How better to celebrate the beginning of the springtime season than with food? Let’s highlight a few of this season’s goodies to really get you excited! It’s not like we miss wintertime anyway…
- Asparagus – The trick with asparagus is learning to love it without smothering Hollandaise sauce on top. Grilled is my personal favorite, but there are oh so many ways to truly get the flavor out of these stalks of yummy goodness. When you include asparagus into your meals, you’ll be adding some vitamin A, which is essential for eye health, vitamin K which is essential for blood coagulation and much needed potassium to your diet, which can help with muscle cramps.
- Strawberries – Oh how I love strawberries. I don’t know many people that can walk by them at the grocery store when they’re in-season and not stop to smell a container. They’re just heavenly. And lucky us, April is the beginning of the season when you’ll find the ripest berries. Fun fact: these little lovelies are the only fruit with the seed on the outside and the average strawberry has 200 of those little seeds. That is, unless you shop at Costco – those strawberries are beastly huge. Strawberries are a good source of vitamin C, which is necessary for wound healing and growth in the body, as well as acting as an antioxidant. They are also a good source of folate, which is crucial for pregnant women and the reduction in risk for neural tube defects in infants. Add on potassium, phosphorus and magnesium and you’ve got quite an action-packed little fruit!
- Artichokes – This fun green veggie is available year round in either a can or a jar but to truly appreciate an artichoke you have to try them fresh. They take just a little bit longer than your average veggie to prepare but are so worth the effort. One of my kitchen idols, Giada De Laurentiis, is probably the queen of artichokes and I highly recommend following one of her many recipe ideas. This one is pretty scrumptious! So these little guys are filled with calcium, which is great for bone health, as well as folate. They’re also filled with magnesium, potassium and phosphorus so any of you that might be following a heart healthy diet should load up on these electrolytes.
So whichever you choose to try, have fun with it and happy cooking!
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