How do you eat raw greens?

[AdamR]

Broccoli, Kale, Spinach..etc. How do you eat them?

I can't bring myself to eat them raw. For example, I seem to only be able to eat broccoli cooked with some type of sauce, like melted cheese or stir-fried in teriyaki sauce. Whenever I try to eat raw broccoli, I just chew and chew and chew and it seems to take 15 minutes to finish a normal size portion. By the end I'm grossed out.

Any tips?

[santafedaisy]

Try just lightly steaming them until they're bright green, but not cooked. Sprinkle with a little bit of salt....this loosens up the flavors a bit, and not so chewy...then you can work your way to raw.

[The David]

It's an acquired taste. I found that after I started eating plainly (mainly plant foods, flavorings such as soy sauce, sesame seed oil, etc.), it was easier to eat horrible foods such as raw greens. I really like raw spinach, and raw broccoli is good in moderation. Kale, on the other hand...good luck.

I recommend lightly steaming them and adding them to meals (stir fry, salads, etc.). That makes them more tolerable, and actually loosens up some of the minerals to make up for the vitamins it destroys.

[Holistic Star]

1. Wilt them with oil and salt.
If you rub oil into greens for a few minutes they wilt so they are like the texture of cooked greens but without losing vitamins.

e.g. rub mashed avocado into kale - it's lovely.
or rub olive oil into spinach, add some sea salt or sea weed and you have a great side dish.


2. Mix them with sweet fruit in a blender - seriously
You haven't lived till you have had a mango and spinach smoothie. Start with 60% fruit, 40% greens (hardcore people might want to reverse that ratio) blend and drink! it might be a disconcerting bright green but it is gorgeous. Read Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko and find out more.

[Rose of Cairo]

Thanks for tip 2, HS! I'll try it. I agree with tip 1, that's delicious.

AdamR, if you buy young spinach leaves, you can put them into a normal green salad. Tastes great.

[The David]

Spinach is great in smoothies. It doesn't have a very powerful flavor. I've even mixed Kale in smoothies, but that didn't go so well (then again, the rest of the smoothie was mushrooms, grean tea, soymilk and blueberries).

[NotesMaeve]

I don't like kale, so I can't riddle that one. I love spinach in a salad in place of lettuce. I like it on sandwiches, pizza (yup, extra thrown on raw... mmm), tucked in burritos and tacos, the list goes on.

Broccoli is okay dipped in dressing, but I really like broccoli sprouts on sandwiches and bagels with Toffutti cream cheese. <3

[cdn2wheeler]

I drizzle oyster sauce on my green beans. Yummm! (Really!)

As for broccoli, I steam them lightly and use a bit of lemon and pepper. Carrots I'll eat after giving them a good rinse. And while I have a hard time with cooked spinach, a salad with raw spinach leaves, some garlic dressing and some croutons & bacon is out of this world.

damn... getting hungry again...

[Minsc]

I don't really get how you could think broccoli tastes bad, but if this is for kale(which you will need to be a very adept vegetable-eater in order to eat):

Eat kale along with baby carrots(or just regular carrots). Start eating a carrot and chew it up a little, and then eat, say, 1/4 of a kale leaf along with the carrot. Be sure to chew the kake into the carrot... It should get rid of the bad aftertaste and add a bit of spice to the taste of a carrot.

That's assuming you eat carrots as part of your diet and don't avoid them for some reason(so you can just eat them along with kale to easily add kale in), I'm sure pure kale would have a better nutrient profile...

I looked it up and baby carrots are 5% simple sugars by weight, which is half that of your typical large fruit...

[Jennihul]

I love kale, collards and spinach.

I don't eat kale or collards raw too often because they contribute to oxalate kidney stones and bladder and vulvar irritation. Steamed with a little cider vinegar controls that to some degree.

Broccoli florets cut very small make great chopped raw salads.


Jennifer

[Jim11]

wrap 2-3 pieces of bacon around the broccoli and it's not bad.

[ripcurly]

I either marinate my greens or blend them in soups or smoothies. For soups, I will usually use a tomato, a cucumber, a few stalks of celery, some greens or broccoli, 1/4 to 1/2 an avocado, a little spice, and I'm good to go. Good stuff man.

Go to rawfreedomcommunity.info/forum for more information on different ways to prepare yummy raw vegetable dishes.

[Boreas]

I buy turnip green, collard greens, and spinach frozen. I add them to any whole grains/beans/lentils that I have. I like to add them separate as opposed to in the pot I cook the lentils or whatever.

