Categories: Food & Wine

The Nutritional Value of Salad Greens

Leafy green vegetables are important for everyone’s health and the best ones are eaten raw in a salad with a number of other vegetables such as red onion, radicchio, green pepper, tomatoes, and radishes.

Presented with a wide variety of greens in the produce section of any supermarket may cause confusion for some shoppers: can this be eaten raw, or does it have to be cooked? Some salad greens can indeed be cooked but their nutritional value tends to decrease when exposed to heat. So for the best results, salad greens eaten raw are healthiest, and tastiest. These salad greens are very low in calories,and carbohydrates:

Arugula. These leaves resemble watercress but are slightly elongated and have a bitter, peppery taste to them. This green is very low in calories but rich in vitamins A and C. There are only two calories in one half cup serving of arugula.(1)

Belgian endive. This vegetable has white to pale green large, smooth leaves and a bitter taste to it. This vegetable is high in folate and vitamins A and K. Best of all, each leaf has only one calorie.(2)

Bibb lettuce. This is one lettuce that has a wonderful, fresh green taste to it. One cup of this lettuce has only seven calories, 1.3 grams of carbohydrates, and is an excellent source of folate and vitamin A.(3)

Curly endive. Also called chicory, the leaves of this are very different from the Belgian endive. and have curly ends to them. Chicory is frequently sold in bunches. This leafy green is high in potassium, folate, and vitamins A and C.(4)

Dandelion greens. Bitter in taste but very high in nutritional value, these can picked right out of the ground if they grow wild in your area. These are high in potassium, calcium, folate, beta carotene, lutein, and vitamins A, C, B12, B6, E, and K. These have no cholesterol, and are very low in fatty acids (0.17 gam per cup).(5)

Escarole. Slightly bitter in taste, this salad green is rich in vitamins A C and has significant amounts of iron and calcium.(6)

Green leaf lettuce. This curly lettuce also comes in red and is rich in vitamin A and like the other salad greens, has zero cholesterol.(7)

Lollo rosso. This letuce has curly edges in a red hue and is rich in vitamins A, K, and potassium.(8)

Purslane. As an edible green, this grows wild as a weed in lawns, backyards and forests. The leaves are oval shaped and the flowers are yellow and have five petals. Purslane has a delightful ly mild sewwt-sour tatse to it, making it a perfect addition with bitter greens such as dandelion. This green is rich in vitamins A and C, as well as iron and calcium.(9)

Red mustard. This green has frilly edges with a peppery taste to it. High in vitamins A, C, K, and folate.(10)

Romaine hearts. This salad green is tasty with only 8 calories per cup. Romaine is rich in vitamins A, C, and K, plus folate, potassium and lutein.(11)

Watercress. Related to the nasturtium, these greens are mildly sweet in taste and are loaded with nutrients. Watercress is rich in vitamins A, C, B1, B6, K, and E. Minerals include: iron, calcium, magnesium, manganese, and potassium.(12)

1. http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/arugula.htm

2. http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/p/Endive.htm

3. http://www.prevention.com/cda/vendorarticle/bibb-lettuce/HN1667003/nutrition.recipes/food.encyclopedia/0/0/nutrition

4. http://www.kitchencaravan.com/food-for-thought/ingredient-chicory-endive

5. http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/cgi-bin/list_nut_edit.pl

6. http://www.taproduce.com/files/Escarole.pdf

7. http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2477/2

8. http://jugalbandi.info/2009/01/lettuce-green-or-red-delicate-or-crunchy/

9. http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2604/2

10. http://nutrition.about.com/od/fruitsandvegetables/p/mustard.htm

11. http://jugalbandi.info/2009/01/lettuce-green-or-red-delicate-or-crunchy/

12. http://www.watercress.com/nutrition.aspx