Five Green Foods You Could Eat That You Won’t Hate

When you’re a kid, green food is the stuff you work around on your plate. Green means gross. If you still think green food is gross, but you’re an adult, don’t sweat it. Practice makes perfect.

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You won’t love most new foods, no matter the color, but you can learn to appreciate foods, even like them with time.

The key to learning to like foods is to start with fresh ingredients. Then you have to make sure you prepare them the right way. My mother used to make asparagus, but it was always overcooked. It wasn’t the poor asparagus’ fault.

When I finally had steamed asparagus with a little butter and salt, it was like eating popcorn. I even had seconds. When it comes to getting your micro nutrients, green is where it’s at.

Here are five good ones to start out. You can diversify later.

Green Beans

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A decent source of fiber, green beans consists of a pod and several beans in the pod. You’ll get a good source of Vitamins A and C from your green beans.

Unlike other beans, you want to eat these with the pod. That’s where all the good stuff is. The best way to enjoy your green beans is raw. If you don’t eat processed food, you can salt your green beans.

You could cook them, but the more you do so, the less nutritional value and IMHO the less flavor they have. You can cook in flavor, but the natural sweetness of a clean green bean has the perfect texture to eat as a snack food.

Apples

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Yes, you could buy the red ones too. On balance, they are about the same from a nutrition standpoint. Green apples fit this blog better.

The greenest apples are Granny Smiths. Apples are also a good source of fiber and Vitamin C. They’re loaded with fuel in the form of sugar, but the fiber in the fruit will help you use those sugars more slowly than you would if they were from straight sugar.

You’ll also get a decent amount of antioxidants and potassium from your green apple. Like green beans, apples make a great snack when you have cravings as they are low in calories, but filling.

Avocados

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Most avocados sold in the United States are Hass. They account for about 80% of the cultivated avocados in the world.

As a member of the green food family (not a real food group), avocados have the most stored energy. Where most of the items on this list are carbohydrate sources, avocados are a fat.

This means they are a dense, caloric food; NOT a good snack food. They are, however, a good source of high-density lipoproteins, which may help lower your cholesterol. When adding avocado into your diet, think slivers, not halves. One tablespoon is enough for one meal.

Artichokes

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There isn’t much of the artichoke that is edible, not until you get to the heart of one. The part you eat is the flower of the plant.

Most preparations serve them boiled or steamed. This makes the meat of the plant soft, easier to eat. Of the delights on this list, these are the only ones that have enough protein in each serving to warrant mentioning.

The fat content is low, but artichokes pack in the vitamins, especially K.

Whereas the green beans and apples are an easy food to prepare, the prep for artichokes is the only thing that may hold you back. That said if you don’t mind waiting for one to boil, eating it is a worthy flavor adventure.

Brussel Sprouts

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Don’t like Brussel sprouts? Yeah, my mom overcooked mine too. This one falls in the same category as asparagus for me. Too much steam, too much boiling water, and yuck.

The texture of your sprouts should be almost crunchy. They are best with a light coating of butter, then a little salt and pepper.

Brussel sprouts are a good source of fiber, so much that if you’re not accustomed, the first batch may give you gas. Eat them more frequently to overcome this.

They’re packed with vitamin K and C and also bring some proteins to the table. Cook them right and you will never turn up your nose again.

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Next time you go to the store, pick up one of each of these. Try to get in one serving a day, even if you’re already getting in a saving of veggies.

You’re not going to over do it on vegetables. The more you eat of these items, the less room you’ll have for processed foods or foods on your personal naughty list.

Not only that, after you eat foods like this, you feel like you did something virtuous. It feeds your perception of yourself as a healthy person. If you’re getting in your greens, then you are.