Greens for the cold months

WinterMunch

Everyone loves to cook hot dishes when the nip in the air arrives at this time. Make the best of the fresh, winter produce and add the goodness of natural nutrients to your diet. Bring in five super greens this season to your diet.

Bathua

These green leaves appear only in winter, for a short period of time. Known as Parupukkiral in Tamil, Pappu Kura in Telugu, Chakravarty in Kannada, and Parippu Cheera in Malayalam, bathua brings in a bland canvas that makes it an easy mixer into gravies. It gives your diet the fibre shot, making your digestive processes stay in good working condition.

Drinking bathua leaf juice the first thing in the morning works best. You can fry and toss in with karipatta in curds and tadkas, stir in with palak and methi, or boil-puree to mix into curds.

Spinach

Popeye popularised the leaves, chomping them for his bunched-up biceps. This one breathes vigour into the red blood cells. Spinach brings in a plethora of vitamins, but more importantly packs in the right dose of magnesium (much-needed for women crossing their 40s) and zinc for detoxifying your body.

Stroke into vegetable pulao, make theplas to replace rotis, and team up with aloo, and corn or make it couple with cheesy bakes.

Mustard leaves

Slightly pungent, these make up the yummy sarson ka saag that you can relish with makai ka parathas and sizzling white butter globules. Build upon your immunity with mustard greens. A must as the weather turns cold as they fortify your heart, eyes, and bring in a rich dose of that elusive vitamin K that your body needs.

Peas

These are versatile vitamin and iron warriors, and can marry any other vegetable with ease. Roll into rice for making the wintry special peas pulao, team up with seasonal red carrots, toss into snacky upma, poha, samosa fillings; have tikkis or prep up soups.

Green peas are protein-rich, and betacarotene carriers and help in regularising sugar levels. Air fry and roll in chat masala for a super snack with tea.

Broccoli

The green gobi as it is playfully called is a must during the end of the year. It comes packed with calcium and selenium and works superbly for your skin and immunity due to its Vitamin C quotient.

Grate into salads, stews, and soups; roll into parathas, eat steamed with a dot of butter and pepper. Cheers to great heart health.