Arugula & Farro Wheat Salad with Pesto Dressing: The Perfect Heart Healthy Spring Salad!

If you are looking for a new twist on salads, this is a great healthy option that is loaded with flavor!  Pesto is a great dressing for salads- not just pasta- and we must admit, we are hooked 🙂

Whether it’s for one, family dinner or even great for a party or BBQ , it will be sure to please!  Try left over vegetables from your previous meal and toss them in, really, anything goes…

What you need:

• Fresh Arugula
• Toasted Farro Wheat
• Baby Spinach
• Grape Tomatoes
• Grilled Asparagus
• Onion
• Pesto

Farro

Farro is a whole grain and soft on the outside, a bit firm and crunchy on the inside and worth it to give it a try!  Simply pour grain in pot and cover with water (a couple of inches above the grain) and bring to a boil, then simmer for about an hour.  You don’t need to soak them but you certainly could to increase your body’s ability to digest it.

Pesto

There are so many ways to make a really, really good pesto so play around and Try it!  We have a favorite that we talk about HERE   but here is another suggestion:

(for a salad and some extra)

• 1 cup of basil or 1/2 cup basil, 1/2 parsley or cilantro
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 1/2-2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp lemon
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp pine nuts or walnuts

Throw in a Vitamix or blender and Ta-Da!  Your new salad dressing 🙂

Kale and Quinoa Salad (The Beautiful Skin, Hair & Nail Salad)

Don’t believe it?  Try it.  We didn’t believe it either and as a thirty something year old, I bought kale for the first time a few years ago after reading about other people’s experiences with clearing up acne and having hair with luster and shine.  I wanted and needed those same results and that’s exactly what I got!  If you have dry, dull hair or problem skin (cystic acne or otherwise), read on…

 Unlike many of you, I didn’t grow up eating kale.  Honestly, a few years ago I had to Google kale to see what it looked like!   If you have never had it before, there are many ways of consuming kale: steaming, baking or using a dehydrator for kale chips, raw and of course, making smoothies and juicing.  (Stay with me here, don’t lose me if any of those ideas horrify you at first glance.)  

Once heat is used to cook anything, vital nutrients are lost.  In this case, we encourage you to focus on eating it raw to get the most benefits from your food.  Remember, the darker the green, the better it is for you!

This is an incredibly simple salad:

• kale
• cooked quinoa  (great if you have leftovers, throw it on a salad!)
• red onion sliced thin
• sunflower seeds (seasoned or not, play around with the seed and nut aisle and treat yourself to various flavored or spicy nuts or seeds for a little topping on a salad or throw on some raw for extra benefits)

If you enjoy dressing, go for it.  If someone were to have told me years ago that I would a) eat kale b) add kale to a smoothie or c) eat a salad without dressing I would have thought they were off their tree.  Clinically insane.  Not a chance years ago. (I was a nose scruncher back then when it came to anything remotely healthy, let alone vegetables.  Yes, now eating a vegan diet, funny, right?)

Now, if I add anything, it is simply squeezing some lemon juice from 1/2 a lemon on top and massaging it in.  If you have tahini, I recommend mixing up tahini, water and some lemon and salt to make a great little dressing to drizzle on top which is absolutely delish’ too!

If you have a favorite dressing then use that, we don’t care- as long as you take the first step and eat the leaves, that’s all we wish for you! 🙂

If you have never eaten kale before, let us offer some recommendations:

• Chop it up into small pieces or thin strips and add to a salad with greens that you are used to especially if you are used to eating light green or white lettuce such as an iceberg (which is nearly all water!)
• Try adding some leaves to your fruit smoothie (ex.  frozen strawberries, banana, almond milk and ice cubes) and yes, you will watch it turn green but I promise you if you can get over the color, the taste surprises everyone!  Add some raspberries to make the color more of a vibrant purple for added nutrition and to appease the eye if you like 🙂
• Massage your kale!  I know it sounds weird but by ripping up the leaves into smaller pieces (remove the stem) and once in a bowl, squeeze some lemon on top (salt and pepper too if you like) and use your hands and rub all of the leaves.  You will notice that the leaves become softer and a more vibrant green
• Experiment with different kinds!  There are different types of leaves and colors and of course, try and stick with the organic.

