Colorful Produce For a More Nutritious You

If you’re looking for an easy way to optimize your diet, go for color. Fruits and veggies of all shades contain phytonutrients—plant compounds that work together to protect your health.

"These phytonutrients include antioxidants like carotenoids and anthocyanins that give produce its color and may play a role in preventing age-related diseases like cancer and heart disease," explains Elizabeth J. Johnson, PhD, associate professor at Tufts University.

Discover what eating more green, orange, and red can do for you, and recipes that make the most of these brilliant bites.

Most green fruits and vegetables are loaded with lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that protect against eye diseases and may lower your risk of heart disease and skin cancer. Leafy greens are also a great source of energy-boosting folate.

Herb Garden Salad

Ingredients: Eggs, koshersalt, asparagus, sugar-snap peas, garlic clove, lemon zest,lemon juice white-wine vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, black pepper, watercress, flat-leaf parsley, mint leaves

Calories: 123

Try this recipe:Herb Garden Salad

Ingredients:

Flat-leaf parsley, olive oil, tarragon, divided, shallots, chopped,low-sodium vegetable broth, frozen peas, avocado, plain fat-free yogurt, kosher salt, black pepper

Calories: 191

Try this recipe:Avocado Pea Soup With Herb Oil

Orange and yellow foods (think carrots, squash, sweet potatoes) boast carotenoids like beta-carotene, a type of vitamin A that boosts your immune system.

Tropical Fruit Granola

Ingredients: Old-fashioned rolled oats, macadamia nuts, unsweetened shredded coconut, vegetable oil, agave nectar, dried fruit, ground ginger, ground cardamom, sea salt

Calories: 253

Try this recipe:Tropical Fruit Granola

Ingredients:

Sweet potatoes, navel oranges, rice vinegar, sesame oil, reduced-sodium soy sauce, salt, Cooking spray, chickpeas, scallions

Calories: 208

Try this recipe:Grilled Sweet Potato, Orange, and Chickpea Salad

Red produce contains cancer-fighting lycopene and anthocyanins, which may also lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.

Beet Red Salad

Ingredients: Red beets, Farro or barley, kosher salt, red-wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard, sugar, black pepper, red onion, radicchio, sliced, feta

Calories: 252

Try this recipe:Beet Red Salad

Ingredients:

Cherry tomatoes, vodka, lemon juice, sugar, kosher salt, black pepper, lemon zest

Calories: 59

Try this recipe:Vodka-Spiked Tomatoes With Lemon Salt