Learning how to love eating green vegetables depends on learning to cook them right. This is a great skill to have due to their rich nutrient content, health benefits, and role in preventing disease. We all prioritize foods that are delicious, so why not make the most nutritious foods like vegetables delicious?
After all, if you can make green vegetables taste great and that motivates you to want to eat more of them more often, that helps you reduce your risk of chronic disease later. A win win, right?

If you're not a fan of green vegetables, or just haven't figured out how to make them taste good, don't give up just yet. There are a few steps I take to coax the best out of vegetables. Once you master those, you're ready to juice, chop, steam, and saute to your heart's content. At the end of the day, the point is that if you learn to love greens now, you'll have a better chance of reducing your risk of chronic disease later.
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Why You Should Give Green Vegetables a Try
Green vegetables are nutrient-dense, meaning they provide a high amount of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for very few calories. They are essential for promoting health and addressing nutritional deficiencies due to their culinary versatility, high nutritional value, and health benefits, including antioxidant, anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. Here's a "best of" list of the reasons to get include green veggies in your daily diet, starting today.
- Packed with Nutrients: Green vegetables are nutrient-dense, meaning they provide a high amount of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants for very few calories.
- Boost Immunity: Green vegetables like spinach, kale, and broccoli are rich in Vitamin C, which supports the immune system and helps the body fight infections, and antioxidants which neutralize free radicals that can damage cells and weaken immunity.
- Support Digestive Health: Green vegetables are high in figer which aids digestion, prevents constipation, and promotes a healthy gut microbiome. Also, many green vegetables have a high water content, which helps maintain hydration and supports digestion.
- Promote Heart Health: Potassium in green vegetables helps lower blood pressure by counteracting sodium's effects. The fiber in greens helps reduce LDL (low-density lipoprotein - often called the "bad" cholesterol because high levels can increase your risk of heart disease and stroke). Also, compounds like nitrates (found in leafy greens) can improve circulation and reduce inflammation in blood vessels.
- Support Healthy Bones: Calcium and Vitamin K are crucial for bone health. Vitamin K, found in greens like kale and collard greens, helps in bone formation and prevents osteoporosis.
- Help Weight Management: Green vegetables are filling but low in calories, making them excellent for weight loss or maintenance. They're also high in fiber, keeping you feeling fuller for longer and helping prevent overeating.
- Improve Skin Health: Antioxidants help protect skin from damage caused by sun exposure and aging. And, Vitamins A and C promote collagen production, which keeps the skin firm and youthful.
- Support Eye Health: Lutein and Zeaxanthin, compounds found in leafy greens, protect eyes from damage caused by blue light and reduce the risk of cataracts and macular degeneration.
- May Reduce Cancer Risk: Green vegetables are rich in compounds like Glucosinolates, like those found in broccoli, kale, and Brussels sprouts, that may help the body detoxify harmful substances and reduce the risk of certain cancers. Chlorophyll acts as a natural detoxifier and has been linked to a reduced risk of cancer.
- Help Regulate Blood Sugar: The fiber and magnesium in green vegetables help stabilize blood sugar levels, which is beneficial for preventing or managing type 2 diabetes.
- Improve Brain Function: Folate, found in greens like spinach and asparagus, is crucial for brain development and function. Antioxidants help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the risk of cognitive decline.
Isn't kind of crazy that green vegetables can help with so many of the vitally important processes we rely on to feel well and thrive?
How to Incorporate Green Vegetables in Your Diet
Here are a few ideas to include greens in your meals at any time of day. It may take a little re-thinking or habit creation, but it will be worth it in the long run.
- Make fresh cold-pressed green juice: I make a juice from celery, dark leafy greens, cucumbers, fennel, lime, apples and ginger every morning. Maybe it doesn't sound like your thing. Believe me, it wasn't mine at first either. But, I knew I wanted something healthy in the morning and I wanted it to be healthy, energizing and easy to digest. And, after adapting my palate and refining the combination of ingredients, it turned out to be exactly that. I wrote a post about it.
- Make a different salad every day: Eat a salad for one of your meals or add a side salad. Dark leafy greens and lettuces are the perfect base ingredients for a salad. Add some crunch with carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and scallions, some sweetness with fresh tomatoes, and slices of perfectly ripe avocado. Then, dress it with an herby, citrus dressing you can make yourself.
