GREENS? long rambling question!!!! tee hee

[ashabean]

I know it is advised that we always get our daily GREENS, and that dark green leafy veggies are the best for us. Does it really come down to color when we make our veggie choices?

Some I love, some I dislike, and there are some veggies that I am unsure if they are super good for you or not, or even if they really are veggies!!!!

For example, I ADORE cucumbers, the long european ones that are about 1 .25 ft long, I eat 1/2 of one of these everyday for my breakfast, quite often I have the other half in my evening meal, and I nearly always have some more at lunch. I am addicted to them!!! So fresh, so alive, so YUMMY! :)

Are they super good for you? They are a green vegetable, I think, or is it really a fruit as it has seeds? Does this count as a part of my daily greens?

My other passion is for cabbage, I adore it, dark red cabbage..... I eat a large head a week, I love cutting it into tortilla chip shapes and using it like a chip for my gucoamole. It is so sweet, so crisp, so YUMMY! I always have this in my daily salad. :)

Is this counted as a leafy "GREENS" vegetable, even though it is red. I mean how different nutrionally is it from its lovely sibling the green cabbage? :confused:

Celery...... I used to hate it, but slowly I am eating more of it, I put 1 stick in my lunch salad every day. Is that enough? Is this counted in the green veggie group?

Romaine lettuce....... I always have about 2-3 cups of chopped romaine in my lunch salad. Is it good for you? I know it is very light green in color and very watery.

I know I should eat the really dark veggies, but they are too bitter for me. Maybe in time I'll grow more into them, but now I find them hard to stomach.

So how many of which greens do you all eat and why?

Should we just go with our taste buds like I do, or should we eat things because they are good for us? I feel we should eat what we love as there is a reason we crave it, as if the nutrition in it has a voice to it, its flavor and it is that which calls our name.

sorry this is long!!!!

Happy Friday everyone!!!!!!

ashabean

[Revvell]

g'morgen ashabean,

All the things you mentioned are good for ya. Romaine is a good lettuce yet, kale, collards and chard are probably a bit better ~ deeper green.

I've had them as roll-ups with a good nut "cheese" and veggies and also, put them in green smoothies. They don't change the taste all that much.

Injoy ~

Revvell

[Punky]

Hello Ashabean,
All the things you mentioned are wonderful for you.
They do the body good :)
I think if you eat what appeals to you, you will eat more of it
and in a long run healthier for you than trying to gag down a few
bites of something you dislike.
Romaine is the most nutrient dense lettuce that I know of.
I am addicted to cucumbers too! They are awesome for your skin.

Now with that said, dark greens like kale, spinach, mustard, collard greens and stuff are especially
nutrient-MINERAL dense. Over time experiment
and see what will work for you in trying to add these to your diet.
Your taste may change over time with these veggies too.
Revvell had some good suggestions. Green smoothies are the bomb!
I put apples or pears, with the juice of one orange than some kale leaves
and my kids love it. You can't even taste the greens. Taste like applesauce.
I tell them its a "HULK" drink to make them strong. Another option is to add some dark greens to juices if you like to juice. Alissa's avocado kale
salad is one of my favorites. It softens the kale a bit and doesn't taste bad
in my humble opinion...my very cooked junk food husband actually ate this..at 1st he said it didn't look appealling, but than he went back for 2nd's.
But I think a good place to start with adding these into your diet is the green smoothies since you really can't taste them.

[Helen Of Tennessee]

Just taking a stab at it . . . cucumbers are fruit. Celery is a green veggie.

I, myself, like greenleaf lettuce. I hardly hear it mentioned, but I would guess it would fall between iceburg lettuce and Romaine lettuce, for the color. All the means is that I'll have to probably eat twice as much greenleaf as I would Romaine to get the same nuturitional value.

Getting dark green veggies is one of my weaknesses that I need to work on. I've put one romaine leaf in my smoothie (strawberries and banana). It changed the color slightly and I drank it, but I KNEW it was in there. Guess I need to work on this and get my taste buds to adjust to it as well as my mind.

<>< Helen of Tennessee

[blue_sky]

Baby or regular spinach also make great salads and are not bitter like some of the other darker greens. Baby spinach is so yummy with greek black olives, cucumbers, and tomatoes and make a vinagrette to put on it. :D MMM i'm getting hungry now....

