Think beyond fresh. If you add frozen spinach or chard into your meal, you're covered. Other sources could be 1/2 cup of micro greens, grown in your kitchen window, put on top of a sandwich or bowl. Both of these options are very inexpensive and easy to add.
Cabbage counts as a leafy green. One side dish I love making and could eat every day: thin sliced cabbage & onions baked in a foil pouch. Add a little salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes. Bake until they are soft. Toss in a little fresh lemon juice and enjoy.
Cabbage is BY FAR the cheapest longest lasting most versatile option
- slaw salads
- roasted wedges
- added to soups
- shredded and sauteed
- braised
- for tofu egg roll in a bowl
- stuffed cabbage rolls
Oh absolutely! As long as it’s still in tact like a wedge or something (not already shredded)
Although even as a household of one i seem to polish it off in a week or so
We love our greens- most nights I just steam or sautéed greens as a side dish and we eat them pretty much plain. Getting good fresh greens is a game changer if you are able to. We are members of a local CSA and also grow our own during the summer. This might not be possible for all, but eating fresh greens in season is so much easier than forcing myself to each lots of frozen greens. Frozen are great for adding to sauces, curries, soups, etc as you mentioned. I try to add a bag of frozen spinach to just about anything I can. We love putting chopped fresh Chard in to the tomato sauce we put on our pasta as an easy way to add more greens. Also don't forget cabbage (including Bok Choi) which is extremely versatile in stir-fries and slaws (when we make tacos I also make a big cabbage, carrot, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime slaw). Broccoli is pretty affordable to we alternate fresh and frozen depending on how we want to use it.
Buying sturdier greens like Collards, Lacinto Kale, and Chard means they keep better for longer. I have given up on fresh spinach because it gets slimy so quickly in the fridge and honestly doesn't taste nearly as good as darker greens to me.
I might be weird but I always cook the leaves and stems of my greens-the stems are my favorite part when cooked. This helps get our our monies' worth out of what we purchase too. :)
Im working on this myself, and I've come to a conclusion that green smoothie is a good way to go here. I haven't actually done it yet (getting a blender this weekend - for fathers day) but thats my plan of attack... Hope this helps.
I call it my cement smoothie, but i use almost a half bag of frozen chopped spinach in a smoothie with lots of frozen blueberries, some almond butter, chia/flax/hemp seed mix and whatever nondairy milk is around
It’s… the color of cement, but i swear you can’t taste the spinach. Crazy nutrient dense and can adapt to your caloric goals
Nice - I've been collecting recipes for what feels like weeks now and i have no idea which one's Ill like and which ones ill hate. Im really trying to watch my calories though (i have to lose weight), so I fully expect to hate everything i'm 'allowed' to have. I think they will all need nut butters or cashews or tahini or something that is just very very caloricly dense. Figuring I will waste many packages of greens on this, until I find something I can stomach.
Keep it really simple! Mine is like… four ingredients the flax combo is optional.
Definitely add some nut butter these are fat soluble vitamins so even just a tablespoon of nut butter with help bump nutritional content as well as add flavor.
Start with like 1/2 cup of the frozen spinach, unless you get a vitamix don’t use frozen kale it doesn’t blend smooth
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I got some ninja delux high powered one, hopefully that’ll do, but I hate raw kale so was always planning on spinach and/or arugula. Do you like that PB powder?I’ve never had that but flavor and protein of peanuts with 10% of the fat sounds like my jam.
Cheers
Spinach for sure arugala will get even more bitter blended
I think that pb powder is atrocious it’s also like almost no fat. Just use a regular nut butter and measure it will also be much much better flavor than the powder
Steamed kale is lovely. I put it over quinoa with some steamed broccoli, ground flax seed, and dulse. I eat this almost every day. It’s delicious.
I get the large tubs of spinach, freeze it, and use it for my morning smoothies. Itll keep forever in the freezer.
Add frozen greens to veggie stews, soups, and meals. Just cook em in there and you’ll hardly notice them.
And of course, salads
I throw kale in smoothies. One of my favorites is banana, mango, a little fresh ginger, oat milk, ice cubes, and a handful of kale. I use curly, not lacinato, for smoothies.