Sometimes I add raw onions and vinegar to spice them up. I avoid salt.

[Amadeus]

It's not that hard. Grab it by the fork and stick it in your mouth. Lower your bottom jaw and squeeze the food between your teeth. Once the food has been chewed up swallow down your throat. Repeat this process until the greens are gone.

[Dave Kaminski]

Broccoli is great with a touch of Italian or sweet onion dressing. Just be sparing with the dip because you really don't want to get into the habit of using a lot of extras.

[Lisa McGregor]

[

QUOTE=Amadeus;123716]It's not that hard. Grab it by the fork and stick it in your mouth. Lower your bottom jaw and squeeze the food between your teeth. Once the food has been chewed up swallow down your throat. Repeat this process until the greens are gone.

[/quote]

I love a practical man.
L

[munish]

You can try powdered concentrates.Freeze dried.

Originally Posted by AdamR

Broccoli, Kale, Spinach..etc. How do you eat them?

I can't bring myself to eat them raw. For example, I seem to only be able to eat broccoli cooked with some type of sauce, like melted cheese or stir-fried in teriyaki sauce. Whenever I try to eat raw broccoli, I just chew and chew and chew and it seems to take 15 minutes to finish a normal size portion. By the end I'm grossed out.

Any tips?

[Amandaaa]

*broccoli- raw, with a light salad dressing. or steamed.
*kale- only cooked. (and only at Thanksgiving. hah.)
*spinach- raw leaves (mixed into a salad), or cooked with some kind of "topping."
*cabbage- steamed, with seasoning.

most other greens, i eat raw.. on salads.

i like them like that.

[Megan]

I take a cup of pineapple juice and add a kale leaf or a handful of spinach or parsley and whiz in the blender until smooth and foamy. Often add a teaspoon of acerola cherry powder or something like Barley Green. Delicious--to me, anyway.

Eat with a handful of nuts or some cheese to aid assimilation and tone down pineapple juice's glycemic index.

[uberinquisitive]

I get raw baby greens, toss them with tofu, and add tons of curry powder. And then I stuff them inside a lightly toasted wheat pita.

I dislike the taste of vegetables, especially raw. This way, I can almost pretend I'm eating cold curry inside nan bread. Works for me.

[eblight]

Yep, broccoli is not everyone's favourite especially eating it raw. You could get broccoli organic seeds and sprout them. They are far more potent in vitamains and minerals and other phytonutrients than eating the florets of heads of broccoli. Varying eating both raw and cooked spinach means you'll get the best out of this plant.

[openeyes]

I have some greens raw, particularly if they're freshly juiced or sprouted. Otherwise it's best to steam them as most vegetables (unlike fruit) have evolved NOT to be eaten, and some actually have various chemicals that inhibit digestion (spinach inhibits the absorption of calcium, for example). After steaming, add butter to absorb more oil soluble vitamins.

Some animals such as blowfish also have chemicals within them that necessitate careful cooking, but in general fresh animal products are healthiest raw while vegetable products are best slightly cooked. It's ironic how that's the opposite of current practice for most people.

[Jaben]

In "Green for Life" Victoria Boutenko explains that greens do have a small amount of toxin 'meant' to reduce the quantity of consumption by animals of one particular type of green. Various greens have different toxins. Chimpanzees eat over 100 different types of raw greens which compose a large percentage of their diet (almost as much as fruit). By eating a variety of different greens the toxins can be eliminated with no issue.

Victoria references studies that show 1 pound of raw Kale provides approximately the RDA of all essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals.

Our teeth are not capable of chewing the greens to a point where they can be easily digested when raw. Blending is the solution to this, but then it has to taste good as well. Adding fruit does the trick. That's how green smoothies are born.

Preliminary clinical studies (See Green for Life by Victoria Boutenko) have shown that green smoothies may increase HCL acid levels in the stomach, improving overall digestion and assimilation of the nutrients.

If you don't like raw kale chances are you haven't tried it blended with banana, strawberry, lime and dates, honey or agave in a %60 to %40 ratio of fruit to kale.

Marinating with lemon, salt and oil is an alternative method to make greens more palitable and easier to digest. It has the same culinary effect as sauteeing, resulting in a wilting of the texture and softening of the bitterness.

[4Mind4Life]

Dip the raw broccoli in ranch. Put the spinach on a good sandwich.

They don't taste good plain.