Eating more dark green vegetables will give you important vitamins and phytochemicals and can prevent diseases like cancer and heart disease. In fact, because of the many benefits of dark green vegetables, Canada’s Food Guide suggests that people eat at least ½ cup serving daily.

Dark green vegetables are rich in folate, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Folate is an important B vitamin that helps heart health, improves memory, and can reduce the risk of neural tube defects. Dark green vegetables also contain phytochemicals called carotenoids. Phytochemicals are found only in plants and have disease fighting properties.  Vitamin A and carotenoids keep your eyes healthy and help you see at night. Besides being full of vitamins, dark green vegetables are also naturally low in calories, salt, and fat, and high in fibre.

Dark green vegetables that you might see in the grocery store include:

Many of these vegetables may be new to you.  This can make adding more dark green vegetables into your day seem hard. The good news is that you can switch many of these vegetables for one another in recipes or add them to soups, stews, or stir-fries. For example, replace iceberg lettuce with spinach, Mesclun mix, or romaine lettuce as the base for a salad or on your sandwich. This small change in ingredients means a big change in nutrition!

When it comes to cooking leafy greens, you can sauté, stir-fry, boil, or steam them. You can tell they are cooked once the greens are wilted and are bright in colour. For something simple, try steaming kale, collards, mustard greens, or Swiss chard, and serving with a teaspoon of olive oil drizzled over the top, some balsamic vinegar or lemon juice, salt, and pepper. If you still aren’t sure about trying a new green, here are other ways to add greens to your favourite recipes:

• Chop parsley, kale, spinach, or Swiss chard finely and add to spaghetti sauce. Not even your kids will be able to tell they are there!
• Add chopped greens to a stir-fry near the end of the cooking time. Cook until they are wilted.
• Add fresh or frozen chopped greens to minestrone or vegetable soup.
• Fold cooked greens into an omelette.

Next time you are at the grocery store, give a new dark green vegetable a try. Greens are a cheap, simple, and a tasty way to add more nutrition to your meals. Who knows… you might find out you like them!

Written by Heather Harvey, RD as published in the Windsor Star, November 2007.