- Make a quick saute of vegetables: Saute green vegetables like broccolini, asparagus, and spinach for a perfect-every-time side dish. Check out the recipe below for my tried and true technique.
- Master vegetable steaming technique: Steam heartier veggies like broccoli, brussels sprouts, and kohlrabi just until tender. Then, stop the cooking by immersing the cooked vegetables into ice water, just for a minute. That way, the vegetable won't continue to cook and end up limp and grey.
- Try a new vegetable as often as possible. Have you tried fennel? It's great in a salad or a soup and is amazing braised. How about kohlrabi? It looks a little goofy but when peeled and steamed, it's the perfect milder cousin to broccoli but without all the flowers. If you see a green vegetable you've never tried, give it a shot. Maybe you'll find a new favorite and life will never be the same.
- Throw greens into any soup: Add dark leafy greens into any soup when you're warming it up. They naturally just melt into the hot liquid and cook just enough to add heartiness, nutrients, and a depth of flavor to every bowl.
Make Perfect Sauteed Broccolini or Spinach Tonight
All you need for perfect sauteed broccolini or spinach are the vegetables, a good quality olive or avocado oil, as many garlic cloves as you'd like, and a little salt. Here are the basic steps (see full instructions in the recipe card below).
- Wash the vegetables: Wash the spinach in a salad spinner and spin dry. Rinse the broccolini in a colander. Remove the remaining moisture from each by wrapping the veggies in flour sack towels.
- Trim the broccolini. Cut off and discard the dried ends of the stems. If the stalks are very thick, halve them lengthwise. Leave any smaller, slender stalks intact.
- Next, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add thinly sliced garlic and a pinch of red pepper flakes, and cook for 30 seconds to infuse the oil with flavor.
- Add the broccolini and a little salt. Cook, tossing occasionally, for 2 minutes.
- Quick-steam the veggies: At this point, you’ll need to create steam in the pan to help the broccolini stems soften. Add a couple tablespoons of water and cover the pan. If you don’t have a lid that fits your pan, a large baking sheet will do the trick.
- Reduce the heat to medium-low, and cook, covered, for 3 to 5 minutes, or until the veggies are tender and bright green.
- (For spinach): Since spinach cooks considerably faster than broccolini, simply omit the water and covered cook time. Toss until just wilted and not a second longer.
- Enjoy: Remove from the heat, toss with the lemon juice, and season to taste.
Find the complete recipe with measurements below.
Equipment
A few essential tools can make it easier to cook this dish. Here's the basic list:
- Skillet with a lid: A skillet with a lid is a fundamental kitchen tool you'll use over and over. This is the one I use these days.
- Salad spinner: The OXO salad spinner is the industry standard. It doesn't last forever, but it performs the best. A good enough trade off.
- Colander: Buy a colander that has fine holes and drains quickly. The pedestal base is important too, for better drainage. I use this one from Bellemain.
- Chef's knife: If you're going to prepare fruits and vegetables, you need a chef's knife. You will use it every day. I was gifted one before I knew that I needed one and I'll never look back. The number one kitchen essential. I use this one with a hollow edge from Wustoff and love it.
- Cutting board: Protect your knives with a good wood cutting board. Find one made of a hard wood like maple or walnut. They're more durable and resistant to deep cuts and their tight grain structure is less likely to absorb moisture and warp. Sonder makes a good one.
Storage
Cooked broccolini can be stored in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for a day or two. I would just make enough of the spinach to eat a la minute.
Related
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Ideas to Consider
Explore additional articles and recipes on the site to continue your colorful journey:
Perfect Sauteed Broccolini and Spinach
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 2 bunches broccolini (~6oz ea) or spinach
- ½ teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 tablespoon water (appx)
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large lidded skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two.
- Add the broccolini and salt and toss. Cook, tossing occasionally, for 2 minutes.
- For broccolini - Add the water, cover, reduce the heat, and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, tossing occasionally, or until tender and bright green. Remove from the heat, toss with the lemon juice, and season to taste.
- For spinach - Cook, tossing occasionally, until just wilted, 2-3 minutes uncovered, then remove to a serving plate.
- Enjoy! Cook a la minute and serve immediately.
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