Creating a Healthy Verde Menu: Tips and Recipe Ideas

What Does “A Verde” Mean?

“A verde” means “green” in Spanish. An a verde menu highlights dishes made primarily from vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds. The focus is on using produce and plant-based foods while limiting or avoiding animal products and highly processed ingredients.

Benefits of an A Verde Menu

There are many benefits to embracing an a verde approach:

• Increased intake of fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
• Reduced saturated fat, cholesterol, and risk of chronic illnesses like heart disease, diabetes, and cancer.
• Lower carbon footprint by decreasing reliance on resource-intensive meat and dairy.
• Promotion of more humane and ethical treatment of animals.
• Lower food costs from using more beans, lentils, and whole grains.

Choosing A Verde Ingredients

When selecting ingredients for a verde dishes, aim for:

• Produce: Emphasize vegetables and fruits, ideally organic, local and in season. Choose a rainbow of colors for diversity.
• Whole grains: Brown rice, quinoa, farro, barley, whole wheat pasta, oats.
• Legumes: Lentils, beans, peas, peanuts, soy.
• Healthy fats: Avocado, olive oil, nuts, seeds.
• Herbs and spices: Replace salt with garlic, basil, cilantro, turmeric, cumin.

Sources of Plant-Based Protein

Without meat, obtaining enough protein on an a verde diet takes a little extra planning. Good plant-based protein sources include:

• Beans and lentils
• Tofu and tempeh
• Nuts and nut butters
• Seeds like chia, hemp, and flax
• Whole grains like quinoa and buckwheat
• Edamame and other soy foods

Aim for variety and combinations at meals to ensure adequate protein intake. For example, have beans over quinoa, nuts in a salad, or tofu stir-fried with vegetables.

Meal Ideas for an A Verde Menu

Try incorporating these creative plant-based meal ideas:

• Breakfast: Tofu scramble, oatmeal with fruit, green smoothie, whole grain toast with almond butter.
• Lunch: Massaged kale salad with chickpeas, lentil soup, veggie and hummus wrap.
• Dinner: Veggie stir fry over brown rice, tomato sauce with lentil pasta, quinoa stuffed peppers.
• Snacks: Roasted edamame, fruit and nut bars, fresh guacamole with carrots.
• Dessert: Coconut milk chocolate pudding, banana “nice cream”, fruit salad with mint.

Making Plant-Based Eating Easy

Sticking to a verde menu gets easier with planning ahead. Useful strategies include:

• Stock up on plant-based staples like beans, lentils, quinoa, and frozen veggies.
• Prep batch cooked grains and beans for the week.
• Wash and chop produce when you get home from shopping.
• Have healthy snacks on hand like hummus, nuts, and fresh fruit.
• Map out weekly menus and grocery lists.
• Keep your pantry and fridge organized so you know what’s available.

Sample Weekly A Verde Menu

Here’s an example green week of meals:

Monday:

• Breakfast: Overnight oats with banana and almond milk
• Lunch: Lentil vegetable soup andwhole grain bread
• Dinner: Baked sweet potato, black bean and veggie tacos

Tuesday:

• Breakfast: Tofu scramble wrap with spinach
• Lunch: Quinoa chickpea salad
• Dinner: Veggie curry over brown rice

Wednesday:

• Breakfast: Nut butter toast and green smoothie
• Lunch: Edamame avocado salad
• Dinner: Eggplant Parmesan over whole wheat pasta

Thursday:

• Breakfast: Granola with yogurt and fruit
• Lunch: Falafel pita with hummus and veggies
• Dinner: Asian vegetable stir fry with tofu

Friday:

• Breakfast: Breakfast burrito with black beans, peppers, and salsa
• Lunch: Roasted vegetable and pesto sandwich
• Dinner: Veggie pizza with whole wheat crust

Eating an abundance of natural, plant-based foods boosts health while being kind to the planet. With proper planning, an a verde menu can be delicious, nutritious and sustainable.