Eat a rainbow - greens

We are always being told to 'eat a rainbow', that is different coloured fruit and vegetables and there is a good reason for this.  Different coloured fruit and vegetables have different antioxidants, vitamins and minerals so by eating a variety, you are taking steps to boost your wellbeing. Today we have reached the colour green.

Spring greens are the first cabbage to appear in spring and unlike the cabbage that grow later do not have a heart. Like all cabbage they belong to the brassica family.  After the stodgier roots of the winter, low calorie spring greens can help us lose any winter pounds that linger. Enjoy them steamed, blanched or shredded in stir fries. Don't overcook though to help maintain its nutrients and flavour.

Hipsi (sweetheart) cabbage are also starting to appear at our local garden centre. 

The fields (and gardens!!!) are starting to fill with dandelions. Dandelion leaves are bitter and make a good addition to salads. A benefit of dandelion leaves is that they cleanse the liver which is really beneficial  at this time of year. 
A word of warning dandelions have potentially toxic lookalikes in nature and can be laden with pesticides so get them from a farmers market for safety. Also wild greens are not suitable if you are taking blood thinning medication.

Leafy greens are rich in vitamin A for mucus membrane health,  vitamin C, an antioxidant which helps boost immunity and keep your skin and hair healthy.  Also they are a source of vitamin K, essential for bone health. Further, leafy greens contain sulforophane and indoles which have anti-cancer properties, and its anti-inflammatory properties mean they help keep the heart healthy and prevent strokes.  Added to that leafy greens are a great source of fibre with all the benefits that has for preventing constipation.  

Even more excitingly leafy green vegetables are a source of a type of natural sugar called sulfoquinovose which can help improve the diversity of the gut biome. 

You might also want to see the following recipes:-
'Meatless Monday-Potato, cabbage and chickpea curry' and 'Harvesting the organic cabbage (or not!!)'- which has a recipe for 'Stuffed cabbage leaves'.

You may also like:-

'Eat a rainbow-Red cabbage'

'Eat a rainbow-Sweet potato' 

'Eat a rainbow-Grapefruit'

Enjoy