Spring is one of my favorite seasons (aside from the allergies that go along with it). It's a time when winter has passed and everything starts waking up from a long slumber. The trees start budding, flowers start sprouting, and wildlife activity peaks. As someone who thoroughly enjoys nature and loves spending time outdoors, spring is the perfect season to start making up for all those days spent inside. Not to mention with the new season comes (can you guess it?) new food! Winter is filled with hearty, warm dishes, while spring welcomes lighter dishes filled with leafy greens and refreshing fruits. If you want to take advantage of all spring has left to offer, it's not too late. The summer solstice isn't until June 21st (EDT), so there's still plenty of time to enjoy the beauty of spring.
Plant Seeds
Connect with the earth this season by bringing fresh flowers and plants into your home, and growing food or flowers to enjoy in the months ahead. Watching seeds sprout and develop into beautiful plants can be a deeply grounding experience. If you're a beginning gardener, I highly recommend growing basil (herb), lettuce (vegetable), or zinnias (flower) – they're all really easy to grow and they were the first plants I've ever grown from seed (in a container, no less).
Simplify Supper
The delicate foods of spring retain their valuable beauty nutrients when they're lightly steamed or eaten raw. Avoid browning or burning your foods and you'll also prevent AGE (Advanced Glycation End) formation in the body. AGE products form in the body when excess sugars connect proteins, including structural proteins in your skin like collagen and elastin, creating stiff, rigid bonds. The result? Wrinkling, sagging, and thinning. No thanks. To avoid this, try no-fuss cooking methods (such as blanching or sautéing with water or vegetable broth) to save calories and ease the digestive burden on your body.
Reduce Toxins
All toxins, whether they come from food, prescription drugs, personal care products, or our environment, overload our liver with filtering duties. Reducing your consumption of processed and pesticide-laden foods is one of the most effective ways to detox and support your beauty this season – and year-round. Try buying organic and seasonal food whenever possible. Some spring superfoods that are currently in season are asparagus, spinach, avocado, artichokes, strawberries, and morel mushrooms. Also only purchase all-natural personal care products (like makeup, skin care products, etc). This will help detox you from any toxins you might have ingested or applied to your body over the winter.
Lighten Up Your Liver
The liver is one of the main blood purifiers in the body. Liver sluggishness can manifest in skin issues like acne and eczema, and in allergies to food and environment. Show your liver some daily love with morning lemon water, and by packing your diet full of chlorophyll-rich, alkaline green foods like asparagus, spinach, and sprouts.
Fill Up On Cleansing Fluids
Boost your body's natural detox abilities by drinking pure filtered water or a beverage with additional liver-supporting properties, like lemon water or dandelion root tea. Juice or blended veggies and herbs like celery, kale, and parsley into a chlorophyll-rich detox drink, or sip filtered hot water throughout the day. Personally, I'm not a huge green-juice fan, so I like blending veggies into fruit smoothies (that way I still get some of their benefits without tasting them as much). You can give it a try too: Add some spinach to a strawberry, banana and acai smoothie and see if you like it!
Bonus: Make A Spring Recipe
As a special added bonus, I am including one of my favorite spring recipes to make. It's super simple and utilizes a vegetable that's currently in season: Radishes! It's vegetarian friendly (can't say it's vegan though, since it requires butter), and makes for a great snack served with a nice iced tea.
Radish Butter on Toasted Baguette
Ingredients:
- 6-8 radishes
- ¼ cup of butter, softened
- ½ toasted baguette (or just plain old toast if you're feeling casual)
Directions:
- This recipe is so easy: Simply grate the 6-8 radishes (and leave the tops on to make this process easier).
- Now add the butter to the same bowl the grated radishes are in. The butter should be very soft, almost melting. You might want to leave it out of the fridge for a little while to get it to this point, or put it in the microwave (30 – 40 seconds should do the trick).
- Mix the grated radishes and butter together. Now apply with a butter knife to slices of toasted baguette (or pieces of toast). You can sprinkle it with coarse or flaky salt to taste if you'd like, but I honestly love this dish on its own. Enjoy!
