Exploring greens in easy-to-make soup
By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RDN, LD,
Siletz Tribal Head Start Nutritionist
Exploring greens?
As part of my role as a consultant nutri-
tionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start, I offer
information for families. This segment
focuses on nourishing greens and how to
easily make your own soups and stocks
(see photo right). Soup is a good way to
use your leftovers in new ways while man-
aging your food resources wisely and eco-
nomically. During the winter rains, warm
soup feels good. Soup can be nourishing
and soothing.
Greens help us run and jump, they help us
to see well, they make our bones and teeth
strong, and they help us to not get sick.
Chicken Soup with
Greens
1 quart broth, salted, vegetable or bone
broth
1 cup brown rice, cooked, or cannellini
white beans
½ cup chopped parsley and/or leeks
1 can cooked chicken meat or leftover
chicken, cut
1 medium carrot, thin sliced or ½ cup
frozen vegetables
1 cup greens, chopped (choose from
combination of Swiss chard, beet
tops, kohlrabi, collard, kale, mustard,
spinach, etc.)
This is a simple soup to make the
point how simple it can be to eat greens
with the aid of a few basic kitchen staples.
Get your children to help you pick out
the greens (from the garden or the store).
Tear them together while talking about
how they feel, look, taste, etc. Wash them
again in a colander after handling them.
Heat broth (chicken, veggie or just
frozen vegetable cooking water). Add other
ingredients. Heat until greens are tender.
Nutrition message for children:
Nutrition message for parents:
Greens are nutrient-dense. This means
they are low in calories and loaded with
vitamins and minerals. Greens are high
in vitamins A and C, folic acid, iron and
calcium. Vitamin A supports vision. Iron
carries oxygen in the blood and supports
immunity. Vitamin C supports immunity.
Folic acid (commonly found in leaves/
foliage) protects us in many ways,
including neural-tube defect prevention.
Calcium supports strong bones and teeth.
How do greens feel, look and
taste? Explore this with your children.
Some are tender or soft. Some are waxy
or hairy. Some leaves are very big, others
are tiny. Most are green, but they can have
other colors too, like purple. The dark
leafy vegetables range from earthy to pep-
pery in flavor. Some are simply the tops of
root vegetables such as beets and turnips.
Seasons: Long growing season –
almost year-round on the Oregon Coast for
some greens such as kale and collard greens.
Storage: Store in the refrigerator and
use as soon as possible (using the tender
greens first). Generally remove and dis-
card damaged, yellowed or wilted leaves.
Rinse greens well (both sides) under
cold running water and pat dry. Hidden
dirt often clings to the undersides of the
leaves. Greens often last longer if they are
not washed until you plan to use them.
Preparation: Tear out and discard
tough stems and center ribs. Use leaves
whole or cut/tear into bite-size pieces or
shred. Place about 1¼ pound greens in 4-5
quart pan with 1 inch of water. Boil covered
until tender to bite (5-15 minutes). Drain.
Season with butter,
olive oil, lemon juice,
vinegar or tamari.
Serving ideas:
Excellent as a side dish
with almost any entrée
– try canned black-eyed
peas with your favorite
BBQ sauce on brown
rice with greens.
Add to soups. Either
use leftover cooked
greens or add them fresh
to soup and heat until the
greens are tender.
Make soup
stocks from
bones or
vegetables
For vegetable stock: I recommend
saving the cooking water from vegetables
and freezing it in glass canning jars to use
later for soup.
In addition, I make vegetable soup
stock from fresh vegetable scraps, such
as stems, tops, cores and peels. In other
words, before putting them into my com-
post I first extract some of the flavor and
nutrients for me. Then I put the spent
vegetable scraps into the compost.
Please note: I rinse the scraps to be
sure they are clean. Also, I do not use rotten
produce. This goes straight to the compost.
For bone broth: This is a traditional
recipe that is both medicinal and nourish-
ing. Its high mineral content makes it easy
to digest and is highly nutritious, espe-
cially the gelatin obtained from the bones.
