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Stock up on greens for vitality.

Take your vitamins;
eat an apricot

These nutrition stars are on the Top 20 list of vegetables and fruits in Frances Berkoff and Monda Rosenberg's "Vitality Cookbook" (HarperCollins, $10).

The fresh produce items give the best nutritional bang for the buck and contain healthful substances and trace minerals not found in vitamin-supplement pills. In alphabetical order they are:

Apricots
Berries
Broccoli
Brussels sprouts
Cabbage
Cantaloupe
Carrots
Cauliflower
Greens
Kiwi
Mangoes
Oranges
Papayas
Peppers
Potatoes
Pumpkin
Spinach
Squash (winter types, not zucchini)
Sweet potatoes
Tomatoes

Look for the nutrition stars, many at produce best-buy prices in isle markets. Pick fresh apricots for $1.99 a pound at Star Markets.

At IGH (Independent Grocers of Hawaii) stores, harvest cabbage for 39 cents a pound and fresh tomatoes for 79 cents. Times is tops with carrots at four pounds for $1; they're 39 cents a pound at IGH.

At Sack N Save, Maika'i members can buy cauliflower for 77 cents a pound (89 cents at Foodland), and kabocha pumpkin squash for 67 cents (79 cents at Times).

Go green with romaine lettuce for 98 cents and 99 cents a pound at Daiei and Star, respectively. Vitamin-C rich kiwi is 39 cents each at Safeway and Ka'u oranges are 58 cents a pound at Daiei and 99 cents at Times.