Got a CSA box? Shopping at the farmer’s market this weekend? Below are some recipes to help you use all those wonderful healing veggies. Let’s learn about some of the benefits we get from these veggies:
Radishes: these are amazing! They are high in skin-beautifying sulfur, silicon and Vitamin C. They are said to be arguably the best mucus-dissolving food for the digestive tract, which helps cleanses our systems. The cleaner and more free of toxins our systems are, the more beautiful we become.
Bok Choi & Broccoli: part of the cabbage family, these green veggies are filled with health promoting vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Naturally low in calories and containing over 150 health promoting phytochemicals, including sulfurophane, now famous for its potent cancer protective powers.
Kale: this superstar dark leafy green is without a doubt one of the healthiest foods you can eat, providing more nutrition per unit calorie than almost any other food. Kale tops the list of the most potent antioxidant vegetables and provides 17 essential nutrients including 100% of the adult RDA for vitamin A and vitamin C in a single serving. It is an especially rich source of the phytochemicals lutein and zeaxanthin now famous for promoting eye and vision health.
Rhubarb: actually a vegetable, rhubarb is very low in calories, just 21 per 100 g. Nonetheless, it contains some vital phyto-nutrients such as dietary fiber, poly-phenolic anti-oxidants, minerals, and vitamins. Rhubarb stalks provide good amounts of vitamin K, which we need for bone strengthening and to keep our brains healthy.
Spring Onions: although they quite literally bring us to tears, the organosulfur phytochemicals unique to onions are very beneficial. These compounds provide potent anticancer properties along with valuable blood-thinning effects useful for maintaining healthy heart and arteries.
Strawberries: packed with antioxidants that could help reduce plaque formation and increase heart blood flow. Berries can also reduce blood pressure and raise good (HDL) cholesterol.
On to the Recipes!
Try this super flexible Asian-Style Slaw Salad with Asian Dressing: it is a great way to use up your CSA veggies & delicious to have at cookouts. You can substitute any vegetable from the recipe for what you have on hand, as long as you end up with 4 cups of vegetables. And for dessert? A Rhubarb Cream Parfait with Strawberries & Granola Crunch that tastes like a dream but without the extra baggage of too much sugar or dairy.
Here’s to a healthy, tasty summer!