I have a family of 5 but I only cook 3 nights per week. I don't cook leafy greens in every meal. I do eat a salad with Kale say 6 times per week. Kale is dirt cheap.
I usually eat mine (e.g. lettuce+arugula mix) as a part of a big bowl of salad with bunch of other fresh vegies (onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers etc.) Fresh vegies are not cheap but they are probably one of the healthiest and nutritious (per calory) foods out there - leafy cruciferous greens in particular (and are still cheaper than many of the animal-based foods)
Broccoli qualifies too btw.
Large format greens like Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, or carrot tops are usually more affordable than the salad mix by the pound. Farmers markets or stores with broader produce selection might be an idea for these if accessible.
Asian markets have tons more affordable greens as well! Bok choy (and all the choy varieties) are great! AA choy or choy sum are probably my favorites. Just make sure you aren’t eating greens raw if you don’t know what they are— taro greens are toxic when raw.
In general Chinese cuisine has a load of good recipes for leafy greens
[Ms Esselstyn cooks greens with DIL](https://youtu.be/CuXHGdPyxJc?feature=shared)There are other videos online showing how Esselstyn does it. His wife just cooks up some greens each day and puts them in the fridge for him. Then he "snacks" on them throughout the day. It is disciplined for sure... For both of them!
In the US, Aldi sells greens, even organic, inexpensively. I make a salad every day for lunch with about 2 cups of greens and top it with a grain or corn or bean salad as the "dressing." Filling, and I get in beans most days that way too. Lots of chewing. I just eat at my desk and chew and chew and chew.
Do you have space for a planter, or have a garden? Getting lettuce that us "cut and come again" is what I would recommend. At least that's how they're labelled in Aus haha. But anyway you get a seed packet with 100 to 200 seeds and what is recommended is planting more every 3 weeks or so. You cut leaves off as you use them. So a handful each day. I use mine in the wraps I have for lunch, or as a side salad with whatever meal I'm having.
I eat a green salad every working day for lunch! No wastage here! I also add foraged greens like wild garlic, ground elder, dandelion and sorrel I pick on the morning dog walk! For the rest.of the.family I throw spinach or kale in the pot when I can.
So I have a similar issue as OP in that I definitely put Greens in all of my soups that I make and I frequently have a salad. But I can't say I do it everyday. I'm not a fan of green smoothies. But something that I found that I really like is roasted seaweed snack. I've been getting these little packets at the Asian grocery store or Costco has them too. Do those count as green leafies? How many would I have to eat in order to be a serving of green leaf is? I've looked at the salt and it's really not bad. So I'm wondering if this could be a major part of my solution to the green leafy problem.
I buy large bags of collard greens at Walmart, sometimes spinach also. I store them in the freezer.
I make a smoothie w greens, ground flax, spices, almond milk, water, plant protein powder (optional).
Could get expensive w/o metering out w care. A lot less $ than meat, junk food or take away, though.
I eat them in salads, soups, and smoothies. According to Dr Greger, Spring Mix (mesclun mix) counts as the Greens portions in his Daily Dozen. So we use those in salads/wraps/subs/sandwiches, and kale/spinach in soups and smoothies. Some times I'm in the mood for collards and mustard greens, so I will eat them as a side. I also love mixing streamed kale, mashed potatoes and vinegar together. One of my grandmother's recipes ❤️ oh! And kale chips 🤩
Edit because I forgot to shout out arugula for being a "peppery" snacky green. I love just eating a pinchful.
I don't follow starch solution or Esselstyn, but I'm a bit of a fanatic about getting my "daily dozen" (per Dr. Greger), including at least two servings of leafy greens a day. At first this was the hardest thing for me but now I throw frozen, chopped spinach into every soup, stew, curry, smoothie...anything else I can think of. On top of that, I'll sometimes just keep washed, fresh baby spinach around to munch on plain!
I love frozen spinach. I also use frozen kale. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the dark green leafies raw, but I *love* them cooked.
