They might seem like just little things, but they really are the super greens of greens.

Small and petite, they pack quite a punch when it comes to both nutritional value and taste. You can add them freely to just about anything. Use them as a dash of something pretty (a garnish) on top, add them to your other leafy greens, or mix them in with your grains and legumes.

The reason they are such great little things is because these teeny tiny greens are the small seedlings that would grow up to be big greens one day if they weren’t picked first. These days, we grow them deliberately to be harvested as microgreens.

You probably already know that many small things are very powerful, and these are no different. They carry more nutritional value than the bigger leaf, and their taste is more intense as well. Studies have shown them to be five times higher in nutritional value than their mature version. The key nutrients they are particularly high in are: Vitamin C, E, K and beta-carotene, as well as carotenoids, which are your antioxidants, so they also help boost your immune system and overall health.

Bottom line: eat more greens, especially the microgreens right now while they’re here (in spring)…

You can see the recipes for this quinoa salad with micro-greens and pine-nuts in the recipe section.