130: Going Green: How to Eat More Greens (And Actually Enjoy Them)

We’re going green in this episode! Tune in as I chat all about dark leafy greens and share tons of practical tips for getting more of them. Spoiler alert: I’m going to ask you to massage your kale. Trust.

Helpful links

• NutritionFacts.org – Information on Greens
• 5 Sneaky Ways to Eat More Leafy Greens
• Dark Leafy Greens: Benefits, How to Cook, Store, and More
• The Best Way To Prep Your Leafy Greens So They Last at Least 7 Days (video)

About

Clean Food Dirty Girl helps people eat more plants while celebrating human imperfection. Subscribe to our podcast for plant-based eating inspiration and permission to be perfectly imperfect. Share in awkward moments we all have, and find strength and beauty in challenging times. Let’s expand our capacity to hold our dreams and goals. Please note: Molly doesn’t curse all the time, but this podcast is a tad sweary.

• Sign up for our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠free 10-day trial to Plant Fueled Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Join ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Plant Fueled Life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to get instant access to the tools and accountability you need to start changing your life today.
• Subscribe to Molly’s ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sweary Saturday Love Letters⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠
• Follow us on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ for drool-worthy food pics and bouts of inspiration

Transcript 

Hey, this is Molly. Thanks for listening to this episode of the Clean Food Dirty Girl podcast. How are all my dirties today? Super happy to be talking with you today about leafy greens. That’s right—we’re talking about leafy greens today, and I could talk about this stuff forever.

I wanted to touch on this topic because I’ve seen people asking in our awesome private Facebook group recently for suggestions on how to incorporate more leafy greens into their diet. If you’re in the plant-based world, you probably know how important greens are. But if you’re new, welcome to the podcast and welcome to the Clean Food Dirty Girl world. We’re so happy to have you!

Leafy greens are incredibly healthy for many reasons. I won’t go into all the benefits today because I want to focus on how to eat more of them, but I’ll link to a couple of excellent resources, especially Dr. Michael Greger’s website, nutritionfacts.org, where he shares evidence-based nutrition info.

Here are just a few highlights: dark leafy greens are super anti-inflammatory, packed with calcium and potassium, heart-protective, full of nutrients, and very low in calories. That means they’re nutrient-dense but not calorie-dense—win-win!

Most plant-based experts recommend 2 to 6 servings of leafy greens per day. Dr. Greger eats about a pound a day, while Rip Esselstyn recommends 6 servings, with one serving being roughly the size of your fist. At Clean Food Dirty Girl, we like to keep things simple. Just aim to eat greens daily and do your best.

If you’re someone who likes tracking, Dr. Greger’s Daily Dozen app is super helpful. It’s free on iOS and Android and lets you check off your servings of whole plant foods throughout the day.

For me, I make sure I always have greens in the kitchen—washed and ready to go. I’ll share my favorite ways to eat greens in just a minute.

What are leafy greens?

Examples include kale (curly, dino, purple), collard greens, bok choy, arugula, beet greens, chard, and spinach.

If you need to avoid high-oxalate foods (and are eating more than one serving a day), stick to low-oxalate greens like kale, collard greens, bok choy, and arugula. Avoid chard, beet greens, and spinach in large quantities. But for most people, a cup a day of any greens is fine.

Vary your greens to avoid monotony. If possible, go for organic and locally grown. I live in Maui, so I buy my greens at the farmers market where they’re fresher and cheaper than in stores.

Prep tips

As soon as I get home from the market, I wash, dry, and store all my greens in large plastic containers. This way, they’re ready to go, and I’m more likely to use them. Prepping right away removes barriers to actually eating them.

I also have a video on how I wash and store greens—I’ll link to that in the show notes.

What to do with all those greens?

Here are my favorite ways to use them:

1. Massaged greens:
Strip kale or other greens from the stem, tear or chop them into smaller pieces, then add a splash of coconut aminos or salad dressing and massage them for 20–30 seconds. This softens them and makes them easier to eat. Use as a side or a salad base.

2. Bowl meals:
Instead of using bread, use greens as the base. Top with grains, a burger, sauce, and toppings like onions, tomatoes, or sauerkraut. Same idea works with baked tofu or soy curls.

3. Soups:
Put chopped greens in your bowl and pour hot soup over them to wilt. Easy and fast.

4. Salads:
Mix leafy greens with your usual lettuce base. Make a big batch of salad mix with carrots, snap peas, cabbage, etc., and store it for quick assembly. Add beans, tofu, roasted veggies, and dressing when ready to eat.

5. Breakfast ideas:
You can add kale to breakfast porridge—either sweet or savory. I’ll link to a recipe. Another option is smoothies—pack them with greens and a little banana for sweetness.

6. Pasta:
Add greens in the last minute of cooking pasta or add chopped greens when reheating cooked pasta with boiling water. It wilts them perfectly.

7. Collard wraps:
Blanch collard leaves in boiling water for a minute, pat dry, and store. Use as a wrap for burgers, hummus, burritos, etc. Gluten-free, nutrient-dense, and satisfying. One of my faves!

Whole-food plant-based recipes galore

If you’re part of our Meal Plan Club or Recipe Club, you’re in luck! We have hundreds of recipes featuring leafy greens. A quick search in our portal for “kale” brings up over 400 recipes!

A few examples:

• Smoky Kale & Apple Grilled Cheese
• Spanish-Style Potato & Kale Soup
• Curried Navy Beans & Kale
• Wild Mushroom & Kale Broth
• Kale Pumpkin Pesto
• Umami Pineapple Massage Kale
• Lemon Garlic Collard Greens
• Collard Wraps with Dijon Thyme Dressing
• Thai Peanut Pasta Salad with Bok Choy

So many options! If you’re not a member yet, Recipe Club is only $12/month, and Meal Plan Club gives you access to everything, including weekly whole-food plant-based meal plans.

Having the ideas and recipes is only part of the journey. You need a plan and follow-through. Schedule your shopping trips, plan what you’re buying, and set time aside to prep those greens when you get home.

Our weekly meal plans also rotate through different leafy greens so you don’t even have to think about variety.

I hope this episode gives you inspiration and practical ways to eat more greens. Remember—reading about it is great, but what matters most is taking action. Wash them, prep them, cook them, eat them. You got this!

Thanks for hanging out with me and chatting about leafy greens. Go eat some plants, be well, and I’ll talk to you soon.