March Fourth Into Shrubbery

March 4th, 2013 | Posted by Alison Spath in Vegetable Lovin'

The Greener March Challenge, Day 4!

Today’s green round up started with an avocado (and spinach) smoothie that was so awesome I was forced to share.

Avocado Green Smoothie

I eventually had to get out a bib and strap him into his seat because this “sharing” of my smoothie was getting out hand.

Sharing My Avocado Smoothie

(We’re going to revisit this smoothie more closely tomorrow because it deserves its very own post.)

Some red leaf and green leaf lettuce was seen on top of a turkey burger in the afternoon, plus the last of the roasted Brussels sprouts from yesterday, topped with a little a garlic powder.

Turkey Burger with Lettuce and Brussels Sprouts

And last but not least, kale made an appearance in a hearty vegetable soup that came together in about 20 minutes and was done in less than an hour.

Vegetable Soup with Kale

I hate to call this a “recipe” because I just dug around my crisper drawers and pantry for ingredients. I threw this together early in the day so dinner would already be made when we got home from our usual Monday afternoon activities.

Hearty Vegetable Soup

2 Tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
Half a yellow onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, finely sliced
5 cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 large carrots, sliced
28 oz a can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
28+ oz of water (I just transfer water in the now-empty tomato can!)
1/2 bunch of kale, rinsed and chopped into bite sized pieces
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
salt, pepper, dried oregano and dried basil to taste

Saute garlic, onion, mushrooms and carrots in oil until soft. Add tomatoes and water and bring to a boil.

Sauteeing Soup Vegetables Muir Glen Tomato

Reduce to a simmer, add spices and S&P followed by the kale and beans. Allow soup to simmer until carrots and kale are at desired tenderness – about 30 to 40 minutes.

You could add any myriad of vegetables and spices to a soup like this and have it turn out great. The most important take away here?

You can’t go wrong with kale in soup.

Chopped Kale

The end.

I must admit, I don’t think I usually eat quite so many greens in one day – I think I’m feeling like a bit of a leafy green overachiever thanks to this Greener March Challenge. But then again, this is how it goes. Some days there’s more, some days there’s less – ideally it all balances out over the course of a few days or the week.

Maybe you too are chanting “Greens! Greens! Greens!” right now and are going to town chowing down on the plant foods that are loaded with chlorophyll?

Meh. There are worse things we could be chanting and/or chowing. Let’s go Team Green! How’d you do today?


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4 Responses

  • jane/you-know-who says:

    Today’s green feature at our house was Brussels sprouts ala Mama’s Weeds. Bring on the sulfur foods!

  • Erin says:

    All aboard the Chlorophyll Train! I’m taking part in your Greener March challenge and enjoying it immensely — green smoothies every day, crammed full of vegetables. Green salads a lot. A green soup, even! Plus, I’m Instagramming my way through the month using the hashtag #greenermarch, all thanks to you. (Check my IG out here if you’re interested: http://followgram.me/erinrosalita)

    P.S. I also consumed 2 sips of a Shamrock Shake and one very lime-y margarita across the weekend. I regretted the former but not the latter. Can I count them in my Greener March tally?

    • Awesome Erin! I’m not on Instagram, but I did take a look at your pics, check out all that green! So glad you’re playing along at home. The leaves of a lime tree are green, right? Right.