Healthy Salads

On days when I feel like having an all-raw and relatively light meal, I turn to some type of salad with a handful of raw nuts. Yesterday, I found a recipe for baby spinach salad with pecans and Bosc pear in a wonderful raw foods cookbook called Living Cuisine. I tweaked the recipe a bit, taking into account the ingredients that we had on hand in our kitchen, and proceeded to have a truly memorable salad meal.

If you enjoy healthy salads that provide a number of contrasting textures and flavors, I encourage you to give the following recipe a try. Did I mention that it's really good for your health? It's rich in calcium, iron, folate, healthy fatty acids, healthy protein, and complex carbohydrates, including fiber.

If you're looking for a delicious and filling vegetable that is super rich in health-promoting antioxidants, look no further than the humble sweet potato.

Sweet potatoes are rich in a number of micronutrients, the most prominent of which are vitamin C and beta-carotene; both are powerful antioxidants that can significantly decrease your risk of experiencing cardiovascular disease, including diabetes, and various types of cancer, including colon cancer.

I'm constantly on the lookout for recipes that call for raw red beets, as these root vegetables contain a variety of nutrients that can help prevent heart disease and certain types of cancer, especially colon cancer. Red beets are also rich in B vitamins, including folate, which makes them useful for preventing birth defects.

If you're looking to include foods in your diet that can help to promote and maintain strong and steady blood flow through your circulatory system, give this simple and delicious fig, citrus, and romaine lettuce salad recipe a try.

Figs provide a number of minerals that directly or indirectly support your cardiovascular system, the most prominent ones being potassium, manganese, and calcium.

This salad recipe is rich in a variety of minerals, including calcium and phosphorus, making it good fuel for the development and maintenance of healthy teeth and bones.

Sardines are naturally plentiful in omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D, which are also needed in your system to support your teeth and bones.

This salad brings together a rich blend of antioxidants, easy-to-digest protein, and cucumbers that make it cool and refreshing for after a workout or on a hot day.

Be sure to dry the berries before combining them with the dressing ingredients.

Please note: although most people who cannot tolerate dairy products tend to have no problems digesting small amounts of cottage cheese, if you are apprehensive about including any amount of dairy in your diet, this recipe is just as good without the cottage cheese. The combination of balsamic vinegar and lime juice really seems to enhance the natural flavors of the berries.

Tomatoes, tomatoes, and more tomatoes. This delicious salad recipe brings together three varieties of one of summer's healthiest fruits to make for a light but satisfying meal.

Tomatoes are rich in naturally occurring vitamin C, beta-carotene, and vitamin K. They also contain many other vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients, including lycopene. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that numerous studies indicate has the ability to reduce your risk of developing many different varieties of cancer.

Cucumber and red onion slices combine to make a refreshing, crunchy, and sweet salad dish, perfect for the dog days of summer. If you can find smaller cucumbers, the kind used to make dill pickles, use as many of them as you need to substitute for the 3 conventional cucumbers that this recipe calls for.

The quantities listed in the ingredients section make approximately 6 servings.

This salad recipe calls for a classic combination of sweet and sour - the sweet supplied by ripe pears, and the sour brought on by the pickles and vinaigrette. It also provides a refreshing and delightful crunch from the jicama strips.

Although you can use any variety of pears for this recipe, we like it best with bosc or Bartlett pears.

If you are looking for the most delicious salad ever, then stop, because the search is over.

This recipe is loaded with bright colors and flavors, bringing together plenty of health-promoting antioxidants found in blackberries, basil, and salad greens. Just be sure to follow the tossing instructions found below to make this salad the experience that it should be.