Wearing green for St. Patrick’s Day?
Why not make a meal to match?

From broccoli and green beans to spinach and green peppers, count all the ways you can fill your plate with greens!

Properly prepared, green veggies add color appeal to your meals. Cooked just until tender-crisp, they add flavor appeal. Besides that, dark-green veggies supply plenty of nutrients-vitamin C, folate, and vitamin K, to name a few. Today we know they also supply two key carotenoids-lutein and zeaxanthin-which may promote eye health. And plant substances in greens may lower your risk for heart disease and some cancers, too.

Go green!

• Think beyond the iceberg! Vary your salad greens: use spinach, romaine, watercress, chicory, or escarole.

• Serve on a bed of greens. Arrange grilled or roasted fish, chicken, or meat atop tender-crisp green beans or wilted spinach.

• Get leafy. Tuck chopped fresh spinach and other greens into sandwiches, pita, and wraps—and in lasagna, risotto, pasta dishes and burritos.

• Nosh on green snacks: raw broccoli spears, asparagus spears, zucchini slices, or crisp snow peas.

Produced by ADA’s Public Relations Team