We all know that the best foods for a healthy body and mind are fresh fruits, nuts, legumes, and vegetables. Not only do they provide the dietary fiber, essential vitamins and minerals, and great flavors to keep you engaged with their bounty of overall goodness, they support an alkaline environment in your digestive system. Salads with lots of alkaline-promoting veggies in them are a great way to make sure you’re doing the best you can to promote good health.
The alkaline salad dressing recipe below uses avocado instead of the usual olive oil—as avocados are high on the list of alkaline foods—, and by adding the lemon juice and salt, you’ve got a delicious and colorful dressing. It’s great as a dip, too!
Eat the Rainbow
If you’ve been reading about healthy diets lately, you’ve probably come across the term “eat the rainbow.” It simply means that the more colorful fruits and veggies on your plate, the healthier you’ll be. The items in this salad are quite colorful: pink radishes, deep green avocado, bright orange carrots, rich red peppers and tomatoes, and yellow lemon.
Choosing Your Veggies
We’ve chosen the most colorful, crunchy, and tasty veggies for this salad, and the pumpkin seeds and lemon wedges only increase its nutrition. And adding cilantro and basil to the dressing not only deepen the luscious color, they provide added vitamins and minerals. If you don’t have all of the ingredients listed, feel free to substitute whatever else that appeals to you; just make sure they’re fresh and, even better, organic.
Healthy Crunch Salad with Alkaline Dressing
Ingredients
- 1 head romaine or other firm lettuce
- 4 radishes
- 1 medium cucumber
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 medium tomato
- 2 thick slices red onion
- 1 ripe avocado
- Juice of 1 lemon and lemon wedges for garnish/added seasoning
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ cup fresh basil leaves
- ½ cup fresh cilantro (stems ok to include)
- ½ cup toasted pumpkin seeds
Slice the avocado in half and remove the pit. Scrape the avocado into the bowl of a food processor. Add the lemon juice, basil and cilantro leaves, and salt. Add ¾ cup of alkaline water and process until completely smooth. Add more water if necessary to achieve a smooth consistency.
Wash all the vegetables thoroughly. Tear the lettuce into bite-sized pieces. Cut the red pepper in half and remove the seeds and stem. Peel the cucumber, but don’t remove the seeds. Chop the vegetables into small pieces and add to a large salad bowl. Toss the salad well.
Arrange the salad on a platter with the dressing drizzled over the top. Sprinkle the pumpkin seeds over the salad. Serve the salad with lemon wedges and any extra dressing on the side.
Serves 4