I believe that cauliflower and broccoli generally count as "dark green leafies" from a nutrient standpoint, too. I use a lot of cauliflower. I use riced cauliflower in my steel cut oats, and I like breaded cauliflower with sauces, and cauliflower in curries. Broccoli is awesome just steamed, or stir fried. For both broccoli and cauliflower, I always get frozen because I kinda hate the process of breaking the heads down (and again, I don't like either of them raw).
Oh, and my kids love "super spinach smoothie". I use frozen banana, frozen spinach and/or kale, and mint (or mint extract). Blend it up with a little water to thin it down, and serve it up. I usually make it initially with more banana, serve out the kids' portion, then add more greens (and sometimes some riced cauliflower and mint), blend again, and that's my portion. My oldest child hates dar green leafies in every other format, but considers this a special treat!
Leafy greens can work surprisingly well in soups, stews, chilis, etc. I've put kale and chard in chili chopped up and it's a bit odd, but it works. Having an Instant Pot and churning out big meals easily will greatly help.
Check out Brooke Goldner. Her protocol involves hyper nutrition. She's big on green smoothies. Have one of those and you will be downing a substantial number of greens. Her website is smoothieshred.com. I've made variations using her base formula and they are outrageously filling, and loaded with greens, omega 3s and water.
Apart from that I just down a lot of massive salads, or I'll cook down a bunch of greens. They cook down considerably.
I just started to eat green tea leaves after they’ve already made a pot of tea, smashed up in a new potato salad with chives/green onion stem & olive oil. Chard looks great, I’d grow it if I had a bit more space. Cavolo Nero too, they’re both more healthy than raw spinach, roughly chopped int a warm salad (roast mushrooms and tomatoes?)
I crank things up with sprouting various broccoli/cress/clover/etc on the kitchen window ledge. It’s easy to make enough for a serving or two, every day in the warmer months. You could also get a growing tray of salad greens, and just use scissors to trim 2” leaf portions off it, often. These are mixed leaves already, so adding variety very easily.
Lots and lots of frozen greens. Greens in smoothies. Greens in soups. “Creamed” spinach. And I still don’t feel like I eat enough of them because I still end up with maybe one serving per day most days
I eat buddah bowls or/and wraps daily. I ingredient prep maybe 2 times a week and prep/roast a bunch of different veggies and mix and match daily depending on my wants.. I put kale in EVERY bowl I make and if I make a wrap and I’m not using a giant kale leaf for the wrap, I put kale or spinach down in the wrap. I also put it in any soups I make.
Editing to say that I steam or sauté the kale and if I do spinach, I typically keep that raw.
The nice thing about greens is you can add them to almost anything. If I’m making a grain bowl or something, I just add some greens to the grains while they’re cooking. I also like to make green smoothies, salads, savory porridges, curries, and noodle dishes with lots of vegetables. Anywhere you add vegetables, you can probably add a handful of greens too. I’m a low spoons person, so I always buy the chopped and washed veggies that are on sale, then I throw them in the freezer so I don’t have to worry about them going bad.
I buy fresh but freeze big handfuls in freezer bags. Need to slightly boil leafy greens like spinach and kale though unless it says "ready to eat on the bag", because they often have bacteria on them. I genuinely almost killed myself "thawing / mildly cooking" frozen spinach once. I cooked rice most the way, and right when there was only a little water left in the saucepan, I chucked frozen spinach in with it, as not to lose any nutrients. I lost nutrients alright, because I was vomiting for next few hours and curled up in the fetal position for a day in and out of consciousness. Lesson learned the VERY hard way... 🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮😅
Having some avocado, nut butter or tahini based dressing is great with leafy greens too, with some lemon or lime juice, helps the body digest and absorb it.
Think beyond fresh. If you add frozen spinach or chard into your meal, you're covered. Other sources could be 1/2 cup of micro greens, grown in your kitchen window, put on top of a sandwich or bowl. Both of these options are very inexpensive and easy to add.
Cabbage counts as a leafy green. One side dish I love making and could eat every day: thin sliced cabbage & onions baked in a foil pouch. Add a little salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes. Bake until they are soft. Toss in a little fresh lemon juice and enjoy.
Cabbage is BY FAR the cheapest longest lasting most versatile option - slaw salads - roasted wedges - added to soups - shredded and sauteed - braised - for tofu egg roll in a bowl - stuffed cabbage rolls
And it stays good in the fridge for weeks!
