Moroccan Carrot Salad
Completely unprocessed and unrefined, whole fruits and vegetables offer vitamins in a form your body uses best. In fact, no supplement manufacturer has been able to replicate the way nature’s bounty preserves and delivers these nutrients. Here are 20 recipes that are packed with vitamins A, B, C, D, E, and K. The best part: They’re delicious too.
Carrots can do more than help eyesight. They are a key distributor of vitamin A, which plays an important role in our ability to guard against colds and flus — and possibly helps to prevent cancer.
Roasted Sweet Potato Soup
Vitamin A (found here in sweet potatoes) also maintains your respiratory, intestinal, and urinary tracts, and helps the skin and mucous membranes function as barriers to keep nasty viruses and bacteria from entering your body.
Ranchero Frittata
Vitamin A, found in these eggs, is also crucial for promoting healthy eyesight.
Hearty Garlic Greens
More great sources of vitamin A include apricots, cantaloupe, carrots, cheese, collards, eggs, kale, mangoes, milk, sweet potatoes, spinach, and Swiss chard.
Roasted Asparagus and Eggs
The B-vitamin family, found in asparagus, helps your body transform food to energy.
Quinoa, Corn, and Avocado Salad
Avocados and corn are great sources of the B-vitamin family, which includes folate — a known protector against certain birth defects (for pregnant women). Together with B6 and B12, folate may also guard against heart disease by reducing levels of homocysteine in your blood.
Pork Tenderloin with Blueberry Chutney
Pork is a great source of the B-vitamin family, which includes a chemically related family of nutrients that work as a team, include thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid, B6, biotin, folate, and B12.
Blueberry Yogurt Fool
More great sources of vitamin B include asparagus, avocados, beans, corn, green beans, leafy greens (such as dandelion and collards), onions, peas, pork, and whole wheat.
Roasted Red Saffron Peppers
While great at fighting colds, vitamin C, found in these bell peppers, is considered to be the ultimate multitasking vitamin.
Steamed Broccoli with Miso-Sesame Sauce
A powerful antioxidant, vitamin C, found here in this broccoli recipe, counters the effects of free radicals that, left unchecked, can lead to heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and neurological problems.
Bulgur Salad with Cherries
More great sources of vitamin C include bell peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cherries, cranberries, kiwi, mangoes, onions, and oranges.
Curry-Rubbed Salmon
In addition to keeping bones and teeth strong, vitamin D, found in salmon, also regulates cell growth, which may prevent mutations that can lead to disease.
Sesame Tuna with Carrot-Ginger Sauce
Only a handful of common foods are naturally high in vitamin D; the body’s main source is sunlight. To help prevent deficiencies, this nutrient is added to many foods, such as dairy products. Some great food sources include eggs, fortified milk, salmon, sardines, and tuna.
Tomato-Paprika Salad Dressing
Tomato puree is another great source of vitamin E, which can help limit the production of harmful free radicals. These molecules can compromise LDL cholesterol, which otherwise can build up in the arteries and restrict blood flow.
Arugula, Frisee, and Red-Leaf Salad
Vitamin E, found here in these leafy greens, also plays a key role in activating vitamin K. This vital nutrient is proven to help promote bone health as well as prevent heart disease.
Spiced Avocado Sandwich
More great sources of vitamin E include almonds, avocados, dandelion greens, sunflower seeds, kiwi, leafy greens, mangoes, and tomato puree.
Spicy Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Even a small wound or cut could spell major trouble without vitamin K (found in these brussels sprouts), which stops bleeding by enabling blood to clot.
Watercress and Barley Salad
Vitamin K, found in watercress, also helps strengthen bones and increase bone density.
Chilled Sesame Spinach
Spinach is full of carotenoids such as beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. These help protect against heart disease and some forms of cancer. Research suggests that lutein and zeaxanthin in particular may guard eyes from cataracts and macular degeneration.
