A Guide to The Greens of your Life

It's well-known that vegetables contribute greatly to overall health, but, for some reason or another, most people completely ignore dark green leaves from their daily routine--and it is a shame, both to the farmers, who overproduce what ultimately becomes waste, and to the people, who have no idea of their benefits. I must first refer everyone to Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's Greening Your Life podcast, but for the basics, read on.


Obviously, greens are important to me, as my banner is a bunch of Cavolo Nero (Dinosaur / Lacinato Kale), but really, how important? Well, I'm unashamed to admit that I actually crave the bitterness of Belgian Endive, the tang and sulfuric crunch of curly kale dressed with lemon juice and olive oil with dried cranberries, etc. But how do these leaves stack-up against the average head of romaine? Well, romaine is a great start--it is high in vitamins A and C, fiber, even protein. Otherwise, it is mostly water, as it's blandness might indicate. 


Curly kale, on the other hand, is tough--it really must be chewed into submission. And yes, I do mean chewed, which is not as difficult or unappealing as I have made it out to be, but I generally encourage people to eat their greens in a raw state, not least because when cooked their texture becomes somewhat akin to baby-food. At this point, you might be thinking, well, "why? That sound's awful". Allow me to reassure you that you will not only become accustomed to the textures and flavors of greens, but you will come to crave them, too, as your body drops some hints about the nutrients that it needs.


There are over 1000 leafy plants species known to be edible, and most of those commonly cultivated go soggy on store shelves, or are bought and go soggy on fridge shelves, or perhaps get steamed, puréed, and stirred into a vat of butter and cream, which I will never recommend. If blending is your thing, then chuck a handful of collards, kale, spinach, or some of each in a blender, then add some parsley, cilantro, and a peeled lime. Finally, add a some purified water, and, maybe, an avocado. Blend and enjoy. I prefer this on the thinner side, as thick green smoothies make me want to vomit, but it's really all about personal taste. I would also note that you can add a variety of things to these to up the ante even further: maca powder, cacao nibs, coconut butter, flaxseed oil, hemp seeds, chia seeds, etc. The point is to increase the bioavailability of nutrients and essentially make yourself a multivitamin in food form. 


A few ideas:


Curly Kale with Pine Nuts, Cranberries, and Lemon Dressing:


1 Bunch Curly (regular) Kale
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup raw pine nuts (pignolia)


tossed with:


2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or flaxseed oil
juice of 1 lemon, organic
salt
pepper


Serves 2-4


Green Jewel:


1 handful parsley
2 handfuls cilantro (coriander)
1 handful collard greens
1 handful spinach
1 lime, peeled
1 avocado
1 tsp flaxseed oil
pinch salt
water, about 1-2 cups


blend for 30 seconds to 1 min in a high-speed blender, or longer in a regular blender. Serve immediately, but drink slowly. 


Serves 1-2.

Elixirs

Okay, so maybe not magical, as elixirs were once thought to be (probably because of the alcohol') these are, still, very good at washing out the system. I an skeptical of the 'cleansing' effect, but these make me feel good, and make me "go" good, too, if you know what I mean. What's more, when I eat loads of dark leafy veg and drink these types of juices, my skin glows, and is blemish-free. 

Ruby Blood: Beet, Carrot, and Ginger -or- Beet, Carrot, and Lime

I drink this one nearly every morning. It is potent (full of vitamin A, folate, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C, manganese, iron, copper, and phosphorous, among other things) filling, and sweet--and don't be alarmed if your refuse is red, this is not a sign of renal failure, but rather the beet pigment being moved out of the body. 

2 Large or 4 medium-small red beets, organic for preference
2 Medium carrots (whole, unpeeled, if organic)
1 Lime, peeled -or- 1 inch knob fresh ginger, I don't bother to peel it


Juice in a juicer and serve immediately.

