Fitting more plants into your diet can be easy. You might simply adjust a recipe adding some spinach, carrots, cashews, or pumpkin seeds to an entree or salad.

Or you might swap out a snack. “Replace one daily processed snack like cookies with fresh fruit and a small handful of nuts or raw veggies — like bell pepper strips or grape tomatoes dipped in hummus or plain yogurt,”suggests Nancy Oliveira, a registered dietitian at Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital.

Boost your efforts further by replacing one or two meat meals a week with a plant dish. “Beans, lentils, and tempeh have a hearty texture,” Oliveira says. “Or make a meatless chilli with beans, or a bean and vegetable stew. Add firm diced tofu to either dish to make it even heartier.”

If you’re craving something meaty, think umami. “That’s the deeply rich sensation you get from meat.” Oliveira says. “One dish that might give you that umami feeling is a stew of lentils, sauteed mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and chopped sweet potatoes. Add spices that appeal to you.”

From the Harvard Health Letter. Submitted by Nancy Rasmussen, Parish Nurse