Now that Spring is FINALLY here, I feel like my salad appearances have become more frequent! I've been keeping the organic Spring Mix in my fridge consistently and it definitely helps motivate me to get more greens in my diet. If you're one who's already taken my Intro to Learning Nutrition course, then you may already know how important it is to get those vegetable servings in each day. You better believe I live by this!
I understand how hard it is to prioritize making healthy food for yourself is. I get it, I'm a busy mom of 3 young kids who seem to demand more than offer help with. But if you're not taking good care of your own health then how do you expect to take good care of theirs?
One trick I like to keep up my sleeve is to prepare a large salad to eat throughout the week on Monday afternoons. This way I can add left over chicken or steak to it from the weeks meals and turn this bad boy into a full blown meal within seconds!
Now if you're reading this you're most likely trying to feel better and you recognize that what you eat directly effects that. We all know that veggies are great for our bodies and that salads CAN be so nourishing...but did you know that often times our salad dressings are NOT nourishing. I'm going to include a couple of my favorite dressing recipes/ideas for you to test out and see if you like them. The best part is, you don't need to do or have anything special, just a couple ingredients (yes, a couple ingredients truly) is all that you really need to make your salad tasty and 100% nourishing for your body!
Here's my recipe!
Apple & Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Dressing
8 cups (or handfuls) of organic greens like the organic spring mix, kale, spinach, arugula or a mix of it all
1 large carrot, peeled in short strips (a trick I learned in a cooking class, it keeps the carrots from falling to the bottom)
1 cup cucumber, sliced
1/2 cup apple, diced
1 avocado, diced
2 Tbls hemp hearts
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Dressing (Original Recipe)
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 Tbsp Raw Honey
Dressing (Option 2)
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
pinch of salt
Dressing (Option 3)
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 freshly squeezed lemon, lime, or orange
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
pinch of salt
Fun fact! If you know you have a yeast infection and are trying to heal your gut from candida yeast, then vinegar is NOT a great option! Any fermented foods will actually encourage yeast growth. In this case, swapping out vinegars for lemon or lime, or even juice from raspberries or oranges is a great alternative. Just throw everything in a blender and give it a quick pulse and it'll be the perfect dressing!
One ingredient I want to focus on in this salad is the hemp hearts. They add the perfect touch by adding some subtle crunch and a little nutty flavor. Aside from that, hemp hearts are high in magnesium AND manganese (essential to help your body break down carbohydrates and protein properly). It's also a complete protein containing 20 amino acids and all 9 essential amino acids!!! In just 2 Tablespoons you get just over 9 grams of protein, which is so essential to our health and healing!
Something hopefully most of us are becoming more aware of now is the fact that leafy greens are typically sprayed in glyphosate and other harsh chemicals that are harmful to our guts. In this case, when making a salad, I highly encourage you to purchase organic leafy greens. Good news is, they aren't hard to find and typically not much more when it comes to price.
Now, give this salad a try! Make it for your friends and family and see what they think! Try out the hemp hearts and let me know if you like them. They really have such a subtle, yet yummy taste to them. My kids hardly ever notice when I add them to things!
As always, if you make one of my recipes, I'd love to hear about it on the 'Gram! Tag me @nutri_vation!
I hope you enjoy this recipe!
Happy cooking!
Love,
Danielle
P.S.
If you're looking for more fun salad recipes, check out my
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