8 Low-carb Vegetables To Add to Your Grocery List

Benefits:

Reach for asparagus to load up on inulin, a type of prebiotic that feeds the "good" bacteria in the gastrointestinal, or GI, tract, said Kristian Morey, RD, LDN, and a clinical dietitian at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, MD. The low-carb veg is also rich in the antioxidant glutathione, Morey said. Glutathione helps cells in the body excrete toxins, like mercury.

Recipes To Try:

Morey said she tosses raw asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper and grills it by itself, or wraps it with prosciutto, for a quick starter.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 5.24 grams

(Related: 4 Healthy Starters for Your Next Dinner Party, According to a Registered Dietitian)

Benefits:

While technically also considered a fruit, tomatoes provide vitamin C and lycopene, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of heart disease and cancer, Morey said. Vitamin C is not only supportive for fending off illness, it also helps promote wound healing, playing a pivotal role in the synthesis of collagen.

Recipes to Try:

Measure one-third of a cup of baby or cherry tomatoes, halve them and add to a salad or roast and toss with whole-grain pasta. And, to jazz up scrambled eggs, Krutika Nanavati, RD likes to dice tomatoes, onions and peppers and stir them in with the eggs. If it's not summer, feel free to go with canned chopped tomatoes (canned fruit and veg captures them when they're in their ripest state). For some added heat, look for a product featuring chillies.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 7.27 grams

Benefits:

Along with fibre, this dark leafy green offers vitamins A, C and K plus prebiotic carbohydrates, Morey said. Prebiotics are important for gut health since they help probiotics (healthful bacteria) flourish. The antioxidant-rich vegetable might also help reduce inflammation and the risk factors for heart disease, said Natalie Kravat, MS, RDN, LDN.

Recipes To Try:

To offset the bitter flavour, Morey said she purees kale with mango or pineapple for a smoothie or incorporates the green into a salad with fruit, like apples.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 1.1 grams

Benefits:

Colourful and sweet, these veg boast more vitamin C than citrus fruit, Hultin said. Per 100-gram serving, red pepper boasts 142 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C compared to an equivalent serving of oranges that only offers 59 mg.

Recipes To Try:

Looking for a way to include peppers in your meals? Kravat said she chops and adds them to tacos and stir-fry dishes, or slices them to serve with houmous. Blanca Garcia, RDN, said she halves peppers, stuffs them with minced meat and cooked vegetables and bakes them until tender.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (pepper, raw): 9.04 grams

Benefits:

Spinach is rich in vitamins A and C, plus minerals such as iron and calcium, Nanavati said. Cooking the leafy green increases its nutritional value, Garcia said. By exposing the leafy green to heat, you reduce its levels of oxalic acid, which can impair the body's absorption of iron. Not to mention, when you cook down spinach, you end up getting more leaves per serving.

Recipes To Try:

Try sautéing spinach with onions and stuffing chicken breasts before roasting. Or toss with grapefruit, fennel and toasted pecans for a winter salad.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 0.6 grams

Benefits:

Rich in folate, potassium and vitamin C, summer squash like courgette also provides complex carbohydrates if eaten skin-on, Garcia said. That's because the skin is full of dietary fibre, which can help reduce constipation.

Recipes To Try:

Try courgette as a substitute for pasta. Instead of lasagna noodles, use cooked summer squash slices in a lower-carb version of lasagna. Also consider tossing spiralised "courgetti" with pasta and grilling planks of courgette as a side dish.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 3.58 grams

Benefits:

Technically fungi, mushrooms contain minerals and compounds like beta-glucans that could support gut health and the immune system, Hultin said. To ensure the mushroom has a good source of vitamin D, look for products with labels that say "Vitamin D" or "UV light", Hultin said.

Recipes To Try:

Sauté mushrooms and use as a filling for egg-white omelettes or as a topping for a cauliflower-crust pizza. Alternatively, make a starter by stuffing mushroom caps with a mix of whole-wheat breadcrumbs, grated cheese and sautéed onion and mushroom stems. Then, roast.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 2.89 grams

Benefits:

Beautiful and colourful, this veg is high in fibre and a rich source of vitamins A, C and K plus key minerals like iron, Nanavati said. Iron helps keep our blood healthy, as it's a key part of haemoglobin, a protein in red blood cells that transports oxygen throughout the body.

Recipes to Try:

Sauté Swiss chard with garlic for a side dish and incorporate it into soups. Add to a kale and white bean stew towards the end of cooking, simmering until tender.

Carbs per 1 cup serving (raw): 1.35 grams