Spring is the perfect time to up your intake of greens. The grass is turning green, the trees are blossoming and green shoots are coming up all over. Nature is reminding us to eat our greens! Greens help cleanse and detoxify our bodies, increase our energy and make us feel more in tune with the season. Greens also have a high fiber and nutrient content - calcium, magnesium, iron, folic acid, as well as antioxidant vitamins A, B, C and E.

What greens should I eat?
This time of year it’s a good idea to add some of the bitter greens to your salad mix - arugula, dandelion, mustard and watercress. Sprouts are great too - you can even grow your own! Dark leafy greens such as kale, swiss chard, spinach and collard greens are a good addition any time of the year.

Kale
Sometimes called the “King of greens”, kale is a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties and anti-inflammatory properties. Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein, zeaxanthin, and rich in calcium.

Kale tastes delicious!
My favorite way to cook kale is to boil it for 4 minutes in 1-2 cups of water. Yes, some of the nutrients are lost in the boiled water, but not if you keep the water and drink it or use it as a base for miso soup (just add miso and wakame!). Ume plum vinegar or a squeeze of fresh lemon taste delicious on kale. Kale can also be baked in the oven to make kale chips (rub with olive oil first)… a great way to get your kids to eat kale!

Tags: antioxidants, arugula, calcium, cleanse, cleansing, collard greens, dandelion, dark leafy greens, detoxify, fiber, folic acid, greens, increase energy, iron, kale, kale chips, lutein, magnesium, nutrient, spinach, spring, swiss chard, watercress

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 11th, 2010 at 1:32 pm and is filed under Cambridge Whole Health, Local Food, organic, raw food, vegan, vegetarian, whole health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.