Canada’s Food Guide stresses the importance of vegetables and fruit more than ever before. Why? Because a diet filled with vegetables and fruit may help you reach and keep a healthy weight and lower your risk for heart disease and certain types of cancer.

Choose whole fruit more often than fruit juice and eat a wide variety of vegetables. While favourites like potatoes, corn, and tomatoes are good choices, Canada’s Food Guide recommends eating at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day. Dark green vegetables are excellent sources of folate and orange vegetables are excellent sources of vitamin A, two important nutrients which are often low in people’s diets.

Try this easy recipe at dinner to get more orange veggies into your day.

Spicy Oven-Baked Potato Wedges

3 sweet potatoes, peeled, washed, cut into ½” (1.3 cm) wedges
30 mL (2 Tbsp) canola oil
2.5 mL (½ tsp) salt
30 mL (2 Tbsp) chili powder or 5 mL (1 tsp) each of dried rosemary and thyme 

In a bowl, combine oil, salt, and chili powder. Add potatoes and toss to coat. Transfer to a prepared baking sheet. Bake at 230°C(450°F) for 15 to 20 minutes or until browned and tender. Makes 6 servings. 

Per serving: Calories 124 Fat 4.7g Fibre 2.4 g,  Excellent source of vitamin A

Recipe adapted with permission from Dietitians of Canada. (2007). Simply Great Food. Toronto, ON: Robert Rose Inc.

Examples of Dark Green Vegetables

arugula
asparagus
broccoli
Brussels sprouts
peas
romaine lettuce
spinach

Examples of Orange Vegetables

carrots
pumpkin
sweet potatoes
winter squash