Judy E. Buss

Consuming a mixed-greens raw vegetable salad is a quick and easy way to get your daily health boost.  It is brimming with vitamins, minerals, enzymes, antioxidants, and fiber, and lends itself to countless delicious variations. Leafy salad greens, which include spinach, various types of lettuce, arugula, kale, parsley, cilantro, and other fresh herbs, can form the foundation of a wide variety of enticing salads. Some can even morph into a one-dish meal.

Salad greens and all other green vegetables contain powerful superfood chlorophyll, which gives them their green color. Chlorophyll helps cleans toxins from the blood – including metals such as mercury – supports immune function, protects cells from oxidative damage, promotes healthy iron levels, and more.

Buying fresh vegetables is a good start, but the nutritional value of your salad greatly depends on a number of other factors: Most produce must be refrigerated to prevent nutrient loss, so after returning from shopping, refrigerate them pronto. And how fresh are your salad veggies? Were they picked before you were born? Or did you buy them several weeks ago, stashed them in the fridge and “didn’t get around” to using them? Chopping or shredding vegetables must be done right before they are consumed; therefore buying pre-chopped produce is counterproductive.

When preparing a salad, first make the dressing (in 2 minutes) right in the salad bowl. A good basic dressing includes vinegar (or lemon juice), extra virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Oodles of dressing variations can be achieved by adding garlic, a dried herb, or mustard, etc’.

A green salad topped with nuggets of cooked seafood or skinless, boneless chicken, is another quick and scrumptious option. It can be enhanced with nuts, seeds, cranberries or seedless grapes, or perhaps pieces of cooked veggies leftover from last night’s dinner. Someone once said: “Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if vegetables tasted like bacon.” Translation: That “someone” had no clue how to make great-tasting salads but was aware of the enormously beneficial effect vegetables have on overall health. Enjoy the following recipes.

GREEN SALAD WITH HERBS
2 servings

4 large Romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
2 green onions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 cup of chopped fresh herb leaves (mint, basil, dill, oregano, or cilantro)

DRESSING:
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste

1. In a large bowl, whisk together all dressing ingredients. Mix in all other ingredients.

TROPICAL GREEN SALAD WITH BLUE CHEESE
2 servings

5 large Romaine lettuce leaves, shredded
2 cups torn spinach leaves
2 small green onions, thinly sliced
3/4 cup ripe fresh pineapple bite-size chunks
2/3 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
3 tablespoons deli blue cheese

DRESSING:
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
Dash of salt

1. In a medium bowl, mix all dressing ingredients.

2. Mix in lettuce, spinach, onion, and pineapple.Place on serving plates, crumble the cheese and evenly top the salad. Sprinkle walnuts and serve.

NOTE-1: Use only quality deli blue cheese, and one that comes in a solid form and not already crumbled. The run-of-the-mill cheeses, and especially those that are sold crumbled, offer little or no flavor because they are mostly made with fillers. Deli (real) blue cheese has a spectacular flavor!

NOTE-2: Sliced pineapple is often sold unripe, hard, and tasteless. When selecting a package of sliced pineapple, gently press-test the edge of a couple of pieces. The fruit should feel fairly soft.

“Mission Nutrition” Tips and Recipies from Judy E. Buss, Health Columnist, Nutritional Cooking Instructor.

“Mission Nutrition” Tips and Recipes from Judy E. Buss, Syndicated Eating-for-Health Columnist

Stay tuned for more Judy E. Buss’ “Mission Nutrition” words of wisdom and recipes.