Herbal Hit: Parsley and Coriander with Cuke

This is fresh, like cucumber water from a spa--and more nutritious (though not overly strong, either--fairly mild). If you want, this can be enhanced with a splosh of vanilla extract, some stevia liquid or powder, the juice of an orange, some mint leaves--I mean, really, the possibilities here are endless. The parsley and coriander (cilantro), also, are very beneficial, and highly underutilized, and if you're of the camp that thinks that cilantro tastes like soap, well, just omit it...

In a blender, ordinary or high speed, blend:

1 handful fresh flat-leaf (Italian) parsley

1 larger handful coriander (cilantro)

1 cup cold water or 1/2 cup water and 1 whole orange, peeled

1/2 cucumber, peeled and chopped into pieces that your blender will manage

and blend. Simple, really, but so, so good for you.

Grapefruit Juice Slush

So I realize that this is very basic, but it is also a very good way of incorporating grapefruits into the diet (which are not only high in antioxidants and compounds that signal the cells to burn their own fat, but also the pink varieties contain lycopene, a phytonutrient also found in tomatoes and watermelon), and tastes of grown-up sno-cones meet sorbet. (This picture, obviously, is not the final product, just the juice)

So, peel a grapefruit, white, pink or red, and segment it, taking care not to leave any seeds in. Dump pieces into a blender with about 1/4 cup water, a dash of agave or stevia (optional) and a handful of ice and blend. Or, if your blender isn't the best, just juice the fruits and drink shots of their bittersweet nectar. Either way, you get a low-calorie, nutritious pick-me-up in about 2 minutes.

American Green : Dismantle Global, Restore Local

Welcome. This has been in the works for quite some time, and the goal is to discuss current issues regarding the food system, diet, and lifestyle of the average American, as well as provide recipes, ideas, and links to great resources and fun sites.

I thought I'd start by discussing something recently brought to my attention--Monsanto and it's perversion of, well, essentially the entire natural order of things. For those of you who are new to this particular issue, Monsanto is an agricorporation that initially produced saccharin and DDT, then Agent Orange, a highly toxic herbicide used to poison plants and animals (including human animals) alike during the Vietnam War. More recently, the company developed the RoundUp pesticide used on most nonorganic crops in the United States. In the 1980s, the company brought a claim to the Supreme Court suggesting that, due to a genetically modified gene developed by Monsanto to resist RoundUp, plant genes could be patented; incredibly, the Supreme Court, likely lobbied heavily, agreed, and Monsanto developed many many genetically modified "RoundUp Ready" seeds, which resisted the pesticide.

Though this was certainly unbelievable at the time, the ramifications of this ruling would not play out until the '90s and '00s, during which time the company sent 75 or more paid representatives to farms nationwide to ensure that their patents were not being infringed upon, even coincidentally (in case you haven't heard, seeds blow away in the wind, so their modified ones some how ended up on non-modified crop land, as well). There were, initially, a few million-dollar lawsuits against small farmers in Canada and the United States for alleged copyright infringement, and, by 2005, the company had brought a bill before the Supreme Court yet again asking that farmers who save and reuse, or farmers that illegally grow--even accidentally--the patented seeds be prosecuted.

The question, then, becomes, should this have ever happened to begin with? The idea that seed genetics can be patented shows how far in the wrong direction this country (sorry, non-USers, though this applies to you, as well) has developed over the past 50 years, does it not? Life as it is known has been reliant upon plants for some 2.5 plus billion of the 4.5 billion years since the formation of Earth, let alone Human life, at least since the agricultural revolution some 10,000 years ago. In this time, seeds have adapted, some plants have died-off, and others have thrived, and those that have become known for their products (foodstuffs) have been handed down from generation to generation. So, when a few scientists in a lab manipulated a seed and called it "RoundUp Ready", apparently, not only was nature now inadequate on its own, but, apparently, another commodity to be messed with and sold for profit. Baffling, isn't it? I want to know how old those Court Justices are, I swear they need props to stay upright...