6 Ways to Eat More Greens (That Aren’t Salad)

Bored to tears with salads but want to get more greens into your diet?

Whether you’re new to the healthy lifestyle and just starting to incorporate more greens into your diet, you have kids that despise eating their veggies, or you already eat healthy and simply want to up your green intake, try these tips.

Green Smoothies + Juices

The green smoothie and juice craze has swept across the nation. These nutrient-rich drinks can be really good for you (when they don’t contain added sugar and come from 100% juices).

Now if the concept of adding greens to your drinks is a little foreign, here are some tips:

1. Start with just one handful of greens (preferably spinach). If you’ve never had a green smoothie before, use your favorite smoothie recipe and simply add just a handful of greens. Spinach has a very mild flavor and work your way up to other greens like kale, chard, collards, etc.
2. Use fresh herbs. Adding fresh herbs to your smoothies can be a great way to brighten up the flavor while also giving you more nutrients. Try herbs like mint, basil, cilantro, parsley, etc.
3. Don’t be afraid of the color. It’s okay if your smoothie isn’t vibrantly green. In fact, many times it probably won’t be, especially if you’re mixing in berries. And if your smoothie turns a muddy brown, that’s okay.

Once you’ve gotten super comfortable with green smoothies, try adding more greens and trying juice. You can make juice in your blender) or you can pick up your own juice.

Pesto + Pasta

This is a super stealthy way to eat more greens without changing the flavor or texture of what you’re making. Spinach goes unnoticed in Pesto sauce, which is traditionally made with just basil. (Try this recipe.)

For the pastas, if you’re making a red sauce based dish, just stir in a bit of finely chopped greens into the sauce before you pour it over your pasta. If you’re making a primavera or something with aIf you’re making a primavera or something with a bit more veggies, just add some greens to the mix.

Breakfasts

There are lots of breakfast foods that you can easily add some greens too without changing the meal itself. Lover of a good scramble in the morning? Simply toss in a cup or two of chopped greens. How about muffins? Try adding some spinach. Or even pancakes? While it might seem crazy to eat green pancakes, I promise you won’t even notice it.

Soups and Stews

These comfort meals are great place to sneak in some extra veggies. Not only can you puree most greens and soup, but you can add chopped greens to dishes like minestrone, chili, curries and even something as basic as chicken noodle. Try adding them to your favorite recipe because the greens have such a mild flavor, they really won’t have any impact on the dish at all.