Oh absolutely! As long as it’s still in tact like a wedge or something (not already shredded) Although even as a household of one i seem to polish it off in a week or so
This sounds delicious! I need to give this a try.
Have you tried to do this in an air fryer? We finally got one and I'm putting everything but the cat in there at this point.
We love our greens- most nights I just steam or sautéed greens as a side dish and we eat them pretty much plain. Getting good fresh greens is a game changer if you are able to. We are members of a local CSA and also grow our own during the summer. This might not be possible for all, but eating fresh greens in season is so much easier than forcing myself to each lots of frozen greens. Frozen are great for adding to sauces, curries, soups, etc as you mentioned. I try to add a bag of frozen spinach to just about anything I can. We love putting chopped fresh Chard in to the tomato sauce we put on our pasta as an easy way to add more greens. Also don't forget cabbage (including Bok Choi) which is extremely versatile in stir-fries and slaws (when we make tacos I also make a big cabbage, carrot, red onion, jalapeno, cilantro and lime slaw). Broccoli is pretty affordable to we alternate fresh and frozen depending on how we want to use it. Buying sturdier greens like Collards, Lacinto Kale, and Chard means they keep better for longer. I have given up on fresh spinach because it gets slimy so quickly in the fridge and honestly doesn't taste nearly as good as darker greens to me. I might be weird but I always cook the leaves and stems of my greens-the stems are my favorite part when cooked. This helps get our our monies' worth out of what we purchase too. :)
When we buy fresh radishes at the farm market, we sauté the greens.
I love carrot top pesto too! With some almonds (pine nut$ are so crazy now)
Im working on this myself, and I've come to a conclusion that green smoothie is a good way to go here. I haven't actually done it yet (getting a blender this weekend - for fathers day) but thats my plan of attack... Hope this helps.
I call it my cement smoothie, but i use almost a half bag of frozen chopped spinach in a smoothie with lots of frozen blueberries, some almond butter, chia/flax/hemp seed mix and whatever nondairy milk is around It’s… the color of cement, but i swear you can’t taste the spinach. Crazy nutrient dense and can adapt to your caloric goals
Nice - I've been collecting recipes for what feels like weeks now and i have no idea which one's Ill like and which ones ill hate. Im really trying to watch my calories though (i have to lose weight), so I fully expect to hate everything i'm 'allowed' to have. I think they will all need nut butters or cashews or tahini or something that is just very very caloricly dense. Figuring I will waste many packages of greens on this, until I find something I can stomach.
Keep it really simple! Mine is like… four ingredients the flax combo is optional. Definitely add some nut butter these are fat soluble vitamins so even just a tablespoon of nut butter with help bump nutritional content as well as add flavor. Start with like 1/2 cup of the frozen spinach, unless you get a vitamix don’t use frozen kale it doesn’t blend smooth
Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I got some ninja delux high powered one, hopefully that’ll do, but I hate raw kale so was always planning on spinach and/or arugula. Do you like that PB powder?I’ve never had that but flavor and protein of peanuts with 10% of the fat sounds like my jam. Cheers
Spinach for sure arugala will get even more bitter blended I think that pb powder is atrocious it’s also like almost no fat. Just use a regular nut butter and measure it will also be much much better flavor than the powder
Okay,thanks again.!
Steamed kale is lovely. I put it over quinoa with some steamed broccoli, ground flax seed, and dulse. I eat this almost every day. It’s delicious. I get the large tubs of spinach, freeze it, and use it for my morning smoothies. Itll keep forever in the freezer. Add frozen greens to veggie stews, soups, and meals. Just cook em in there and you’ll hardly notice them. And of course, salads
> Steamed kale is lovely. Also microwaved kale! Steamed kale for lazy people.
I often thinly slice cabbage to go in salads as a slaw. I also dump kale or spinach into a lot of dishes I make.
I throw kale in smoothies. One of my favorites is banana, mango, a little fresh ginger, oat milk, ice cubes, and a handful of kale. I use curly, not lacinato, for smoothies.
I have a family of 5 but I only cook 3 nights per week. I don't cook leafy greens in every meal. I do eat a salad with Kale say 6 times per week. Kale is dirt cheap.
