Eat Your Greens !!!

Home-grown Pea tops and Sunflower greens  

Eat Your Greens!

For a lot of people, say the word “greens” and their minds travel back to soggy cabbage cooked to death and served up at school. Mega-unappetising and a far cry from healthy greens!!! Yuk!!

Instead, let’s have a look at what could be on the menu ……. fresh crisp greens brimming full of health giving nutrients such as rocket, lamb’s lettuce, sunflower greens, broccoli, spinach, kale etc etc.

Lightly steamed or tossed in a salad, these can taste delicious whilst boosting our health. 

Don (hubby) and I start every day with a delish green smoothie. For those wondering “what on earth?”, we have had a fair number of visitors who thought the same, but were converted when they tried it and asked for more!! Just a handful of greens (we use rocket, sunflower greens, pea tops or lamb’s lettuce) with avocado, bananas and some fresh apple / pineapple juice and we are ready to face the day, having already eaten at least 4 of our veg / fruit daily quota (which by the way far exceeds the pathetic 5-a-day!).  Cleverly hidden in fruit based smoothies (OK I admit the colour gives it away!), the greens help to balance our blood sugar which might well go a little awry with too much fruit sugar on its own, and the fruit disguises the slightly bitter flavour of the greens. A perfect marriage!!  Why not give it a go and experiment to see what suits your taste buds? Just start with a small handful and build up!        

Green is the colour of the heart chakra, which is very appropriate as greens are rich in Magnesium, a mineral essential for a healthy heart and blood pressure. It also gives us energy and helps to build strong bones, not to mention helping us relax. For any stressed bunnies out there, Magnesium is gobbled up like it’s going out of fashion, so it’s a good idea to include lots of greens in your daily menu.

For those of you who cannot face a green smoothie in the morning, either steam something like  broccoli (purple sprouting is in season at the mo) or make up a salad and dress with olive oil, ginger, garlic and lemon. Adding oil doesn’t just enhance the flavour but also the uptake of fat-soluble vitamins in your veg.     

Be nice to your heart and all your cells - think green, eat green!! Enjoy!!!

PS. “Forage” in your own kitchen!!  Above is a picture of our home grown sunflower greens and pea tops. If you would like to learn how to grow these - drop me an email at judithreidnutrition@gmail.com.  Growing then picking your own ensures your greens are fresh, more full of nutrients (once harvested, vitamin content can decrease rapidly), unadulterated from chlorine washing, and with no horrible plastic bags to dispose of.