By Elizabeth Herman | Posted: November 18, 2019
Transformative, creative, vegan cooking means you can make a vegetable side dish into a salad dressing, a salad into a main dish, or a sauce into a soup. This salad recipe was something I happened upon when I had some leftover salad and leftover steamed beets.
After a big lunch, there wasn’t much need to cook a hot main dish at dinner time. So the salad with the rich, creamy beet dressing became an entire, delicious, refreshing meal.
How nutritious was this salad?
Lettuce, spinach and kale all grow well in cooler weather. One cup of raw kale has 3 grams of protein, 2.5 grams of fiber, numerous vitamins, and omega-3 fatty acids. Spinach has protein, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, vitamin A, and folate. Romaine lettuce is packed with minerals like folate, and vitamins C and K, and calcium, among other valuable nutrients.
Pumpkin seeds are known to help prevent diabetes and bone disease. They’re high in magnesium, potassium, and calcium. Beets contain beta carotene (as do the carrots), fiber, potassium, and are known to help prevent dementia and heart disease. Avocado has monounsaturated fat and polyunsaturated fat, both of which are needed for heart health and good absorption of nutrients.
So considering all the ingredients, this was one of the healthiest meals I’ve ever had. Eating healthy has never tasted so good! Since I began finding creative ways to combine vegetables and use them for my own best interests, the meals I produce in my kitchen have meant more to me and have given me vibrant, unbridled joy.
Tossed salad ingredients
⅓ cup baby spinach
⅓ cup baby kale
⅓ cup chopped romaine lettuce
1 tbsp. Pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp. Grated or shredded carrots
¼ avocado, cubed
Dressing ingredients
½ cup sliced, steamed beets marinated in a dash of apple cider vinegar, a dash of flax seed oil, a pinch of fenugreek, and salt to taste
3 dashes of lime juice
3 dashes of flaxseed oil
Instructions
In a food processor, or using a blender, blend the beets with the lime juice and oil until smooth and creamy, add salt to taste and blend a little bit more.
Sprinkle the dressing over the tossed salad ingredients, toss until evenly distributed, and enjoy.
Salad in fall and winter
As the cool fall and winter weather makes us hungrier for hot, hearty dishes, an occasional salad can lighten things up and help refresh your palate. The dressing described here gives you the root vegetables you might be craving as it gets colder, and the avocado and pumpkin seeds make the dish even richer and heartier.
I hope you’ll keep enjoying salads in the wintertime, and use them as a way to feature the foods we need all year long.
Elizabeth Herman writes, offers writing support to clients, teaches, and volunteers for a better world. She has a PhD in Rhetoric, Composition and Literature. Find her on Facebook or Twitter.
