White Bean and Grilled Greens Salad
Rejoice! The Boulder County Farmer's Market opens this weekend. Get some bitter greens in your diet! Your liver is demanding care in the Spring.
The Farmers Market in Boulder County opens this weekend!! Rejoice! A new growing season is underway. I mark this as my favorite day of the year, easily surpassing canned holiday festivities. I swoon when greens and fresh herbs hit the farmstand. For me, it’s not just about using local fresh ingredients - it's also about the wonder and wisdom of Mother Gaia and what she provides. It is becoming curious about what grows when and why. It is the understanding that by embracing the seasons, you are stepping into alignment with a deep intelligence. This should be reassuring.
Let’s unpack that with this spring recipe. In the Spring, bitter greens grow in abundance. Additionally, a lot of high fiber vegetables grow. Asparagus, artichokes, radishes, rhubarb, among many others. It is interesting - bitter flavor stimulates digestion. It stimulates the liver and begs to clear the stagnation that builds in the digestive system during the winter. On the heels of bitter greens come these high fiber first growing vegetables. So what? Well, for the curious natural health seeker, a diet high in these types of fibers actually changes your microbiome for the better. And the type of bacteria needed for optimal health thrive on these fibrous vegetables, creating the byproduct SCFA’s - which stands for Short Chain Fatty Acids. These have an immune modulating effect, are the heavy players in the anti-inflammatory realm and the main foot soldiers in your immune system. And isn’t that interesting? Are we to begin strengthening our immune system, or does our system need a recharge after winter? Maybe both can be served by embracing the intelligence inherent in these vegetables.
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