Recipe: Simple, Beautiful & Delicious Salad
With the weather finally being consistently warm, I’ve been craving more cold foods and lots of raw vegetables. I threw this salad together for lunch on Saturday. When my husband commented on how beautiful and tasty it was, I figured I had to share!
What you’ll need for 1 salad:
2 large handfuls of organic spring mix
5-6 kalmata olives cut in half
5-6 cherry tomatoes cut in half (I used heirloom the different colors are beautiful)
1 big spoonful of Hummus
1 big spoonful of Tahini sauce: Tahini is very thick like a nut butter. I like to thin it out and make a “sauce. Essentially, add equal parts warm water and tahini until the consistency is more like hummus. You can add salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.
1 tbsp of pumpkin seeds
1-2 tbsp of chopped parsley
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 tsp of raw apple cider vinegar (I use the cap of the bottle and add use 1.5 cap fulls - a little goes a long way)
a small handful of baby carrots or carrots sticks
Build your salad:
First put the spring mix greens down. Then, add a large spoonful of both the hummus and tahini sauce on the bed of greens, side by side. Next add the tomatoes, olives and pumpkin seeds. Sprinkle the parsley over the whole salad. Then drizzle with olive oil and apple cider vinegar. Garnish with carrots or even bell pepper slices are nice.
This is a good meal salad, but if you want more food or protein it goes well with grilled salmon and ground lamb patties.
If you're making more than 1 I recommend contructing them individually so the hummus and tahini sauce don't get messy.
Nutritional benefits:
Dark leafy greens: are rich in vitamins like A, C, K and folate. They also contains minerals, antioxidants and some fiber.
Olives and olive oil: are a great source of healthy fats with the most abundant being monounsaturated fats called oleic acid. Oleic acid is associated with lowered reduced risk of heart disease and decreased inflammation. Olives also contain several nutrients including vitamin E, vitamin A, iron, copper and calcium.
Tomatoes: what gives tomatoes their beautiful red hues are flavonoids. Flavonoids are a large class of plant pigments that are powerful antioxidants. This is why I always stress eating lots of vegetables in a variety of different colors. Tomatoes are most prized for containing lycopene which is a flavanoid found to be preventative to prostate cancer, skin cancer and osteoporosis.
Pumpkin seeds: are a good source of the minerals zinc and magnesium, and are an excellent food for male and female hormone support. They also contain some protein, healthy fat and fiber.
Parsley: is is rich in vitamins E, A, C, K. It actually has a higher amount of iron in it then spinach making it an important food for vegans and vegetarians. It also contains minerals like zinc, copper and potassium. It also contains B vitamins. Parsley also promotes detoxification. I recommend increasing parsley intake during cleanses and for heavy metal detox.
Hummus: is made from garbanzo beans (aka chickpeas) which are a good source of fiber. Fiber is important for keeping you satiated from a meal, stabilizing blood sugar and is essential for a healthy microbiome and digestive tract. They are also rich in minerals and folate.
Tahini: is made from sesame seeds. Sesame seeds are rich in many minerals including copper, manganese, magnesium, phosphorus, selenium, molybdenum and calcium. One quarter of a cup contains 35% of your daily need for calcium so I strongly recommend it as a staple in dairy free and vegan diets. They also contain phytonutrients that are beneficial to the cardiovascular system and may lower cholesterol levels.
Raw apple cider vinegar (ACV): I’ve talked about ACV a lot in other posts about digestion. You can read them here. Essentially it helps stimulate digestion and supports the breakdown of food for the absorption of nutrients.
Don’t forget to eat your veggies,
Nicole
