Eating the rainbow isn't just a catchy phrase; it's a powerful way to incorporate a diverse range of beneficial nutrients into your diet. This article provides simple and tasty ways to add more colourful foods to your meals and snacks, making healthy eating both fun and delicious.
The Power of Phytonutrients
Phytonutrients are chemicals produced by plants to protect themselves from environmental stressors like germs, bugs, fungi, and sun damage. These compounds are also responsible for the vibrant colours, unique tastes, and distinctive smells of plants. The more intense the colour, the higher the concentration of phytonutrients. Eating a variety of colourful foods ensures a broad spectrum of these health-boosting compounds.
Simple Strategies to Eat the Rainbow Every Day
It's easier than you think to incorporate a rainbow of fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods into your daily diet. Here are eleven simple strategies to help you get started:
1. Rainbow Veggie Pizza
Everyone loves pizza, and this Spunky Vegetable Pizza is a beautiful way to pack in a variety of produce. The vibrant colours of the vegetables will mesmerize kids, making it a fun and healthy meal option. Load up a pizza with vegetables; your kids will be mesmerized by the colors. However, boost the nutrition of your homemade pizza by making grain-free flatbread crust or using a frozen crust by Caulipower!
2. Colorful Toppings
Toppings are an easy way to add colour and nutrients to your meals, especially when dining out. Add some nutrients to an original favorite with this Spunky Vegetable Pizza.
Read also: Unpacking the History of Rainbow Diet Pills
3. One-Pot Rainbow Meals
One-pot meals like soups, stews, chillies, and curries are a fantastic way to incorporate a rainbow of colourful foods into your diet in one sitting. The vegetables and legumes in these dishes absorb the flavours of the dish, making them both tasty and nutritious.
Soup Recipes
The possibilities are endless when it comes to soup! Almost any vegetable and herb can be incorporated into soup. The hardest part is picking which type to make!
Creamy Carrot and Ginger Soup: This lovely soup balances the sweet, earthy flavour of carrots with the spark of ginger.
Healthy Cream-Based Soup: This soup is a healthier version of cream-based soups, perfect for cooler weather.
Stew and Chilli Recipes
Classic stews and chillis are a delicious way to incorporate colourful legumes, spices, and hearty root vegetables with their skins on.
Read also: Learn about Rainbow Scarab Beetle Feeding
Curry Recipes
Curries are an amazing way to eat a rainbow! Most recipes already call for a variety of vegetables and spices.
4. Colourful Swaps
Many fruits, vegetables, and legumes come in a variety of colours. Simply changing the colour of your everyday favourites can give your diet a colour boost with very little effort.
5. Herbs and Spices
Herbs and spices are underrated nutrition powerhouses. They are full of potent antioxidants and jam-packed with a high concentration of phytonutrients. Adding fresh herbs to your meals will not only improve the overall flavour but also support your body’s natural detoxifying abilities.
6. Juicing
Juicing is another way to extract all the yummy phytonutrients from fruits and vegetables. Juicing is ideal for people who struggle with digesting fibre or have a medical condition that makes eating more difficult. This tried-and-true solution for eating the rainbow couldn’t be simpler or more economical!
7. Colorful Baked Goods
Add fruits and vegetables to your baked goods. These fruits will add a bright sweetness to your baked goods, while the vegetables go completely undetected.
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- Fruity Puff Pancake: The combination of cinnamon, blueberries, and bananas in this pancake is wonderful.
8. Substitute Colorful Alternatives
While there’s a time and place for traditional pasta, rice, crackers, and chips, replacing them with colourful alternatives is an excellent way to reduce your carbohydrate intake (if needed) and keep your blood sugar levels in check.
9. Creative Salads
When healthcare and nutrition experts advise people to eat the rainbow, what usually comes to mind is a big garden salad. While this is a great option, it can also be a little, um… boring. Thankfully, there are loads of other salad options that can just as easily help you achieve your rainbow-eating goals! Salads don’t have to rely on leafy greens this Cantaloupe, Cucumber and Burrata Salad with Basil & Mint will certainly convince you!
Rainbow Salad Bowl with Maple Dijon Dressing: This salad bowl with maple Dijon dressing makes a colourful main course salad.
Black-Eyed Pea Salad: This salad reminds of a Southern cooking class. People go nuts for it at picnics and potlucks.
Zucchini Ribbon Salad: Zucchini, cucumbers and carrots are peeled into “ribbons” for this citrusy salad.
Kale Quinoa Salad with Blueberries: This salad has it all going for it. Hearty enough for a main-dish lunch.
Grilled Corn Salsa: Combine corn kernels scraped off the cob with cilantro, lime, cherry tomatoes and simple seasoning.
Shrimp, Corn, Tomato and Nectarine Salad: For a cool salad on a hot summer day, combine shrimp, corn, tomatoes and nectarines with a drizzle of tarragon dressing.
Smoked Trout Nicoise Salad with Purple Potatoes: This colorful composed salad is perfect for a warm weather main dish.
