Spectacular summer salad with apples, figs, mixed greens, radishes and pomegranate seeds

Vegan, gluten free

With its bounty of fruits and vegetables, the summertime is the best season of the year for salad eating and making. We can get out of our comfort zone and try new combinations of ingredients, introduce new herbs or spices and experiment with mixing our own healthy dressings. While we savor the weather and beautiful outdoors, we can easily enjoy the pleasure of these simple, healthy and affordable meal options.

In Ayurveda, salads are considered cold or cooling, which is one of the reasons why we crave them on hot or humid summer days. “Cold”, however is not beneficial for our digestive system, so adding healthy oils, warming herbs, lemon juice and black or cayenne pepper to the dressing will ease the digestion of the salad and improve absorption of its nutrients.

Please remember that salads should always be made from fresh, organic ingredients and eaten right away. If stored for more than six hours, they may become toxic and harmful to our health.

This refreshing salad offers plenty of nutrients and antioxidants and has lots of texture and crunch. It looks beautiful and I am going to make it this Sunday for a get-together with my girlfriends. I am planning to make the whole menu vegan and gluten-free, with an exception of the dessert – a cake that I saw last week in a great eatery in Three Oaks, Michigan. The recipe for the cake, if it comes out as great as it looked in the store, I may post on another occasion.

Here is the recipe for the salad.                              

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of mixed greens, tightly packed
• 2 apples (Gala, Granny Smith, Braeburn), thinly sliced
• 8 fresh figs (or 10-12 dried), cut in quarters
• 1 bunch radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup red currants, separated from the stems (optional)
• 3/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 tbsp black sesame seeds
• 1/4 cup sunflower sprouts
• salt, pepper

 Dressing:

• 1/8 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup pomegranate juice, freshly squeezed
• 2 tbsp agave nectar
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• salt, black pepper

Combine fig quarters, pomegranate seeds, red currants and sliced radishes with the dressing ingredients in a medium bowl. Mix them well together. Add the greens and apple slices and mix again. Place the salad on the plates. Sprinkle with black sesame seeds and sunflower sprouts.

Vibrant detoxifying salad with raw brussels sprouts, leeks, dried cherries, pecans and black sesame seeds

Spring is a natural time to cleanse away toxins and rejuvenate the body. It’s the season for new beginnings, renewal and growth. The changes in the nature are also affecting our physiology. Our body senses a new opportunity to cleanse itself and because we are naturally synchronized with the seasons, at this time of the year our cravings shift from heavy comfort foods to lighter, less processed, colorful plant-based meals.

With more appetite for veggies and fruits, sense of inspiration and awoken energy, losing weight could be a less complicated task than in other seasons. We tend to eat more fresh salads prepared with raw and crunchy veggies and seeds. The crunchiness is an extra bonus, especially for those who try to reduce calories intake. The extra chewing the crunchy foods require gives us a chance to register the taste better and helps us faster achieve the sense of fullness.

Now it’s a great time to make the food vibrant with colors and flavors. The colorful foods are not only visually pleasant, but also great for our health. The pigments that give vegetables and fruits their colors are antioxidants, substances that lower the risk of cell damage in the body. So, eating colorful foods is essential for our well-being. Try to include at least three colors in every meal. Add shredded red cabbage, sliced carrots or red bell peppers to green salads. Enhance their taste with berries, dried fruits or seeds. Try new veggies that you have never tasted before and discover new flavors that you may like to add to your diet on a daily basis. I discovered fennel only weeks ago. I was aware of that veggie a long time before, but had never tasted it thinking that I wouldn’t like it. Now it’s become one of my favorite plants to add to salads.

All ingredients in this salad are rich in nutrients and vitamins and help with detox. The black sesame seeds sprinkled on top will not only add a delicate crunchiness to the veggies, but have also a valuable ability to clean our bodies from heavy metal toxins, which in higher concentrations may be dangerous to our health.

Vegan, gluten free

Ingredients:

• 5-6 raw brussels sprouts, shaved or thinly slice 
  
• 1 small leek, cut into 1 in. long thin strips
• 4-5 radishes, sliced
• 1/3 cup red cabbage, shredded
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and sliced with a peeler
• 10-12 pecan, lightly toasted and halved
• 1/8 cup dried sour cherries or cranberries
• 2 tsp black sesame seeds
• salt, pepper
• pinch of cayenne
• fennel greens, chopped (optional)

Dressing:

• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp honey
• 1 tbsp olive oil

In a medium bowl combine brussels sprouts, leek, carrot and red cabbage. Add toasted pecans and dried cherries. Add salt, pepper and cayenne pepper. To prepare dressing, combine all ingredients and whisk them until blended. Toss dressing with salad and sprinkle with black sesame seeds and, if you like, fennel greens.