We are a holistic practice and believe nutrition is a part of the foundation to good health.  Spring is a great time to look at your plate and pantry and take inventory.  The local farmer's markets will be opening soon with early crop vegetables like Asparagus, artichokes, fiddlehead ferns, avocado, rhubarb, radishes, purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, scallions and watercress.  They are only around for a tantalizingly short time so as soon as you see them, start buying and eating them.  Here are some quick cooking ideas for each:

• Asparagus:  Steam it, sauté it, grill it, brush it with olive oil and roast it, top it with poached eggs and some butter.  Any way you cut it, it's great as a side dish, in quiche, in pasta, in soup or in salads.  High in Vitamin K (good for bone health and folate, it has shown to help prevent depression, lung cancer, heart disease, MS and chronic fatigue.  It is also a powerful anti-inflammatory and natural detoxifier.
• Artichokes:  High in fiber, calcium and iron.  These babies promote good liver and gall bladder function.  Steam them in an inch of water, cut them in half and bake them with some parmesan cheese, chop up the hearts and put them in salad.
• Fiddlehead ferns:  You think of them as weeds, but these whimsical greens are high in Vitamin A and C and a great source of fiber, iron, potassium, niacin, magnesium and phosphorous.  Sauté them in some olive oil w/ garlic or simmer them in a vegetable stock reduction.  As fun to eat as they are good for you.
• Avocado:  This phytonutrient packed fruit is your best friend.  Contributing over 20 nutrients yet no saturated fat, thought to increase HDL levels and is an excellent source of folate.  Use in sandwiches and wraps instead of mayo, cube it and toss it in a salad.  Mix into a mango salsa and serve over fish.  Puree it with some stock and cilantro and pour over chicken or salmon and bake it.  The possibilities are endless!
• Rhubarb:  I love this bitter, acidic vegetable (yes, I too thought it was a fruit).  I cut the root ends and leaves off as they are poisonous and then toss it with olive oil and some raw sugar and roast it.  I use it in desserts obviously and also love to make a rhubarb chutney for pork dishes.
• Purple sprouting broccoli:  How fun, all the benefits of broccoli and it's purple!  Broccoli is a wonder veggie.  It is high in Vitamin C, folate, potassium and its fiber rich.  It has also been linked to helping prevent such diseases as Alzheimer's, breast, prostate, lung, colon and stomach cancers, heart disease, diabetes and calcium deficiencies.  Steam it, sauté it, roast it; put it in pasta, salads, alone or with some cheese sauce, or just eat it raw.  Just eat it!
• Spinach:  Popeye knew what he was doing.  Spinach is a powerhouse vegetable.  Its benefits are endless and it's packed with nearly every vitamin and mineral your body needs.  Vitamins, A, C, K, iron, calcium (more than in milk or orange juice!), magnesium, phosphorous, fiber, lutein, bioflavonoid, the list goes on.  And it's the easiest thing in the world to cook.  It takes about 30 seconds in a sauté pan and is lovely with just some olive oil, garlic and onions.  Make it the green in a salad; mix it in with eggs, pasta, soup, in sandwiches and wraps.
• Scallions:  May help reduce the symptoms of asthma and other respiratory issues and these lovely green onions cook up in a flash and add a mild and sweet flavor to any dish.  Use them in place of onions in all your salads and main dishes.
• Watercress:  Another power packed vegetable.  Chock full of Vitamins A, B1, B6, C, E, and K.  It is abundant in iodine, iron, calcium, magnesium and zinc.  It's also rich in quercetin which is an anti-inflammatory and we know that inflammation is one of the root causes of all disease and illness.  Watercress has also been linked to being preventative of smoking related cancers.  When you buy it, if you don't eat it that day, stand the stems in some water in your fridge.  Then you can chop it up and put it in stir fries, soups, salads and sandwiches.