not to mention they taste great. If you live in a cold climate then you can start an indoor herb garden right in your kitchen! There are plenty of products available that will allow you to mimic the conditions of the outdoors and produce hearty herbs that you can use in your cooking year-round.
Adding more greens into your life can help you improve your health and develop healthier habits as a whole. If you are looking for other ways to improve your diet and overall health, schedule an appointment with us we are happy to go over some options with you.