One of the easiest ways of ‘upping’ your green vegetable intake is to have more salads- especially now summer is here and we are all looking for something refreshing to eat. The secret to a good salad, like most things, is variety. Aim for a rainbow of colours and don’t forget to add that all important protein and oils which are rich in Omega fats – like cold pressed nut or seed oils and extra virgin olive oil
For a great meal, try starting off with a big bowl of green leafy vegetables. Choose the really tasty ones – red leaf lettuce is nice, mix it with a bit of rocket or watercress or try some spinach. Then add loads of salad ingredients and top with some lovely dressing – a handful of pumpkin seeds, chopped nuts, egg or some leftover chicken or salmon. For a more filling meal add some couscous or cooked rice to the base. Or try quinoa – a grain with an excellent profile of amino acids (the building blocks of protein) . Don’t be afraid to mix sweet and savoury – a handful of blueberries or chopped red grapes in a green salad is delicious. And peppers of all colours can give your salad a real ‘colour hit’ and increase the antioxidants at the same time.
Dressings can really liven up a dull salad. Have you tried some of the amazing flavoured vinegars you can buy now in specialist shops? Give them a go. A little goes a long way so they are not as expensive as they first appear. I’m going to feature some dressings for salad in future blogs. Many of the best and most nutritious salad dressings can be found on ‘raw food’ websites.
And as an example, here’s today’s lunch. This ‘intermediate’ salad contains kale that has been ‘massaged until soft’ with 1/2 an avocado, a little olive oil and a dash of sea salt . Then I’ve added red onions, pumpkin and sesame seeds, some beautiful strawberries, dried cranberries and tomatoes and topped it off with a tiny sprinkle of pomegranate flavoured balsamic vinegar – yes pomegranate – it’s delicious I promise you !
Doesn’t it put a smile on your face just looking at it? More on the use of kale in salad in a future blog….for now, just trust me! Prepared in the right way, it’s amazing!