It’s one of the earliest pieces of health advice that we get given: eat your greens. 

Why should we? Well, they’re loaded with vitamins, minerals, and nutrients like calcium, iron, fiber, vitamin A, vitamin K, vitamin C and so much more. So, they’re very important for your immune system. You’ll find different nutrients in different vegetables, so it’s important to eat a variety to get the full spectrum in. When you’re out shopping, you want to look for some that you’ve never tried before to really expand what delicious nutrition you’re getting.

Now, I know that a lot of people are starting to think I mean that you need to be eating salad for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While I’m not opposed to the occasional breakfast salad, there are so many more options than that. You can try kale chips to replace crisps and so much more! Below are some creative ideas on how you can add more greens to your diet.

How Add More Greens To Your Diet

Making Veggie-Based Soups

If it’s cold where you are, this is such an easy way to meal-prep a whole lot of nutrient dense into your diet. Heading to the farmers market on the weekend to pick up whichever green vegetables are in season and spending Sunday meal prepping a large batch of soup that’ll keep you energized and warm all week is such a great life hack. For some great recipes, whether you’re sick or just need some extra green vegetables in your life, check out this post.

If you have a food processor or a blender, you can make even more veggie soups, by blending the veggies.

Bok Choy and Tofu Miso Soup

209 calories

Ingredients

• 5 oz Tofu, firm – 130 calories

• 2 cups Leafy greens, bok choy, raw – 20 calories

• 1 tsp Sesame seeds – 6 calories

• 1 tsp Red pepper flakes – 0 calories

• 2 cups Miso soup – 30 calories

• 1 Tbsp Green onions – 1 calories

• ½ cup Mushrooms, small, whole or sliced – 22 calories

Instructions

1. Cut tofu into small cube shapes.

2. Spray a pan with an oil spray.

3. Stir fry tofu on low heat ~20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until all surfaces are browned.

4. Spray the bottom of a pot with cooking spray.

5. Add in mushrooms and bok choy – cook for 2 minutes on low heat.

6. Add in miso soup and tofu, let simmer on low heat for ~10+ minutes, or until your soup gets to its desired temperature.

7. Top with green onions (chopped), sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes.

Veggie Noodles

Whether you’ve got a spiralizer or you’re buying pre-prepared versions, veggie noodles are such a great way to make your meals low carb and slip in another portion of greens without noticing. 

Zoodle Carbonara

369 calories

Ingredients

• 2 cups Veggie noodles/ rice, zucchini noodles “zoodles”, raw or frozen – 42 calories

• ½ Egg, large – 36 calories

• ⅓ cup Cheese, Parmesan, grated (cups) – 115 calories

• 4 Uncured bacon, slice – 176 calories

• 1 Garlic salt, dash – 0 calories

Instructions

1. Cut bacon into small pieces. Fry bacon on stove top by cooking on low heat & turning every few minutes. Alternatively, you can cook bacon in the microwave or in the oven (~15 minutes at 400 degrees) if you prefer.

2. Spray a separate pan with an oil spray. Stir fry zoodles on medium heat (breaking up noodles with tongs or wooden spoon if cooking zoodles from frozen). Once cooked through, drain any excess liquid with a sieve

3. Add zoodles to pan with bacon.

4. In a small bowl, mix egg and parm. Add to pan with zoodles and bacon, stirring until liquid has cooked through.

5. Top with seasonings.

6. No bacon? Use turkey or soy bacon.

Veggie Omelet or Scramble

Wanting to start your day the right way? Add some veggies like stir fried swiss chard or stir fried collard greens to your eggs (you can also try stir fried mustard greens). You’ll create a high protein, high in healthy fat, low carb, nutrient packed breakfast that will leave you feeling full and ready to take on the day. Without the sugar crash of a muffin.

Loaded Veggie Scrambled Eggs with Cheese

247 calories

Ingredients

• 2 Egg, large – 144 calories

• ¼ cup Cheese, shredded, mozzarella – 84 calories

• ½ cup Broccoli – 15.5 calories

• ½ cup Leafy greens, spinach, raw – 3.5 calories

• 1 Salt, dash – 0 calories

• 1 Pepper, dash – 0 calories

Instructions

1. Cut broccoli into small pieces.

2. Crack eggs into a small bowl, whisk with a fork.

3. Spray pan with an oil spray.

4. Cook broccoli ~3 minutes on medium heat.

5. Add in eggs, cheese, and spinach, stir until cooked through.

6. Top with salt and pepper.

7. No dairy? Use oil instead of an oil spray.

Green Smoothies

Or, skip the berries and try out a green smoothie. Use beet greens, spinach or kale and a bit of fruit to help c
ut through the bitterness of the green veggies. Another similar option is trying green juices.

Green Smoothie with Banana

252 calories

Ingredients

• 1 cup Almond milk – 30 calories

• ½ Banana – 52.5 calories

• ½ cup Pineapple, frozen chunks, unsweetened – 46.5 calories

• 1 Tbsp Almond butter – 101 calories

• 1 cup Leafy greens, kale, raw – 15 calories

• 1 cup Leafy greens, baby spinach, raw – 7 calories

Instructions

1. Add in all ingredients and 3-4 ice cubes to a blender

2. Blend

Lettuce Wraps

Another way to add more greens to your diet is to make lettuce wraps.

Salads

This one is obvious, but salads don’t have to be boring! If you want more dark leafy greens in your diet, you can try a kale salad. You can add chicken to your salads, olive oil as a healthy source of fat, nuts for some crunch, more veggies for flavor, even cheese. Salads can be super tasty, so try out some different ones and find what you like!

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