I often find that vegetables are the first thing to go out of our diets when we feel that we don’t have enough time to prepare healthy meals. Veggies don’t tend to be as portable as a grabbing a piece of fruit to go and definitely aren’t as sweet but they are a nutrition powerhouse and essential to our everyday growth, maintenance, repair, energy and vitality within our bodies. I encourage everyone to look for a rainbow within their meals on their plates, loads of different colors, textures, shapes and flavors. A favourite choice for healthy veggies are using dark leafy greens more often; lettuces like iceberg, boston and romaine or okay but there are some others that really pack a lot of punch.

The next time you are grocery shopping in the produce aisles or at your local Farmer’s Market look for kale, collard greens, swiss chard, rapini, escarole, savoy cabbage, broccolini, bok choy and spinach to switch things up. They are high in vitamins A, C, E, and K, magnesium, manganese, potassium, iron and fibre. Certain greens like chard and kale are also very high in calcium, vitamins B1, B2 and B6, protein, phosphorus, zinc, folate, biotin, niacin and pantothenic acid.

Either wash, tear and toss into salads, soups, stews, chili’s or sautee with onions, garlic and little olive oil to brighten up any dish and to LIVEN up yourself.

Enjoy!

Posted in Nutrition, Uncategorized