Leaf vegetables

Leaf vegetables, also known as leafy greens, salad greens, pot herbs, vegetable greens, or simply greens, are plant leaves eaten as a vegetable, sometimes accompanied by tender petioles and shoots. Although they come from a very wide variety of plants, most share a great deal with other leaf vegetables in nutrition and cooking methods.

Classification

Nearly one thousand species of plants with edible leaves are known. Leaf vegetables most often come from short-lived herbaceous plants, such as lettuce and spinach. Some leaf vegetables come from biennial plants, such as collard greens and Swiss chard, which are used for their leaves, but also produce a flowering stem before setting seed.

Nutritional Value

Leaf vegetables are typically low in calories, low in fat, high in protein per calorie, high in dietary fiber, high in iron and calcium, and very high in phytochemicals such as vitamin C, carotenoids, lutein, and folic acid as well as Vitamin K.

Common Leaf Vegetables

Some common leaf vegetables include spinach, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, mustard greens, endive, watercress, and lettuce. Spinach, for example, is very rich in antioxidants, especially when fresh, steamed, or quickly boiled.

Cooking and Preparation

Leaf vegetables are typically consumed in a variety of ways, depending on culture and cuisine. They can be eaten raw in salads, steamed, boiled, stir-fried, or incorporated into soups and stews.

See Also

• List of leaf vegetables
• Vegetable
• Salad
• Herb
• Cruciferous vegetables