Written by Karen Roth, MSNC
Karen is a Certified Nutrition Consultant with a Master’s Degree in Holistic Nutrition. She enjoys sharing her knowledge to empower her clients to take control of their health with food and lifestyle choices.
Did you ever wish you could grow your own food? Maybe you’ve tried and failed, or you just don’t have the space. I'm going to share some easy nutrient dense items that are easy to grow and require minimal space.
Simple Herbs to Grow Inside
- Broccoli Sprouts have a slight radish flavor and look like alfalfa sprouts. One 3-ounce serving contains 60 percent of the daily requirement for vitamin C and 2 grams of protein with 4 grams of fiber. And broccoli sprouts have 50 times the antioxidant power of regular broccoli. Growing broccoli sprouts at home is simple. You can order seeds online or pick them up at a natural foods market. They're great on sandwiches, wraps, pita pockets, salads, tacos, and burritos, or mixed into soup or rice pilaf. Follow this video link for a quick tutorial on how to grow nutrient rich crops at home.
- Microgreens are the seedlings of herbs and vegetables. Although they may look similar to sprouts, sprouts are grown in water, while microgreens are grown in soil and take longer to harvest. Some growing kits use grass-like pads to grow microgreens. And there are numerous microgreen seeds you can grow, but radish is one of the fastest, which is a good choice when starting out. They contain five times more nutrients than their fully matured counterparts. Microgreens are plentiful in polyphenols, natural chemicals that contains potent antioxidant properties. The health advantage to having an abundance of antioxidants is that they combat free radicals. Follow this link to learn how to get started growing your own microgreens, which are great on sandwiches, salads, tacos, and wraps.
- Rosemary is a healthy herb that contains concentrated phytonutrients that help hunt down and neutralize free radicals. Rosemary is also a concentrated source of calcium and fiber. You'll want to pull the leaves off of the stem and chop them before adding rosemary to any recipes. Rosemary can be added to dishes once you are halfway through cooking to retain the important nutrients. And if you rub dried rosemary between your fingers before stirring it into a dish, it will release the essential oils. Add rosemary to soups; stews; and lamb, pork, or chicken dishes. It's also wonderful in omelets, scrambled eggs, quiches, hamburger meat, meatloaf, and homemade bread.