Summer Salad Time!

What does it mean to eat healthy? For us, it is lots of fruit and vegetables, protein and finding foods that increase polyphenols in my diet. Adding polyphenols to your diet improves blood sugar levels and helps your gut, skin, and cognitive health. Polyphenols are present in the rich, green Mediterranean diet as well as foods such as blueberries, pecans, artichokes, broccoli, strawberries, raspberries, coffee, almonds, red wine, black grapes, red onions, apples, spinach, shallots, black olives, peaches, capers, dark chocolate, cocoa powder, asparagus, red lettuce, olive oil, green tea, etc. You are supposed to eat 2 grams of polyphenols per day so, dig in! Blueberries have 836 grams in 2/3 of a cup…so throw them on your cereal or put them in a smoothie…add some pecans to your smoothie (493 grams in 2/3 of a cup) and you are well on your way. Polyphenols reduce inflammation and protects you against toxins and support of many women’s health issues.

Tonight’s salad included red onions, black olives, capers, olive oil – all adding polyphenols to our diet!

Italian Chopped Brussels Sprouts Salad
Dressing
1/2 of a cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon of lemon zest
2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon of honey
2 cloves of garlic
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
I used a magic bullet to mix it all together.

Salad
1 lb. of brussels sprouts, sliced finely
1/2 head of radicchio , thinly sliced
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 cup of sun-dried or fresh cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 red pepper sliced
1/4 cup of capers
1/2 cup of black olives
1 cup of bocconcini cheese (I used 4 large and sliced them)
10 pepperoncini

Place brussels sprouts, radicchio and onion in a bowl, pour on dressing and let it sit for 20 minutes.
Add the rest of the ingredients, mix and refrigerate. Delicious as a dinner or a side dish.

Written by Pam

2 comments