Best Ways to Incorporate Greens Into Your Diet
“Eat your Greens!” your parents said as you quickly tried to shuffle the food on your plate. Young or old, this statement still rings true. Green vegetables are some of the most nutrient-dense plant foods there are. Green vegetables are rich in nutrients like folate, vitamin C, iron, and antioxidants to name a few. They provide many of the nutrients needed for development, detoxification, energy production and metabolism. I recommend aiming for a minimum of 2 cups of greens each day.
Here’s some recommendations on tasty ways that you can incorporate them:
1. Salads
Making salads taste good is all about a variety of flavors and textures. Start with a base of green leafy vegetables and top it with 2-4 varieties of chopped vegetables, avocado, raw nuts and seeds, protein and a tasty olive oil based dressing.
2. Smoothies
Smoothies are a great way to sneak more greens into your diet. You can purchase the greens fresh for salads and freeze the remainder. You can add handfuls of spinach, kale, zucchini, and even broccoli sprouts to a fruit smoothie. Don’t worry, the fruit helps mask the taste if you’re not much of a greens fan!
3. Meat dishes
I am always looking for ways to incorporate more greens into my own diet. One of my personal favorites is adding them into ground meat, hamburger patties, or sauces that you can use on meat-based dishes. Think of a spinach-feta hamburger patty or a homemade pesto sauce- yumm!
4. Baked goods
I know what you’re thinking- baked goods? Yes! You can blend the batter for pancakes or muffins with zucchini or spinach to add greens to these dishes. One of my personal favorites are spinach protein pancakes that are made by using spinach, protein powder, eggs and banana.
If traditional ways of eating greens isn’t for you, give some of these other ideas a try! Have fun experimenting with incorporating them into dishes wherever you can.
