That’s right … you know you’re supposed to eat more green stuff.  We’re all supposed to eat more green stuff.  It’s a challenge, especially if you easily tire of salad.  I like salad but it’s still not my favourite thing.  Plus I always have to put a tonne of stuff in it.  Otherwise it’s not salad … its leaves.

So I’m starting a series of posts to help me, you and everyone in between get more green stuff in our meals.

If you were to only look at the stuff available in your supermarket you might think there’s hardly any variety available in green leafy things.  Well, when it comes to the supermarket, you’d be right!  They’re biggest priority is always transportability.  If it’s too easily squashed (something that goes great with green stuff by the way!) then it’s not going to be found on the shelves or it’ll be horrifically over-packaged.

However, as usual, I digress … Lets start with the basics.  Here’s a great list of leafy green veggies that are usually available in your local grocery store.  It’s from the Eat Right Ontario website.  Note that this list doesn’t include lettuce (or spinach for that matter).  There are so many types of leafy greens to choose from.

Now here’s a few links to a variety of seed sellers with plenty of green veggies you can grow.  You’ll see there are more varieties of green veggies than you could ever imagine.  Don’t forget to check your local, organic farmers market too.  They’ll often carry a number of varieties of greens that you won’t find in the store.  Now we know this is just scratching the surface!  But it’s a great beginning …

So what else, aside from leafy greens, can we consider green veggies?  broccoli, Brussel sprouts, asparagus, green beans, fiddleheads and artichokes are just a few.

And starting off with some of the simplest ways to eat leafy greens …

As usual there are plenty of salad options to choose from.  The organic baby spinach, arugula and mesclun mixes available at most stores are a great place to start your salad.  Try skipping the regular lettuce.  If you must (or need to extend your salad to feed a larger crowd) pick up a head of green leaf, red leaf or boston lettuce … they have at least a little more umph to them as opposed to iceberg.  May I also suggest put the flavour in your salad with foods like berries, dried (unsweetened) cranberries/fruit, nuts, seeds, cheese, herbs (fresh herbs help up your green veggie quota!), and other colourful veggies!  If you’re relying on your salad dressing to add all the flavour then you’re most likely using one full of sugar, salt and other garbage ingredients.  Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), vinegar (apple cider (organic with a “mother” (kinda gross looking but adds good stuff to it) is best!), balsamic, red wine), maybe a little garlic, mustard or herbs are all you need to finish a great salad.

Cooking your greens – most basic way, a quick stir fry.  Wash your greens and shake off most of the water.  Roughly chop and set aside.  In a large frying pan heat 1 tbsp of EVOO over medium heat.  Add minced garlic and onions/shallots and cook until transparent, starting to turn golden brown.  Place your greens in the pan and start stirring.  Once they’ve wilted but are still bright green you’re ready to go.  The bright green colour is key … cook beyond that and you lose a lot of the vitamins and minerals.

Another easy way … dump them in your soup.  Usually the firmer they are the longer they’ll need to cook.  For example baby spinach can be added just as you’re taking the soup off the stove to serve, cabbage … that’ll take a few minutes longer.

Anyone else have favourite ways to cook your green stuff?  I think next time we might tackle sprouts!  It really can be good for you and simply, really good . . .