Staying warm and healthy is our main goal during these cool northern days. Matt from our produce department has created a warm winter solution for a delicious meal with a nutritional boost, packed with vitamin C. (See recipe below.)

See, orange juice isn’t the only way you can get your vitamin C. Leafy greens are packed full of it. Spinach is a great source, but mustard greens take the lead with four times as much vitamin C.

This spicy green is in season now through April and comes from California. It is also in the same family as broccoli, cabbage and Brussel sprouts so it contains all those great phytonutrients that cruciferous veggies are so well-known for.  

Mustard greens and spinach aren’t only good in salads. Check out Matt’s Southern Soup recipe below:

 

Southern Soup

(Printer Friendly Recipe)

• 4 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. salt
• ¼ C. finely chopped red pepper
• 2 C. chopped onions
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb. bacon or bacon ends cut into ½ squares
• 2 lbs. Yukon Gold potatoes cut into 1-inch pieces
• 8 C. (or more) water
• 1 10-oz. package fresh spinach, stems trimmed
• 1 bunch mustard greens (about 12 oz.), stems trimmed, leaves coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Sour cream

Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Add 1 tsp. salt, red pepper, onions and garlic sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add bacon and potatoes; sauté 5 minutes. Add water. Bring to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer until potatoes are tender, about 20 minutes. Add mustard greens and all but 1 C. spinach leaves and simmer for 3 minutes. Working in batches, purée soup in blender until smooth. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead. Cool. Cover and refrigerate.) Return soup to pot. Bring to simmer, thinning with more water, if desired. Add remaining tsp. salt and pepper. Cut remaining C. spinach leaves into 1/3-inch-wide slices. Ladle soup into bowls. Add dollop of sour cream to each bowl. Garnish soup with sliced spinach leaves and serve.
 

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 7th, 2010 at 3:36 pm and is filed under Education, FRESH Recipes for Healthy Food, Healthy Updates Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.