The Green Light to Eat Right

The phrase “Going Green” may conjure images of this:

But I’m thinking even closer to home:

A healthy, balanced diet means each plate should be a colorful rainbow of foods. Greens are an important part of that rainbow. Greens supply the body with vital nutrients like calcium, magnesium, potassium and vitamins such as C, K, E and B.

a glimpse into in my own kitchen: couscous with arugula, scallions, pistachios, and a very herby green pesto

There is a splendid variety of green foods. Think peppers, asparagus, avocado, arugula, bok choy, broccoli, kale, spinach, peas, collards, cabbage, okra, apples, melon, kiwi, grapes, and limes. Surely we can all find one or two things to like here?

Fill half your plate with vegetables at two meals, and snack on greens (fruit or veggie) in between. Here’s how we encourage Manna clients to make this happen with literature I develop for our food boxes:

Add veggies you like to dishes you love. Try veggies atop lasagna, pizza, pasta, stirred into tomato sauce, chopped up in an omelet.  Add a little green to every meal.

Serve them raw. Serve salad with every dinner, before your main course. Crisp, crunchy, mild veggies (think zucchini, cucumber, celery, broccoli) make a great snack on their own or with a dip.  Try plain greek yogurt mixed with dried onion / garlic / chives / dill for a tasty ranch dip. Manna’s staff gobbled up this very dip at a recent employee wellness meeting!

Keep greens in sight. Store greens on the top shelf of the fridge, washed and chopped. Make a fruit salad or veggie slaw, and keep it where visible and enticing.

Sweeten them up. Give veggies a tasty twist! Try dried cranberries with steamed broccoli, avocado with mango, or spinach and apples tossed with a squirt of lemon juice, olive oil, & honey.

Some food for thought.

About Lindsey Seegers

Lindsey Seegers is the Program Manager of Nutrition Education at Manna Food Center. Her background is in Social Work and Nutrition; her passion is cooking food always delicious and nutritious. She teaches cooking and nutrition classes, and leads grocery store tours around Montgomery County about affordable and do-able healthy cooking. Since 1983, Manna has been feeding Montgomery County’s food insecure residents. In our 30 years of service Manna has served nearly 3 million people, 668,527 households, and distributed 45 million pounds of food. As the designated food bank for Montgomery County we are the main resource people turn to when they find themselves in need of food assistance. Manna delivers emergency food assistance through its three main programs: Food for Families, Smart Sacks, and Agency Food Distribution.

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