"Hurry!  Get your B's Buzzing"
Good-by gloomy days of winter. Just stepping outside these days liven you up!  (You may notice that you walk with a little more swing.) Even Mother Nature is bursting with spring surprises like the first delicious fresh crops of season:  Juicy asparagus, velvety spinach, crunchy radishes and pump peas.  Their fresh, delicate spring taste can chase away the winter blahs and pick up your energy for the summer. But you have to hurry because most of these veggies are only in the markets for a short time in the late spring and early summer.
 
Try these mouth-watering spring veggies to get your body moving to match your spring mood.  These veggies are loaded with vitamin B's.  Vitamin B's help our bodies turn food into fuel so we have more energy. Our bodies don't store Vitamin B.  To look and feel our best we get vitamin B naturally from fruits and veggies (no need to get vitamin B from a bottle!). Those B's also help maintain healthy hair and skin; they help us stay alert and even improve our memories. 
 
Tasty ways to get your B's
  • Simple stir-fry:   Heat 2 teaspoon of olive oil in a skillet.  Add some chopped garlic and cook for about a minute.  Add torn up fresh spinach leaves or 1 inch pieces of asparagus cut on the diagonal or sugar snap peas or mix them together.   Cook until the spinach wilts or the asparagus is a soft as you like.  Season with salt and pepper
  • Mexican Stir-fry:  (Espinacas Guisadas) In 2 teaspoons of olive oil, cook chopped onion, minced green chili pepper, like Serrano, until soft.  Add chopped tomatoes & cook still tomatoes break apart.  Add spinach by the handful.  Cook until spinach wilts.  Season with cumin and coriander
  • Make a meal: Add small pieces of cooked chicken or beef to stir-fry
  • Roast asparagus and radishes cut in half & mixed with a teaspoon of olive oil at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Eat plain or season with mint-pea pesto (see below)
  • Snack on sugar snap peas andradishes, plain or dipped in hummus or salsa
  • Pep up your salads:  Add radishes and sugar snap peas to fresh washed spinach.  For salad dressings see Tips below
Anyway you eat these spring veggies, they will get your B's buzzing and your body moving better.

Mint-pea Pesto
Recipe 
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup of fresh peas
  • 1 garlic clove
  • ¼ cup of walnuts
  • 1/4 cup of mint leaves
  • 2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons of olive oil
Instructions
  1. Bring a small pot of salted water to a boil. Add peas & cook for two minutes. Drain & immediately put in a bowl with ice to stop the cooking.
  2. Drain the peas again. Puree in a food processor with the garlic, walnuts, mint, lemon juice, walnut oil, salt and pepper.
  3. Serve roasted vegetables dolloped with pea pesto, or toss it all together.

Get Creative with your Recipe
Tips
  • Steam, stir-fry or roast veggies.  Never boil them.  Boiling = less taste and much less nutrition
  • Add nuts like almonds, cashews or walnuts to your salads for extra taste
  • Spinach Salad Dressing: Mix together ½ cup honey, ½ cup vinegar, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon mustard and 1 teaspoon lemon juice. 
  • Spinach and Red Onion are a good combo
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