Cantaloupe, Cucumber and Burrata Salad with Basil & Mint: This salad will certainly convince you that salads don’t have to rely on leafy greens.
10. Buddha Bowls
Buddha bowls, also known as nourish bowls, bliss bowls and macro bowls, are a rainbow meal waiting to happen! They’re balanced meals, served in a large bowl, that include a protein source, hearty grains, some healthy fat, and lots of vegetables. Incorporating colourful Buddha bowls into your everyday diet is easy when you meal prep most of your ingredients ahead of time.
11. Skewers
No recipe needed here! This is a fast and easy way to pack in a variety of produce at a single sitting. Kids love to eat anything on a stick and skewering fruits and veggies makes for a beautiful presentation and easy cleaning.
- Rainbow Veggie Skewers: Thread red, orange, yellow, green, and purple vegetables onto skewers.
Specific Colour Groups and Their Benefits
To maximize the benefits of eating the rainbow, focus on incorporating a variety of colours into your diet each day. Here’s a breakdown of some key colour groups and their associated health benefits:
Red Fruits and Vegetables: Contain lycopene, a potent antioxidant that may protect against prostate cancer, as well as heart and lung disease. Examples include beets, cranberries, raspberries, red grapes, red peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, and watermelon.
Sunny Yellow and Orange Produce: Contain beta cryptothanxin, a carotenoid that supports intracellular communication, helps prevent heart disease, and can help with night vision. Examples include bananas, cantaloupe, carrots, clementines, corn, oranges, papaya, pineapple, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, tangerines, yellow peppers, and winter squash.
Blue and Purple Foods: Contain anthocyanins, powerful antioxidants believed to delay cellular aging and help the heart by blocking the formation of blood clots. Examples include blueberries, blackberries, purple cabbage, and eggplant.
Green Fruits and Veggies: Contain lutein, which can help prevent cataracts, as well as other antioxidants that inhibit the action of carcinogens. Examples include avocados, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale, green kiwi, peas, spinach, and fresh green herbs like basil, parsley, and cilantro.
The Onion Family: Contains allicin, which has anti-tumor properties. Other foods in this group contain antioxidant flavonoids like quercetin and kaempferol. Choose from garlic, cauliflower, daikon radish, leeks, mushrooms, onions, and parsnips (eating to your digestive tolerance, of course).
Recipe Ideas to Brighten Your Plate
Here are some additional recipe ideas to help you eat the rainbow:
Rainbow Winter Slaw: A crunchy and super colorful slaw featuring pale green cabbage, dark green kale, purple/red cabbage, bright orange carrots, and ruby-colored pomegranate seeds.
Vegetable Latkes: A blend of starchy russet potatoes and either zucchini, carrots, or beets.
Roasted Beet Dip: A vivid dip made with roasted beetroot, lemon juice, garlicky olive oil, salt, and pepper, served on a bed of creamy yogurt and topped with crunchy walnuts and fresh parsley.
Grilled Vegetables: Choose a variety of colorful vegetables like squash, peppers, and eggplant.
Roasted Rainbow Vegetables with Tahini Dressing: This sheet pan recipe features a variety of colorful vegetables.
Rainbow Veggie Pizzas: An easy and fun twist on pizza night!
Rainbow Rolls and Wraps: Vegan Veggie Rainbow Wraps are made with colorful veggies rolled up in soft spinach tortillas with vegan herbed cream cheese.
Root Vegetable Tian: Combines potatoes and parsnips, beets and sweet potatoes.
Brussels Sprouts Salad with Smoked Almonds and Pomegranates: A salad with smoked almonds, pomegranates and a simple, tangy vinaigrette.
Sweet Potato Tacos with Black Beans: A perfect vegetarian dinner packed with flavor, texture and color.
Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Candied Spiced Pecans: The sweetness from the rich orange sweet potatoes, and crunch from candied pecans spiced with ground cinnamon and ginger create the perfect savory, yet sweet, side dish.
Light & Crunchy Carolina Coleslaw: A super crunchy and as colorful as a rainbow featuring both green and red cabbages, carrots, green, yellow and red bell peppers with a light dressing of vegetable oil, vinegar, celery seed and a little tarragon, as well as sugar.
Gazpacho: Serve it often as an appetizer. It certainly is the talk of any party.
Tips for Retaining Colour in Cooked Vegetables
One of the challenges in making rainbow veggie recipes is that some vegetables will lose their vibrant colours when cooked. You might be able to retain colour in your cooked veggies by blanching them or adding a bit of acid like lemon juice or vinegar.
Quick & Easy Recipes
Rice noodles are naturally gluten-free, but that isn’t the only reason to cook with them. They are delicious unto themselves, come in a variety of shapes, and are the noodle of choice in so many Asian-inspired recipes. At FODMAP Everyday® we define “Quick” as a dish that can be on the table, ready to eat, in 30 minutes or less. “Easy” recipes have 15 minutes or less of prep time.