It’s been awhile since I did a recipe roundup. But with the changing seasons, it’s time to mix it up and keep our guts healthy and our bodies happy.
While spring brings a long-awaited freshness and revival, it can also bring a sense of heaviness and sluggishness. The winter snows have started to melt and made the earth soggy and squishy. The creeks are beginning to fill with the spring runoff. Everything is MOIST. (do you hate that word too?)
And because we are Nature, you may feel like a creek full of slimy snot is pouring out of your nose as allergies settle in. The heavy foods you ate over winter may have added some much needed insulation to your bones but may have you feeling like you’re moving through mud now. And it sure as hell doesn’t help that daylight savings time totally fucks with our circadian rhythm and makes us feel even more groggy and slow in the mornings.
Lucky for us, if we look at what Nature is providing, She has just the remedy for cutting through the heavy, sticky density.
Bitter greens!
You might’ve rolled your eyes—”great, spinach…”—but hear me out.
The bitter greens have a particular affinity for the liver and blood. Bitter foods help to thin the bile and mucus which means sluggish digestion begins to improve and you won’t feel so puffy and squishy. To really make the most of these foods and to support the thyroid, these foods need to be cooked. Eating uncooked bitter greens actually has an anti-thyroid effect and cause metabolism to slow. So cook them in soups or saute them in ghee, add a squeeze of lemon juice to unlock the iron, making it more absorbable.
Bitter greens include: arugula, kale, mustard, spinach, dandelion, asparagus, brussels sprouts, broccoli, cabbage, endive, watercress, ramps, radishes and their tops, beet greens. And so many more! Pungent foods are also more available this time of year, such as garlic, onion, and leeks.
Here are a few of my favorite spring dishes featuring foods like asparagus, dandelion, and mustard greens!
Asparagus Quinoa Salad. Delicious as a side or the main part of a meal, this dish is bright, flavorful, and so satisfying.
Dandelion pesto. Spread it on toast, dip veggies in it, add it to scrambled eggs, or make a pasta salad with some other spring veggies. You could even add it to the asparagus quinoa salad recipe above. Dandelions are abundant this time of year and can be easily harvested from your own backyard. If harvesting in public places, make sure they haven’t been sprayed with herbicides or pesticides and avoid places with lots of car traffic or road runoff. The whole plant can be used for different things too! Try making dandelion root tea or frying the flowers.
Stir fried Chinese mustard greens. This is a pungent dish which is especially great if you’re dealing with a lot of congestion. You can find mustard greens at Asian markets or you can try your hand at foraging some this time of year. I’ve been visiting the same patch of garlic mustard greens for a few years now and LOVE making this dish with them. I like eating them for breakfast and adding a couple fried eggs on top