Healthy ways to add leeks to your diet

Leeks are nutritious vegetables with several health benefits. Here's how leeks can contribute to good health and some easy ways to add leeks to your diet.

• Leeks are closely related to onions — as the similarity in flavour shows — and are distant cousins of asparagus. All three are members of the lily family.
• Although the entire leek is edible, most people prefer to eat the white, fleshy base and tender inner leaves and to throw away or compost the bitter dark green leaf tops.
• Although leeks probably originated in warm regions of Asia or the Mediterranean, they are now intensively cultivated in temperate to cool climates.
• In Wales, where leeks are a national symbol, men parade in the streets with leek-bedecked hats on St. David's Day, which is a public holiday that features parades, music and other activities.

• Leeks are a low-calorie choice that provides an appreciable amount of minerals and fibre. 125 millilitres (1/2 cup) of chopped, boiled leeks, served plain, contains only 15 calories and delivers 15 micrograms of folate, 0.5 milligrams of iron and 16 milligrams of calcium.
• Vegetables in the onion group may have a protective effect against stomach cancer and, like onions, leeks may help to lower cholesterol.
• Kaempferol is an anticancer substance found in leeks. It may help block the development of cancer-causing compounds.
• On a more negative note, they can cause bad breath and, in some people, gassiness.

Leeks are useful in a range of dishes where their mild oniony flavour is desired.

• You can boil and sieve them with potatoes for a chilled vichyssoise soup; braise them in fat-free stock to serve hot; or brush them lightly with olive oil and then grill them as part of a mixed vegetable barbecue.
• To make a reduced-fat quiche, steam chopped leeks and mix them with eggs and low-fat yogourt.

Keep these easy tips in mind and get the most out of leeks by incorporating them into your meals.