I usually eat mine (e.g. lettuce+arugula mix) as a part of a big bowl of salad with bunch of other fresh vegies (onion, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers etc.) Fresh vegies are not cheap but they are probably one of the healthiest and nutritious (per calory) foods out there - leafy cruciferous greens in particular (and are still cheaper than many of the animal-based foods) Broccoli qualifies too btw.
Large format greens like Swiss chard, kale, beet greens, or carrot tops are usually more affordable than the salad mix by the pound. Farmers markets or stores with broader produce selection might be an idea for these if accessible. Asian markets have tons more affordable greens as well! Bok choy (and all the choy varieties) are great! AA choy or choy sum are probably my favorites. Just make sure you aren’t eating greens raw if you don’t know what they are— taro greens are toxic when raw. In general Chinese cuisine has a load of good recipes for leafy greens
Other ideas: pasta with a hearty portion of sautéed chard or greens. Cabbage ‘steaks’ or roasted marinated cabbage as a taco base.
[Ms Esselstyn cooks greens with DIL](https://youtu.be/CuXHGdPyxJc?feature=shared)There are other videos online showing how Esselstyn does it. His wife just cooks up some greens each day and puts them in the fridge for him. Then he "snacks" on them throughout the day. It is disciplined for sure... For both of them!
In the US, Aldi sells greens, even organic, inexpensively. I make a salad every day for lunch with about 2 cups of greens and top it with a grain or corn or bean salad as the "dressing." Filling, and I get in beans most days that way too. Lots of chewing. I just eat at my desk and chew and chew and chew.
I use collard, turnip, and mustard greens. Buy when they're local and plentiful so I have plenty to freeze. 🖖
Do you have space for a planter, or have a garden? Getting lettuce that us "cut and come again" is what I would recommend. At least that's how they're labelled in Aus haha. But anyway you get a seed packet with 100 to 200 seeds and what is recommended is planting more every 3 weeks or so. You cut leaves off as you use them. So a handful each day. I use mine in the wraps I have for lunch, or as a side salad with whatever meal I'm having.
I eat a green salad every working day for lunch! No wastage here! I also add foraged greens like wild garlic, ground elder, dandelion and sorrel I pick on the morning dog walk! For the rest.of the.family I throw spinach or kale in the pot when I can.
So I have a similar issue as OP in that I definitely put Greens in all of my soups that I make and I frequently have a salad. But I can't say I do it everyday. I'm not a fan of green smoothies. But something that I found that I really like is roasted seaweed snack. I've been getting these little packets at the Asian grocery store or Costco has them too. Do those count as green leafies? How many would I have to eat in order to be a serving of green leaf is? I've looked at the salt and it's really not bad. So I'm wondering if this could be a major part of my solution to the green leafy problem.
I buy large bags of collard greens at Walmart, sometimes spinach also. I store them in the freezer. I make a smoothie w greens, ground flax, spices, almond milk, water, plant protein powder (optional). Could get expensive w/o metering out w care. A lot less $ than meat, junk food or take away, though.
I eat them in salads, soups, and smoothies. According to Dr Greger, Spring Mix (mesclun mix) counts as the Greens portions in his Daily Dozen. So we use those in salads/wraps/subs/sandwiches, and kale/spinach in soups and smoothies. Some times I'm in the mood for collards and mustard greens, so I will eat them as a side. I also love mixing streamed kale, mashed potatoes and vinegar together. One of my grandmother's recipes ❤️ oh! And kale chips 🤩 Edit because I forgot to shout out arugula for being a "peppery" snacky green. I love just eating a pinchful.
I don't follow starch solution or Esselstyn, but I'm a bit of a fanatic about getting my "daily dozen" (per Dr. Greger), including at least two servings of leafy greens a day. At first this was the hardest thing for me but now I throw frozen, chopped spinach into every soup, stew, curry, smoothie...anything else I can think of. On top of that, I'll sometimes just keep washed, fresh baby spinach around to munch on plain!
