Up your salad game!

It's time to up your salad game! The farmstand will be overflowing with a variety of leafy greens for you to choose from like spinach, kale, chard, romaine, red leaf, green leaf and bibb, just to name a few.

If you love iceberg lettuce and you're still on the fence about adding a different kind of leafy green to your shopping list, May is the month to try something new!

Why eat leafy greens?
One, because they are so good for you! Greens contain almost no calories. You can eat these in volume, so there is lots to munch on. Their sodium content is almost nil. They contain about a gram of carbs, maybe two, barely a gram of protein and about a gram of fiber per cup. 

The darker greens, like spinach, romaine, and leaf lettuce, contain more of certain nutrients, including vitamin A and other carotenoids, vitamin C and potassium, over the iceberg variety. Greens like arugula, collard greens, kale, mustard greens and turnip greens, also contain these nutrients, along with other potentially cancer-preventing compounds, called isothiocyanates and indoles, unique to these types of vegetables.

Iceberg vs Leafy Greens
For many years "iceberg" was the most popular lettuce at the family dinner table. Romaine and leaf lettuces (green leaf, red leaf, butter and bibb), are now the most consumed, followed by spinach. Collard greens, escarole, kale, mustard greens, chard, and turnip greens, are consumed much less, but people now are realizing the health benefits and the potential in the kitchen.

Tips:

• Explore new greens, such as spinach, chard, kale, escarole and watercress, what do you have to lose! Add more color and nutrition with radishes, beets, peppers and carrots.
• If you are a stickler for iceberg lettuce, try mingling in some darker green lettuces. Start with the mild flavors like spinach, red leaf, or bibb. who knows you may find a new favorite!
• Cut up a few days worth of healthy salad toppers like cucumbers, asparagus, red or green cabbage, peppers, tomatoes, and carrots. Have them at the ready for easy snack or salads in minutes.
• Enjoy entree salads as a healthy dinner, or a means to use up leftover veggies from the week.
• Add texture, crunch, and chew with ingredients like nuts, seeds, apples, olives, raisins, dried cranberries, wheat germ or flax.
• Make your own salad dressings! Can't stress this enough. Blend a healthy oil and your favorite vinegar, herbs, spices and garlic in a food processor or try some of the dressings we make on the farm at the link below. Use in moderation and don't drown your food. Taste the leafy green goodness!

Related:

• 3 Easy Homemade Dressing Recipes
• Mason Jar Salads

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