How to not hate…dark, leafy greens

Real talk: Dark leafy greens — spinach, kale, Swiss chard, the whole gang — have a bit of a branding problem. Sure, they’re packed with vitamins A, C, and K, and enough antioxidants to make a nutritionist weep with joy. But they also don't exactly have the "turn-it-into-anything" versatility of cauliflower or the natural sweetness of a carrot. Plus, if not prepared correctly, they can have a tough texture and a tannic, grassy bitterness. 

At Weight Watchers, our ZeroPoint® foods are all about freedom. If you truly hate spinach, you don’t have to force yourself to eat it. But considering what nutritional powerhouses dark, leafy greens are, they deserve a few more tries before you swipe left on them forever. Your body (and your Points ® Budget) will thank you.

Filler can be a negative term but in this case we’d like to flip the script. A few handfuls of wilted greens can easily bulk up foods with higher Points values like rice or pasta, almost doubling them in volume without doubling the Points. Finely chopped Swiss chard adds extra vitamins to a pot of pasta while a few heads of baby bok choy can stretch just one cup of grains into a wok full of “fried rice.” These veggies not only add nutrients but, if you’re a volume eater, these filling foods can also go a long way toward making sure you leave the table satiated.

If the chewy, fibrous texture of dark leafy greens gets to you, just stop chewing them. Strip the more tender part of the leaves from the tough stems (discard those) and blend the leaves into a smoothie or shake. And if you find that your greens turn into a science experiment in your crisper drawer more often than not, buy them frozen instead. A cup of frozen chopped spinach or kale will not only give your drinks a frosty consistency, but a massive vitamin hit as well.

Eating a big old bowl of raw kale is definitely not the way to get you to love it. But you can cram a lot of them into a meal if you stir them into a pot of soup, stew, or curry and let them simmer away. As the flavors in the pot develop and come together your greens will start to soften and mellow, not just in texture, but in taste, taking on the flavors of the broth and other ingredients.