NEW ARTICLES EVERY MONTH
April 2008
Seasonal dishes
Fresh, happy, and free
When spring begins, even grocery shopping is fun! Strolling through the weekly farmers’ market, you can once again choose from a plentiful assortment of fresh spring fruits and vegetables – while at the same time enjoying the first warming rays of sunshine. Leafy spinach, new potatoes, and strawberries are now coming in from local farms. They reach the market quickly, while still fresh, which makes them richer in valuable nutrients than imported produce or greenhouse products. The season’s fresh crops offer us everything our bodies need after their winter break. And they make for a welcome change on the menu as well!
Kohlrabi, the miracle root
Did you know? Because it is high in fibre, kohlrabi is a great vegetable to include in a healthy diet. It provides the body with a wide range of nutrients including selenium, B vitamins, folic acid, vitamin C, phosphorus, potassium, iron, and copper. Like so many vegetables, this "energy-conscious" root is also low in calories, helping us stay in good shape. Its mild flavour comes to the fore in every form. Try it steamed with fresh herbs or raw as a crunchy snack between meals.
Sour for power
With its sour, fruity flavour, rhubarb is often mistakenly considered a fruit. But it is actually one of spring’s first vegetables, harvested from April into June. Rhubarb is rich in vitamin K and relatively high in calcium and potassium – that’s good for the bones, muscles, and nerves. Despite its strong flavour, it is made up of 93 per cent water. You can see that rhubarb is a perfect addition to the diet plan for your spring workout.
Rhubarb tastes great with dairy products such as yogurt or quark. The calcium in milk neutralises rhubarb’s strong acid and makes it easy to digest. But rhubarb is quite a treat eaten warm as well as a hearty vegetable or in spicy chutneys. It also goes well with meat, fish, or potatoes. Try seasoning it with red pepper, ginger, or sautéed onions.
Five a day
Experts recommend five servings per day of fruits and vegetables. Start in the morning with rhubarb for breakfast. A rib of rhubarb chopped up with honey or yogurt wakes up the senses and gets the body ready to go. A low-calorie cucumber with salt and fresh parsley or coriander makes a good mid-morning snack. At noon, a spring salad with raw spinach supplies the body with important minerals and is light enough not to weigh you down at work in the afternoon. In the afternoon, freshly-blended fruit or vegetable juice supplements your energy reserves. Swiss chard steamed without fat is easy to digest, making it a good accompaniment to the evening meal.
Bon appetit!
