What makes leafy greens stand out from all the rest? They carry a nutritional bang from vitamins A, C, K and fiber to potassium. They are also low in calories and contain cancer fighting phytochemicals.
GREENS are leaves such as mustard, collards, kale, spinach, turnip greens, arugula, escarole, chard, watercress, cabbage, romaine…all of them have beneficial properties. Take a look at these:
Cabbage, kale & collards – cancer fighting phytochemicals
Kale, spinach, turnip greens – may reduce macular degeneration.
Read on to find out hw to get your greens easily and with less hassle.
Buy the Bag
If you are like me- I have little time to take the kale and wash all the dirt off of it, de- stem it and cut it into little pieces. I much prefer to buy a bag of prewashed and sometime precut versions of my greens. Now a days it’s also as easy to but a bag of frozen greens from spinach to kale and collards.
Buy in Bulk
The good thing about greens is that when you cook them you get a lot of nutrition cooking down into a small volume. That’s why buying spinach in large bags is a great idea. I have seen with my own eyes- 8 Cups of spinach whittle down to 1 cup, once steamed.
Storage
Greens can live happily in your fridge for 3-5 days. I know with kale in particular- the longer it is in the fridge the more bitter it becomes. If you want to keep them longer- you can blanche them and then freeze them in freezer bags. (please see link to blanching) .
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends a mere 1.5C greens a week- Why not Take the Go with the Green Challenge can you get 1.5C of greens each day?