Also love spinach in green smoothies!

[Pailani]

I like to sneak a little bit of green veggies that I don't care for into my smoothies. If I do little bits, I don't notice it. I've learned to get over the mental hesitation of drinking something that looks green. I do fine if it's sweet. Yet, dealing with candida, I can't overload on fruit, so I have to make my smoothies more green than fruit. Sometimes I add 10-15 drops of stevia. Sometimes I even add a hallf teaspoon of vanilla. Whatever I can do to make those green smoothies palatable.

[asil]

Also....

If you aren't crazy about bitter greens (although I am, and your taste may change over time) what about adding super-nutritious, tasty herbs to salads and other dishes -- a handful of cilantro, basil. watercress (packed with good things and very mild, oregano or whatever takes your fancy.

Provecho!

[Sweet lips]

You are doing well - while eating raw, your body will desire what it wants, and it appears that you are doing exceptionally well getting in the greens as well - so keep it up.

[RawTruth]

I've been able to add more greens to my diet by marinating greens and drinking green smoothies. Also, I've tried a new type of green in my daily salad each week. Like, microgreens one week, arugula the next week, a new type of sprout the week after that, etc. Now, I'm actually craving salads. But, it's happened slowly. I've been totally raw for a little over 3 months now and it's just recently that I'm at this point.

If you marinate your greens, they're very similar to cooked ... and the marinate taste sort of counteracts but also complements the kale/chard/whatever. Victoria Boutenko also recommends this as a way of eating the stronger-tasting greens. Here's the one from Rhio's book:

Marinated Collard Ribbons

1 bunch of collard greens

Simple Marinade:
1 - 1-1/2 T. olive oil and flaxseed oil mixed (I used all olive oil)
1/2 - 1 lemon or lime, juiced
1 T. Nama Shoyu or a sprinkle of Celtic sea salt

1) Wash the collard greens and cut out the stems or ribs which go almost all the way down the middle of the leaf.

2) Lay the collard leaves one on top of te other and then fold in half and roll the whole bunch into a tight roll. Starting at one end of the roll, cut into very thin slivers. Put the resulting ribbons into a large bowl. Add the marinade and toss until all the ribbons are well coated. Cover the greens and let marinate in the refrigerator overnight.

Serves 2. Keeps for 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

Alternative: You could weigh down the greens by covering them with some parchment paper and then putting a heavy weight on top of them, such as a half gallon plastic jug filled with water. The weight helps the marinade penetrate int othe leaves to soften them up. Marinate overnight. (I did this, but I used two nesting bowls. The bigger one is where I put the ribbons, then covered them with parchment, then nestles the smaller bowl on top.

Serving Suggestions:
- Add sprouted, blanced, dehydrated almonds, red bell pepper julienne, and diced onions, shallots or scallions. Toss.

*This recipe also works well with red and green chard leaves, kale and beet tops.


Now! About green smoothies. They are very palatable if you use the right fruits. Bananas don't work very well. The best (to my taste) are pears or apples. To really get the benefits (according to Victoria Boutenko -- you can search for her "Ode to Green Smoothies"), the best ratio is 60% fruit to 40% greens. Anyway, my morning drink has been 1 or 2 pears, a mango, and several handfuls of baby spinach or kale or dark lettuce (or a combination) with some filtered water. I worked up to the 40% of greens slowly, increasing the amount every day. I haven't tried it yet, but others swear by a drink of cucumber, celery, spinach and a little ginger.

[VeganVixen]

botanically cucumbers are fruit (anything that can be "picked from" a plant and has seeds are fruits .....veggies are the whole plant

and also red cabbage would be considerd a purple veggie :)

I would try to get different colors of fuits and veggies in also

like red (strawberries,tomatos,razberries,watermelon,apples ect...);

PURPLE (VERY GOOD FOR YOU) from blueberries,dark grapes,blach berries,beet juice, cabbage

green - apples,leafy greens,cucumbers,green grapes ,melons

orange-oranges,carrots,cantalope,nectarines,peaches,mango s,yams and sweet potatoes

yellow/white - squash ,bananas,cauliflower,jicama, turnips,corn,rutabegas (this group isnt as important as the ones above)