Eat The Rainbow Week: Green Gladness!
I don’t care what anyone else says: green is the best.
My co-workers snatched up all the other colors for Eat The Rainbow Week pretty quickly — and I’m okay with that. Green doesn’t get enough love from the world, but I freakin’ love green. It’s the color of nature, a synonym for an environmentally friendly lifestyle, and the symbol to GO!
Green is also the star of my plate. I’ve found that almost every meal is improved when anchored by a green vegetable, whether it’s a tall pile of crisp romaine lettuce for a salad, some kale in my stir-fry, or a handful of spinach in my post-workout smoothie.
But there’s more to the Green Life than just lettuce, kale and spinach. Though those three make up a rockstar trifecta, I urge you to expand your repertoire of greeny goodness. Last year, I helped vegan blogger No Meat Athlete create an infographic showcasing some of my favorite greens.
Reprinted with permission from No Meat Athlete. Go here for the full-size infographic!
Shortly after that infographic was released, I was doing my weekly grocery shopping at my local Fry’s Supermarket when I spotted their newest release in the produce section. You guys, I audibly gasped when I saw this — I was that excited!
Even the name is badass: POWER greens!
Needless to say, I bought three containers, plus a few bunches of kale. Yes, we really go through that many greens in our house.
So where do all the greens go? Let me count the ways:
- In morning smoothies
- Wilted and mixed into omelets and tofu scrambles
- Baked into kale chips
- Used as wraps and taco shells
- As a fresh topping for a pizza
- Mixed with fresh veggies for an ahh-mazing frittata
- As a springy addition to fresh pesto
- In a quesadilla with sautéed onions, peppers and tomatoes
- Pureed and added to soups and curries
- Added to the final minutes of roasted beets and butternut squash
- Chopped and added to dips or spreads
- Between two slices of bread, with hummus, tomato and yellow peppers
But my favorite way to enjoy greens, of course, is the old-school way: Tossed in a big bowl with nuts, vegetables and avocado (another green delight!) for a big-ass salad.
Kermit the Frog lied: It is SO easy being green!
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! How will you showcase green on your plate today? —-Susan