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The Jaguar XF has yet again been voted “Car of the Year” its fourth top title win since being launch in March. This time the premier award comes courtesy of Auto Express in their New Car Honours 2008. Jaguar’s multi-award-winning sports saloon claimed its crown following victory in the “Best Executive Car” category ahead of the BMW 5-series, the Mercedez CLS and E-class, the Audi A6 and the Lexus GS.

Dan Strong, editor of Auto Express magazine, said: “Jaguar’s XF is a machine that has proved the doubters wrong. It’s a car that impresses on every level, from design to drivability, practically to price. ” But that’s not the only reason why our judges chose this car. Our winner has raised the standards in a class where excellence is considered the norm. It’s home-grown package, designed and developed in the UK and built by a highly skilled workforce.”

Geoff Cousins, UK managing director of Jaguar Cars, said; “I am absolutely thrilled Auto Express, the UK”s biggest-selling magazine, has awarded the XF with its top accolade. This has been a fantastic year for Jaguar with the XF leading the success of our revitalization plan. In july, total Jaguar sales were up 29.2 percent versus the same month last year and we now have over 7,000 orders for XF in the UK and more than 22,000 worldwide-we couldn’t be more pleased with the reaction it has recieved.”

What car?magazine, What Diesel magazine and The Sun Motoring also named the XF “Car of the Year” while Top Gear magazine hailed it their “Limo of the Year,” Other notable awards include “Interior of the Year” from CAR magazine and the “Design Award” from Autocar Magazine.

On the recent trip to the produce market, we couldn’t help but noticed the incredible variety of greens that are available today-compared to the pale, white, mostly water, iceberg lettuce that was the only game in town when we were growing up.

Who had ever heard of arugula or radicchio or endive? And watercress was something that was not very enticing and found on little finger sandwiches. Spinach was punishment food that always over-cooked and only Popeye really enjoyed it.

Some regional cuisines in United States have always included nutrient-rich cooked greens, but the move to darker, more nutritious greens in salads has been a more recent trend.

And this is very good thing because with the emphasis in the American diet shifting  away from high fat foods and towards more fruits, vegetables and whole grains, it is necessary to get more out of greens than iceberg lettuce can offer, and salads are wonderful way to do this.

Iceberg lettuce is just a little more nutritious than water. It has very little Vitamin A (converted from beta carotene), Vitamin C or Calcium. The only salad green that ranks as low (or lower, in some cases) is Belgian endive.

On the opposite end of the spectrum are dandelion greens and kale, which are so high in some nutrients, that you can actually meet a lot of your daily needs with them alone. When people talk about “greens” they often mean leafy green vegetables, which are meant to be cooked. Lettuce on the hand is what we refer to as salad greens and is almost always eaten raw. However, the small, young leaves of almost any greens can be used in salad; they not only will add variety, but will raise the nutritional value enormously.

Although many greens are well known and a few are regional favorites, there are some less common varieties that often go unnoticed except in trendy, gourmet shops and restaurants.