In Season: The Healthiest Spring Foods
10 healthy spring foods we're excited to welcome back to our Tuesday Foods menu this season!
Spring is here! The days are getting longer, the air is fresh and warm, and everyone seems to be in a vibrant mood. This changing of the season marks a time for all things to come alive, bloom, refresh and renew.
In nature this means abundant growth in the of delicious colorful produce. For our bodies, it means leaving behind the heaviness of the winter’s grounding foods and embracing all things light and fresh.
We are naturally in tune with our environment, and are meant to eat the foods that grow around us. In spring those foods include a wide array of veggies and fruit that will make you feel nourished while also gently cleansing and resetting your digestive and immune systems.
To help you embrace the season, we've put together a list of our favorite spring foods and the simplest ways to use them.
1. Arugula
Rich in vitamins like A, K, and folate, plus chlorophyll, fiber and even water, these leafy greens will help reduce inflammation while also hydrating and detoxifying your body.
Our favorite way to eat arugula is in a simple salad - toss the raw greens in bowl with shaved parmesan, toasted pine-nuts and drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil and fresh lemon juice.
Recipe love: Fennel, Apple & Arugula Salad
2. Artichokes
Available in both spring and fall, artichokes are rich in folic acid, vitamin C, B-complex vitamins, and many minerals. These nutrients help lower cholesterol, ensure healthy pregnancies in women, reduce free radicals, and ensure optimal metabolic cell function.
We like to steam a whole artichoke for 50-60 minutes then peel off and eat the edible part of the leaves dipped in one of our house made sauces or a fresh lemon vinaigrette.
Recipe Love: Steamed Artichoke With Herby Tahini Sauce
3. Asparagus
One of our favorite spring veggies! Asparagus is bundant in vitamin K as well as copper, selenium, B vitamins and many other important nutrients. Asparagus is great for women because it’s a source of folate, an essential fertility nutrient. It’s also a natural diuretic that helps relieve bloat.
Asparagus is delicious roasted (or steamed ) with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper, and a sprinkle of parmesan. During cooking, you want the asparagus to remain vibrant green - remove from heat before it gets wilted. 8-10 minutes should do it!
Recipe Love: Spring Time Asparagus Soup
4. Beets
Some foods give you a clear indication of what part of you they’ll benefit and that’s the case with beets. Their deep and juicy color let you know they’re great for your blood and circulation. They can lower blood pressure, boost your stamina, and support detoxification all due to being a unique source of phytonutrients called betalains.
How to eat them: So many options! You can juice them or add them to a smoothie, roast them as a side dish, use a veggie peeler to shave them raw into salads, spiralize them or make them into borscht!
Recipe Love: Pink Tahini Dressing
5. Carrots
We’re all familiar with this classic vegetable but when they’re in season locally carrots are absolutely delectable. Rich in vitamin A and other antioxidants, they’re great for maintaining healthy hair, skin, and nails, and are therefore considered an “anti-aging” food, plus they’re a powerful cancer-fighter.
We love to eat them raw and you can play around with many different ways of chopping, slicing, or shredding them onto anything from salads to sandwiches or tacos. They’re also the perfect travel snack and are great dipped into nut butter or hummus.
Recipe Love: Carrot Cake Overnight Oats
6. Mint
This delicious herb grows like a weed and has very strong healing properties. Mint contains an antioxidant called rosmarinic acid, which can relieve seasonal allergy symptoms the menthol it contains is a natural decongestant. It can also soothe an upset stomach and treats bad breath!
We love adding it to water or iced tea for a delicious natural flavoring. It's so delicious chopped, and added to a bowl of fresh berries or a green salads.
Recipe Love: Lisa’s Quinoa Tabbouleh
7. Peas
Don’t underestimate these little guys! They are high in protein and rich in body-balancing minerals like magnesium and iron. They also provide the antioxidant lutein, which helps you maintain your vision as you age. Peas typically have a very short growing season of just a few weeks and that makes them all the more special.
You can eat raw snap peas as a snack dipped in hummus, add them to salads, stir-fries and pasta dishes.
Recipe Love: Easy Pesto Pasta
8. Strawberries
Is there anything better than biting into a fresh, ripe, fragrant, and delicious strawberry in late spring/early summer? This decadent and sexy food is a healthy indulgence because it is among the top five sources of antioxidant-rich fruit in the U.S. Strawberries can help balance blood sugar, and the polyphenols they contain will support immunity, healthy cell renewal, and many other functions.
Add them fresh to salads, oatmeal or granola, freeze them and add to smoothies, or dip them in chocolate!
Recipe Love: Strawberry Hemp Milk
9. Spring Onions
Onions contain a high amount of polyphenols, and especially flavonoids, which are compounds that play a major role in disease prevention and reducing the oxidative stress that wears our bodies down. They are also natural antihistamines, and have antibacterial and antifungal properties.
Add diced scallions to salads, tabbouleh, or tacos, or simply sauté them with some sea salt as a tasty caramelized onion.
