7 ways to get more greens in your diet

Did you know that the recommended serving of fruits and veggies is 2 fruits and five veggies a day? Are you hitting these targets? I suspect not. A recent CSIRO survey of 145,000 adults shows only 24% of women and only 15% of men are eating the daily recommendation for fruits and veggies.

Most of us do not get enough greens in our diet. We chalk it up to convenience since most veggies do not keep for a long time. So we grab whatever is convenient and will store well. But there are lots of make ahead recipes that you can use to incorporate more veggies into your life.

Here are 7 ways to get more greens into your diet:

1. Salads

The most obvious way is to eat more salads. They don’t have to be boring. Try different greens like Arugula, Friseé, Spinach, Savoy Cabbage, etc. Try different dressings aside from your usual vinaigrette or Caesar dressing. Add some crunch like nuts, apples, or chickpeas. Add something different like mangoes, avocados, herbs, or any of your favourite cheese.

2. Smoothies

Incorporate greens into your smoothies. Start with a handful of greens like spinach or kale. Then add a liquid. It could be coconut water, plain water, yoghurt, milk, etc. Add some fruits. Then, add some super powers to your smoothie, like chia seeds or protein powder. Prep them up in zip lock bags and freeze for future use. Add a teaspoon of Green Goddess that is packed full of greens.

3. Sauces

Work veggies into your sauces. The easiest one would be pesto but there are lots of other ways to increase your veggie intake through sauces. For examples, add some shredded carrots into your tomato sauce. These sauces can be stored for up to a month.

4. Soups

Make veggies soups by throwing mixed veggies into a pot of boiling stock. You can also make your favourite vegetable chowders like corn chowder or cheese and broccoli soup. Yum!

5. Scrambles

Start your day with veggies by adding them into your breakfast scrambles. Add a cup of spinach to your scrambled eggs or throw in some spinach into your muffin mix.

6. Snacks

Most tips would have you snacking on celery sticks or baby carrots. But how about making brownies with greens or spinach ice cream? Cucumbers with cream cheese and dill make for an awesome snack as well.

7. Swaps

Swap out tortillas for lettuce wraps. Substitute tofu for meat. Make cauliflower mac n cheese. Bake a big batch of kale chips. Instead of cheese dips, try guacamole or hummus. You get the idea.