Lean and green

Up your green veg intake without compromising taste or enjoyment with these healthy, delicious dishes from a fantastic new recipe collection

Since we were kids we’ve known how healthy green vegetables are. But if your idea of increasing your intake in a bid to boost health was serving yourself an extra heap of plain, steamed spinach every day of the week, then we’ve got good news for you. Good Better Green, a new book from Zita Steyn, is packed from cover to cover with mouthwatering recipes that all focus on fun and exciting ways to incorporate more greens into your diet. Not a dull salad or tasteless side of kale in sight. From sauces to juices, this book will help you get ‘eating green’ down to a T.

‘Often people just don’t know what to do with greens to make them taste good, so with Good

Better Green I’ve tried to inspire and entice,’ Zita says. She believes that by the time we’ve filled our plates with protein and carbs, there’s barely any room left to make our veg portions exciting. ‘Making vegetables the main part of your meal will make it easier to start incorporating all sorts of interesting things including lots of greens,’ she adds. You can prepare meals that you’ll actually look forward to from mainly plant-based ingredients – and she can help you do it.

After Zita’s mother fell ill with chronic fatigue syndrome, her interest in eating for health grew, especially after a professor of medicine suggested dietary changes. Years later and we have Good

Better Green, where Zita has poured out all her knowledge about eating healthily and transformed it into recipes, tips and tricks that we can all make use of in our own kitchens. A good place to start, Zita says, is to aim for variety. ‘During each day, try to include foods from all the colour groups, especially green. Each colour and food represents a unique nutritional profile and provides something your body needs.’ Need a hit of the good stuff, pronto? Zita recommends smoothies and juices: ‘When making liquid meals, be sure to alternate your greens and include vitamin C-rich ingredients like lemons to help with iron absorption.’

Start with these easy recipes, which are tasty ways to up your veg count. Enjoy!