Vary Your Veggies: Choose a rainbow of colors throughout each week

Any vegetable or 100% vegetable juice counts as part of the vegetable group. Vegetables may be raw or cooked, fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.

Vegetables come from different parts of the plant:

Roots: beets, onions, carrots, potatoes, radishes, sweet potatoes, jicama

Stems: asparagus, celery

Leaves: lettuce, cabbage, spinach, kale, chard, collards, turnip greens, Brussels sprouts

Flowers: broccoli, cauliflower

Fruits: tomatoes, avocados, cucumbers, bell peppers, eggplant, squash

Seeds: corn

Vegetables provide vitamins, minerals, and fiber you need to be healthy and maintain your body. Eating a variety of veggies as part of an overall healthy diet may:

reduce the risk for heart disease, including heart attack and stroke.
protect against certain types of cancers.

Eat a rainbow of vegetables! Choose vegetables from all the color groups. Try to include a vegetable at most meals and snacks each day. Eating a rainbow of colors provides a variety of nutrients the body needs.

Eat the rainbow: Dark Green Vegges: Amaranth leaves, Dark green lettuce, Mustard greens, Beet greens, Bok choy, Broccoli, Spinach, Chard, Cilantro, Collard greens, Kale, Turnip greens, Taro greens

Eat the Rainbow: Orange and Red Veggies: Red and yellow bell peppers, Tomatoes, Acorn squash, Butternut squash, Pumpkin, Carrots, Sweet potatoes, Winter squash

Eat the rainbow: Starchy Vegetables: Corn, Green peas, Hominy, Jackfruit, Plantains, White potatoes

Eat the rainbow: Others: Avocado, Green peppers, Bean sprouts, Iceberg lettuce, Beets, Mushrooms, Okra, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Onions, Nopales, Zucchini, Green beans, Cucumbers, Celery

lesson Recommendation

For more ideas on how to vary your veggies, take our Be Healthy With Veggies and Fruits lesson!