This easy stir-fried chilli and garlic greens recipe is a great low calorie vegan side dish to your favorite meal. It is a vibrant and tasty stir-fry with a real spicy kick and will take care of your calcium, iron and vitamins A, C & K intake for the day! Best of all, you only need a handful of cheap ingredients and 15 minutes to whip this up for yourself!
No matter what time of year it is, I will make this recipe at least twice a week. It’s just to simple, quick and flavorful to pass up!
I love having this dish as a snack when I’m hungry as it’s so tasty, super light on calories and packed with so many nutrients. It is also great to serve to go along with your favorite protein, oriental and Asian-fusion dishes, as well as roasted cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower and parsnips.
Let’s get into some more details about nutrition.
How Healthy Is This Recipe?
The reason I regularly eat this dish is because of its amazing nutritional benefits.
The spring greens alone in this dish provides the following percentages for the daily recommendations: 1639% of Vitamin K, 696% of Vitamin C, 109% of Vitamin A, 137% of Iron and 105% of Calcium.
As you may have seen in my recent article regarding the Top 15 Ways Vegans Get Calcium, it is always important to have plants which are low in oxalic acid and thereby have more absorbable calcium. These spring greens are low-to-moderate in oxalates, making them a great choice to boost your calcium intake.
Additionally, some people need to be mindful of iron intake on a vegan diet. Not only do these greens have more than the DV% for iron, but they also have approximately 7x the DV% of vitamin C, which is vital for iron absorption in the body [1].
Combine all these nutritional benefits with the fact that is so low in calories and it’s no surprise why this dish is such a popular choice for complementing main dishes!
How easy and cheap is this recipe?
The best part about this dish is that it is so easy and quick to make. All you need is a wok and some common staples in the kitchen to make this vibrant and tasty dish in under 15 minutes. No fancy ingredients or hours spent in the kitchen needed. Check out the recipe below for the easy step-by-step guide to make this for yourself.
In most places around the world, dark leafy greens are abundant and relatively cheap. Here in the UK, 500 grams of spring greens will cost around 80 pence. Can’t get much cheaper than that!
Favourite Additions
Another great aspect of this dish is that it can be varied so easily to suit your taste palette.
I did not include these additional ingredients to the recipe because the taste or spice of these ingredients can be too overwhelming for some people. However, if you are a die-hard fan of these flavours, then go nuts and add these ingredients to the dish!
- Lemon/Lime Juice
- Fresh Green or Red Chilli peppers
- Chilli Flakes
- Coriander/Mustard Seeds
Favourite Substitutions
This recipe works great with most types of dark leafy green vegetables as they all have similar cooking times. Below are some of my favourite greens to use in place of the spring greens – both for their unique flavour and texture, as well as their amazing nutritional benefits:
- Kale
- Mustard Greens
- Collard Greens
- Bok Choy
- Pak Choy
- Swiss Chard
Prep & Cooking Tips
- As with most dark leafy greens, always make sure to wash them thoroughly. This means washing them individually, rather than as a bunch (as the middle leaves don’t get a thorough wash when bunched together).
- To prepare the spring greens, you will want to trim off the hard ends and then slice into medium sized ribbons. You don’t want them too small that you can’t pick them up with a fork, but not so large that it’s hard to eat!
- You will notice there will be quite a lot of volume when you add the greens. Don’t be alarmed. The greens reduce in size very quickly as they cook – so make sure to toss regularly to ensure all the greens are cooked evenly.
Looking For More Healthy Sides and Salads?
If you like this stir-fried chilli and garlic greens recipe, you might also like:
- Chilli Lemon Bean Salad
- Gourmet Sautéed Brussels Sprouts
- Chilli Mushroom Avocado Toast
- Vegan Mexican Street Corn Salad
Please feel free to check out all my vegan recipes here for more inspiration in the kitchen!
If you tried this vegan stir-fried chilli and garlic greens recipe and loved it as much as I did, please feel free to let me know by leaving a comment and a rating below. I also love seeing remakes of these recipes, so be sure to tag me @voach_thevegancoach and use the hashtag #voachrecipes if you post your creation on Instagram!
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