What’s for dinner-Purple, Orange, Red and Green

What did we do with those piles of colorful vegetables from the Farmer’s and Asian markets?

Dinner is easy when your kitchen is full of garden fresh vegetables. Slice some beets, eggplant, carrot, onion, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, coat with olive oil and salt and roast until just tender. Sauté some chard in olive oil with leek and garlic (can’t eat too much olive oil). Steam some fresh green beans until al dente. If you have good tomatoes, just slice and eat raw. If you have too many, you can create a treat by inserting mozzarella cheese in slits and bake with a few Panko crumbs.

You’ll have a beautiful vegetable plate and a number of important health benefits.

Purple vegetables like beets, purple cauliflower, red onion and eggplant are rich in anthocyanins. These phytonutrients are anti-inflammatory, lower blood pressure and reduce artery stiffness. They also enhance memory and inhibit cancer.

Orange vegetables like carrots and sweet potatoes are full of the antioxidant carotenoids, including lutein and zeaxanthin for eye health. Carotenes also increase the integrity of epithelial lining of the respiratory tract.

Chard is a member of the goosefoot family along with beets and spinach and has important vitamins and minerals like magnesium and potassium. It has several flavonoid antioxidants including quercetin, kaempferol, rutin, and vitexin. Kaempferol is a powerful anti-inflammatory compound with anti-cancer properties.

Green beans reduce the levels of lectin in your body. See the Plant Parodox by Dr. Gundry for chapter and verse on the adverse effects of lectins.

Red vegetables typically contain lycopene, an antioxidant that protects the cell from free radical damage and reduces the risk of cancer, especially with hormone-positive breast cancer. It also helps to undo damage to collagen in the skin.

Are you already running to the fresh market? Nature provides us with such variety in every season. Try to buy organic produce from the local farmers if you can. Let us know what you find and how you prepared it.