Pay attention for 24 hours – 2 weeks:

• You will notice that you will be more regular because you are consuming fiber which is like Earth’s toothbrush and it sweeps out all of the built up “gook” in your system.  This is a good thing and you will notice that you will feel, what we describe as, “lighter”.
• If you have dry, limp hair especially you will see some awesome benefits with your hair gaining luster and shine but it takes a couple of weeks and consuming the kale daily.
• If you already have great skin, you will notice a healthy glow.  For those that have issues with their skin, as I did, I’m so excited for you to see real results!  Remember, I have nothing to benefit from you eating it but YOU surely do and there is nothing to lose!
• Expect people noticing.  From personal experience I can assure you, get ready for compliments because those around you WILL notice and often times, it will be their observations and compliments that will bring it to your attention.  Enjoy the spotlight 🙂

You have to eat, right?  Why not TRY IT!  It certainly can’t hurt, only help 🙂

Crazy Carrot Wednesday- 20 Carrot Recipes to Try!

In my quest of having the family get in the habit of trying new foods, I bought some purple, orange and golden yellow carrots.  If anything, it was worth seeing the expression on their faces that made it all worth it!

I happen to need to eat with my eyes first so the more color on our plates, the happier I am that we are serving a nutritional plate of goodness for each of us.  If you can’t find purple and yellow carrots at the store, keep an eye out for one day that they may have them in the future.  In the meantime, if you haven’t eaten many carrots lately, I’m sure you will be successful in finding a recipe or three that you and whoever you are cooking for, will love!

Fun carrot facts:

• Carrots were not originally orange.  Back in the day they were purple or red with thin roots
• What’s up, Doc?  Maybe Bugs Bunny was on to something since the first carrots were grown for medicine
• Research shows that colorful carrots may help prevent heart disease and cancer & reduce cholesterol
• Eat/drink too many orange carrots and you WILL take on an orange/yellow pigment in your skin (called Carotenemia) because of beta carotene, a form of Vitamin A in the carrots

Question:  Are carrots better for you eaten raw or cooked?

No one loves a glass of fresh carrot juice better than I (although, I will admit, I will stick with drinking orange carrots since the purple carrots have a slight peppery taste and the yellow are a bit sweet and mild).  I happen to eat half of my meals raw each day because there are many nutrients that are lost when cooked one way or another.  However, there are exceptions to the rule when it comes to eating and being able to process certain foods.  (So the answer is both!)

Picture bubble wrap for a moment:  when it comes to nutrition and eating certain foods, there are a ton of nutrients that are inside the item but you have to pop all the nutrients out.  This is one reason why it is SO important to chew your food well which most of us are very guilty of NOT doing.  50-100 chews per bite is what is recommended to ensure that you break down the food and make it accessible for your body to absorb the nutrients.  This is why juicing is a great thing from a nutritional perspective because it pops all the “bubbles” releasing the nutritional benefits (especially kale!)

• Research has shown that when you eat a raw carrot, only 3% of the entire beta-carotene (Vitamin A) is released.
• Falcarinol is a substance found in carrots that has been found to reduce the risk of cancer (cancer cells grow more slowly when exposed to it)
• When boiling or steaming whole carrots, you lose 30% of falcarinol
• When boiling or steaming pre-cut, small carrots the loss is higher at 60%.
• Boiled/steamed carrots are easier to digest and preserved antioxidants (carotenoids) rather than frying.

Ok, now that you know more than you thought that you would ever want to know about this common (or not so common) root veggie, go on out and try some of these awesome ways to enjoy this nutritious wonder!

(Common sense input:  if honey is called for, substitute with agave or other sweetener.  Butter, use earth balance.  Etc)

1. Fresh squeezed carrot juice  (can be as addicting as cigarettes?)
2. Roasted Carrot Soup
3. Carrot salad
4. Roasted carrots
5. Carrot muffins (using earth balance as opposed to butter/margarine)
6. Hummus and veggie wrap
7. Vegetable sushi
8. Potted carrots (great idea for the kids!!!  with a vegan ranch dip)
9. Simple carrot fries
10. Moroccan Carrot Dip
11. Marsala glazed carrots with hazelnuts
12. Carrot cake cupcakes
13. Marmalade Candied Carrots 
14. Roasted Vegetables with Pecan Gremolata
15. Carrot cake oatmeal
16. Carrot pancakes
17. Lunch Box carrot slaw with apples and vegan yoghurt
18. Carrot, Avocado and orange salad
19. Marinated dill carrots
20. Brown sugar sweet overload carrots

Enjoy 😉  TiV