Green food for St. Patrick's Day: Big leafy greens

by Shayna Glick, Posted Mar 10th 2008 @ 2:00PM

A big green, ruffley leaf with dew on it.

Here's another thing you're mother probably always wanted you to eat: leaves. Leafy greens include everything from iceberg lettuce and spinach to kale and bok choy.

I know they're not as fun to eat as other things, like avocado for instance, but leafy greens are so good for you. They are high in fiber and low in fat, and they have vitamins C and A as well as lutein and folic acid. If you don't consume dairy, or want to cut down, then you should really include leafy greens in your diet as they are high in calcium and iron.

You don't have to have them only in salad either (even though there's nothing wrong with that). You could do wraps, add them to soup or a stir fry, or make a dip out of them. My favorite way to eat greens, like collards or chard, is to blanch them for a few minutes in boiling water and then douse them in pepper sauce. If you've never had pepper sauce, and you like spicy food, you gotta try it. It's basically hot peppers that are packed in vinegar, so the vinegar takes on the heat from the peppers. You can usually find it with other condiments or near the pickles in a grocery store.

There are all kinds of ways to eat leafy greens. Just be creative. I bet you could come up with a great addition to your St. Patrick's Day spread that is good for you and isn't salad!