The broth also supports strong bones
and detoxification of the liver.
Ingredients
Bones, raw or cooked from poultry, fish,
shellfish, beef, lamb or wild game
Water
Vinegar, apple cider or balsamic (2 table-
spoons per quart of water or 2 pounds
of bones)
Directions
1. Place bones in a slow cooker or stove
pot on low heat and cover with water.
2. Simmer gently for 12 hours.
3. Strain bones to collect broth/stock.
Siletz Tribal Head Start offers my time to support family nutrition over the
telephone (503-588-5446). Please contact me if you have nutrition concerns
about your Head Start child.
Crafty Snacks
By Nancy Ludwig, MS, RDN, LD,
Siletz Tribal Head Start Nutritionist
Make your own fruit
and nut bars
As part of my role as a consultant
nutritionist to Siletz Tribal Head Start,
I offer information for families. This
segment focuses on nourishing snacks
that foster creativity and can be made
at home with supervision. These snacks
can replace commercial snack bars and
can thereby save money while allowing
families to use the specific ingredients
they like best.
I suggest that you make your own bars
with the fruits and nuts or seeds you love
best. Head Start classrooms are nut-free
because of potential allergens. Therefore,
our featured item includes seeds rather
than nuts. The process is easy and works
best with a food processor, which usually
can be found at a thrift store or garage sale
if you don’t already have one.
Step 1: Figure out what ingredients
you like and put them all together. Chop
the entire mixture up in the food processor.
Step 2: Roll the dough into a ball,
then place the dough between two sheets
of wax paper and roll it flat (a thin bar is
a seemingly bigger portion with less of a
sugar load).
Step 3: Cut it into bars or festive
shapes with cookie cutters and store them
in airtight containers. They last at room
temperature for several days and for up to
several months in the refrigerator.
Please note: If you cut them into fes-
tive shapes, you will want to store them
in rigid plastic containers to retain their
shape. You also can roll them into balls (or
do this with the pieces that are too small
for the cookie cutters).
Below are some combinations
inspired by Eat Like a Dinosaur – Recipe
& Guidebook for Gluten-Free Kids by
The Paleo Parents and published by Vic-
tory Belt Publishing Inc.
The trick is that whatever amount of
fruit you choose, use the same amount
of nuts/seeds or less. Dates (specifically
Medjool) offer the best consistency. If the
fruit, nuts or seeds are very dry, you may
need to add up to 1 teaspoon of water to
the dough in order to form a ball.
Festive fruit and seed shapes
These bars contain no nuts and can
be rolled or flattened to create festive and
crafty snacks with a cookie cutter.
Sprinkle or roll in shredded coconut,
carob, cocoa powder or cinnamon. Winter
snowballs can be created with coconut.
½ cup dates, pitted
Siletz Tribal Head Start
If you have not sent in an application for your child to attend Siletz Tribal
Head Start, it’s not too late. Call 541-444-2532 or 800-922-1399 to request that an
application be sent to you.
Applications also are available on the Tribal website (ctsi.nsn.us) and at the Siletz,
Salem and Portland area offices.
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Siletz News
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January 2015
½ cup dried apricots and/or cranberries,
dried, sweetened w/apple juice
½ cup pumpkin seeds, raw or roasted
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, raw or roasted
2 tablespoons sesame seeds, raw or
roasted
Sugar Cookie Bar
Some say these cashew bars taste like
sugar cookies
1 cup dates, pitted
1 cup cashews
Winter Rainbow Bar
These flavors and colors are reminis-
cent of Christmas.
½ cup dates, pitted
½ cup cranberries, dried and sweetened
1 cup pistachio nuts
Favorite Bars
Combine favorite ingredients.
½ cup dates, pitted
½ cup dried apricots
1 cup almonds
Movie Bars
The chocolate chips are reserved for
something extra special.
1 cup dates
¼ cup coconut flakes
¼ cup dark chocolate chips
1 cup macadamia nuts or peanuts