Difficulty Level Easy

I'm always talking about cooking healthy, nutritional foods in your own home, but what does that really mean? March is Nutrition Month and I'll be posting on 10 essential nutrients, what they do for your body and how to get them. There will be a recipe every day highlighting each nutrient.

Folate is a B vitamin that supports cell growth and division and keeps DNA in good repair, and is therefore extremely important for pregnant women. It is also important in the production of healthy red blood cells and helps prevent anemia. Folate has been linked with a lower risk of risk of colon and breast cancer.

You will find over this series that most of foods that provide excellent sources of vitamins that are plant based. Many of those, especially legumes, appear over and over again in the list of foods that are beneficial to your health. Legumes are especially important to consider if you are vegetarian, or are simply trying to limit the amount of meat in your diet. There are lots of good meat alternatives you can have, but for me, lentils are one of my favourite ways to get nutrients and fibre into my diet.

What to eat to get folate: asparagus, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, bok choy, cooked spinach, lentils, avocado, artichokes, orange juice

If lentils are a tough sell at your dinner table, then give this recipe a try. My husband told me if he hadn't come into the kitchen while I was making the lentil balls, it never would have crossed his mind that that was what he was later eating. They have the texture of real meatballs and they held up really well in the sauce, and in fact were easier to make than meatballs. I thought they were fantastic and they will definitely go into my regular repertoire. It's a dish that would make both vegetarians and meat eaters happy.

These little lentil ricotta balls were delicious without the tomato sauce and pasta, and I think you could serve them as an appetizer with some dipping sauce or salsa.

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