Green leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, arugula, broccoli rabe, collards, etc. play a vitally important role in eating clean. You can consider every green leafy vegetable a superfood.

On the nutritional front, dark leafy greens are among the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. Although they are incredibly low in calories they are bursting with antioxidants and phytonutrients. Dark leafy greens are also an excellent sources of iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamins K, C, E and many B vitamins.

Cooking greens is incredibly easy and you can make a huge batch that will last for several days. One tip we have found for stretching out our greens is to mix in chopped frozen green vegetables with fresh.

Here is a recipe we adapted from page 403 of our Clean Cuisine book where we added fresh kale to our Turnip Green recipe that uses frozen chopped turnips.

Note: Just like with finding a low-oil staple vegetable soup recipe you should also look for greens recipes that are low in oil relative to the amount of greens used.

Smoked Turnip Greens & Kale with Diced Tomatoes

Ingredients

Scale

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped
Unrefined sea salt, to taste
1 can (14.5 ounces) BPA-free organic diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 pound frozen chopped turnips
3 handfuls chopped fresh kale

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic and shallots and sauté until the shallots are soft, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt to taste.
Add the tomatoes and liquid smoke, increase the heat to high and cook until juices start to evaporate, 4 to 5 minutes. Add the frozen turnips and use a spoon to break the frozen pieces apart. Cook until the turnips are tender and most of the liquid has evaporated, 7 to 8 minutes. Stir in the fresh kale, adding 2 or 3 tablespoons of water if necessary, and cook until all greens are wilted. Season with salt to taste. Serve warm.