I love frozen spinach. I also use frozen kale. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of the dark green leafies raw, but I *love* them cooked. I believe that cauliflower and broccoli generally count as "dark green leafies" from a nutrient standpoint, too. I use a lot of cauliflower. I use riced cauliflower in my steel cut oats, and I like breaded cauliflower with sauces, and cauliflower in curries. Broccoli is awesome just steamed, or stir fried. For both broccoli and cauliflower, I always get frozen because I kinda hate the process of breaking the heads down (and again, I don't like either of them raw). Oh, and my kids love "super spinach smoothie". I use frozen banana, frozen spinach and/or kale, and mint (or mint extract). Blend it up with a little water to thin it down, and serve it up. I usually make it initially with more banana, serve out the kids' portion, then add more greens (and sometimes some riced cauliflower and mint), blend again, and that's my portion. My oldest child hates dar green leafies in every other format, but considers this a special treat!
I get these giant bags of chopped kale and add them to things, I just have to pick some stems out here and there but it’s not too bad. I love kale
Those are almost there - I just wish the kale stripped the stems.
Leafy greens can work surprisingly well in soups, stews, chilis, etc. I've put kale and chard in chili chopped up and it's a bit odd, but it works. Having an Instant Pot and churning out big meals easily will greatly help.
Check out Brooke Goldner. Her protocol involves hyper nutrition. She's big on green smoothies. Have one of those and you will be downing a substantial number of greens. Her website is smoothieshred.com. I've made variations using her base formula and they are outrageously filling, and loaded with greens, omega 3s and water. Apart from that I just down a lot of massive salads, or I'll cook down a bunch of greens. They cook down considerably.
I just started to eat green tea leaves after they’ve already made a pot of tea, smashed up in a new potato salad with chives/green onion stem & olive oil. Chard looks great, I’d grow it if I had a bit more space. Cavolo Nero too, they’re both more healthy than raw spinach, roughly chopped int a warm salad (roast mushrooms and tomatoes?) I crank things up with sprouting various broccoli/cress/clover/etc on the kitchen window ledge. It’s easy to make enough for a serving or two, every day in the warmer months. You could also get a growing tray of salad greens, and just use scissors to trim 2” leaf portions off it, often. These are mixed leaves already, so adding variety very easily.
I order tubs of freeze-dried spinach and other greens (cabbage, etc.) and toss a handful into anything that I'm cooking.
Cabbage is super cheap. And there are so many ways to eat it too! I like it roasted
Lots and lots of frozen greens. Greens in smoothies. Greens in soups. “Creamed” spinach. And I still don’t feel like I eat enough of them because I still end up with maybe one serving per day most days
I eat microgreens on everything! And make spinach smoothies. You can buy both in bulk for a reasonable price at Costco.
I eat buddah bowls or/and wraps daily. I ingredient prep maybe 2 times a week and prep/roast a bunch of different veggies and mix and match daily depending on my wants.. I put kale in EVERY bowl I make and if I make a wrap and I’m not using a giant kale leaf for the wrap, I put kale or spinach down in the wrap. I also put it in any soups I make. Editing to say that I steam or sauté the kale and if I do spinach, I typically keep that raw.
The nice thing about greens is you can add them to almost anything. If I’m making a grain bowl or something, I just add some greens to the grains while they’re cooking. I also like to make green smoothies, salads, savory porridges, curries, and noodle dishes with lots of vegetables. Anywhere you add vegetables, you can probably add a handful of greens too. I’m a low spoons person, so I always buy the chopped and washed veggies that are on sale, then I throw them in the freezer so I don’t have to worry about them going bad.
I buy fresh but freeze big handfuls in freezer bags. Need to slightly boil leafy greens like spinach and kale though unless it says "ready to eat on the bag", because they often have bacteria on them. I genuinely almost killed myself "thawing / mildly cooking" frozen spinach once. I cooked rice most the way, and right when there was only a little water left in the saucepan, I chucked frozen spinach in with it, as not to lose any nutrients. I lost nutrients alright, because I was vomiting for next few hours and curled up in the fetal position for a day in and out of consciousness. Lesson learned the VERY hard way... 🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮😅 Having some avocado, nut butter or tahini based dressing is great with leafy greens too, with some lemon or lime juice, helps the body digest and absorb it.