Recipe Love: Veggie Spring Rolls
10. Radishes
A great detoxifier, radishes are great at removing waste and toxins from both the gut and liver. They are also a natural diuretic and help to hydrate the skin.
We love them thinly sliced in salads or served as a snack with one of our favorite veggie dips. If you have never tried them roasted you are in for a treat!
Where To FInd seasonal Produce Where You Live?
To help determine what spring vegetables and fruits are peaking where you live, check out this handy Seasonal Food Guide.
Roaring Fork Valley, Colorado:
Two Roots Farm is a 3-acre organic farm in Basalt, CO - growing a diverse array of vegetables, herbs, and flowers for restaurants in the Roaring Fork Valley, the local Farmer's Markets, and their CSA program. Visit the Two Roots farm stand every Friday, from June - October 9:00-1:00PM - 100 Sopris Creek Rd. in Basalt, Colorado
Mesa Microgreens: Grown locally in Silt, Colorado and delivered from Rifle to Aspen. Microgreens are harvested at the plant growth stage between a sprout and a baby green. They have all the flavor and dense nutrition of baby greens, but are more delicate in texture like a sprout. They are the ideal finishing touch to any dish, and perfect on salads and sandwiches. Kaylin from Mesa Microgreens delivers all of our favorites to our door - sunflower, pea, kale, kholrabi, radish, broccoli and her special microgreen mix to add to smoothies!
Farmer’s Market From Aspen to Glenwood Springs:
Aspen Saturday Market. Saturdays, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. – This market has been going strong since 1998. Every Saturday from mid-June to mid-October customers stroll the U-shaped market from Hopkins to Hunter to Hyman street shopping and catching up with friends, while enjoying live music. In addition to Colorado-grown produce, meats and cheeses, there’s Colorado-made bread, skin-care products, art and more.
Basalt Sunday Market, Sundays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. – The Basalt Sunday Market is part market, part casual community gathering held downtown on Midland Spur. You can purchase produce and meats from local farms like Rock Bottom Ranch, enjoy live music, grab a snack, and pick up one-of-a-kind offerings from local vendors. They even have arts and crafts for kids.
Carbondale Downtown Farmers’ Market, Wednesdays, 10 a.m.–3 p.m. – Get a burst of mid-week dinner inspiration at this eclectic market set up in the middle of downtown. With a focus on local farmers, producers and artisans, not only can you buy wonderful products, you’ll be supporting the community goal of sustainable business practices.
Glenwood’s Downtown Market, Tuesdays, 4–8 p.m. – Enjoy a different kind of happy hour at this lively evening market, located just off of Grand Avenue. In addition to being able to buy goods from local farmers and makers, you can pick up dinner and enjoy live music.
Glenwood Springs Saturday Famers Market, Saturdays, 8 a.m.–3 p.m. -Established in 1986, this market focuses primarily on fresh produce, although there are some crafts and prepared foods, and live Bluegrass music. Located at 14th and Grand Avenue.
Boulder and Denver, Colorado:
Aspen Moon Farm: Started in 2009, Aspen Moon Farm consisted of 2.5 acres in Longmont, Colorado with one acre of cultivated vegetables and one Farmer’s Market in Longmont and have grown to 99 acres - with approximately 25 acres in production! They serve seasonal Farmer’s Markets in Longmont and Boulder on Saturdays, and offer an abundant Roadside Farmstand, open daily as the season allows. They offer a bountiful CSA program - with over 350 members.
Cure Organic Farm is a woman-owned, commercial, diversified family farm, growing over 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs, berries, and specialty cut flowers on public and private land. They provide produce, meat and eggs available for sale 50 weeks of the year. Main markets include Boulder and Denver restaurants, A CSA Program, and farm stands.
Black Cat Organic Farms: Jill and Chef Eric Skokan have created a 425 acre, Certified Organic vegetable farm located just outside of the city that supplies the bounty for their Farm Store, Dinners at the Farm, CSA’s, and Boulder Farmers’ Market Booth. They grow, seed clean and mill our own organic grains, and raise and breed sheep, pigs, chickens and geese. All animals are raised on pasture and vegetable fields with holistic pasture management, No hormones, No GMOs, No routine antibiotics and lots of love and care.
Farmer’s Markets From Boulder To Denver:
Boulder Farmers Market, Boulder, CO: The Boulders Farmers Market, located in Boulder, is one of the most notable markets in Colorado. This market, which occurs on Wednesdays and Saturdays from April to November, has a variety of organic produce, free-range animal products and even handmade goods.
Cherry Creek Fresh Market, Denver, CO: Cherry Creek Fresh Market is Denver’s largest farmers market. The market occurs on both Saturdays and Wednesdays from May to September. Find artisan cheeses, chef demonstrations, live music and of course organic produce at this massive market.
City Park Farmers Market, Denver, CO: Every Sunday from June to October is the City Park Fresh Market located in Denver. This farmers market takes place at Denver’s historic Sullivan Fountain. Enjoy organic produce from local growers and food vendors. This downtown event is a great spot to find some Colorado wines, cheeses