Did you know your garnish might be the most nutrient-dense thing on your plate??
They may be tiny, but research shows microgreens punch a HUGE PUNCH when it comes to nutrition. They’ve found that microgreen “cotyledon leaves” contain up to 40x more nutrients than their mature adult counterparts!!
For example, red cabbage microgreens had 40x more vitamin E and 6x more vitamin C than mature red cabbage. Cilantro microgreens had 3x more beta-carotene than mature cilantro.
These nutrients are extremely important for skin, eyes, and fighting cancer and heart disease, and have all sorts of benefits associated with them! The timing of their harvesting gives them such a high concentration of nutrients.
Microgreens are just young seedlings of vegetables and herbs that have been harvested less than 14 days after germination. They are usually about 1-3 inches long and come in a rainbow of colors.
They’re commonly confused with sprouts. Sprouts is the initial stage where it forms the radicle or the white tail, but the stage right after that where it grows the first set of cotyledon leaves – the actual microgreen.
Think of it this way – you’d have to eat 1 1/2 POUNDS of broccoli to get the sulforaphane content in just 1 ounce of broccoli sprouts!!
When I heard that I first thought: I’ve never heard of sulforaphane, why does it matter?
It turns out it’s a phytonutrient found in cruciferous veggies (cauliflower, brussels sprouts, cabbage, etc). It has anti-viral properties to help reduce virus load on the body and recover faster from sickness, it boosts the immune system because it’s loaded with antibacterial and anti-fungal properties, it helps with digestion and soreness because of its anti-inflammatory abilities, and even protects skin from UV damage!
Plus – microgreens are LOADED with flavor and give a huge oomph to whatever it is you’re cooking.
You can definitely get them at your local grocery store, you can grow your own at home, or if you’re like me (and would love to but who has the time?!) you can find them locally in Charlotte from my friends at Backyard Sprouts.
They grow to order for chefs but are also at the NoDa Farmers Market and will soon provide a delivery option!
They gave me some to check out and I LOVED them!! I snacked on them and added them to whatever it was I was cooking. I couldn’t believe how much flavor they had and how many nutrients I was putting into my body so easily!
