Eating salads is one of the easiest ways to make a fast, wholesome meal while maintaining a healthy diet. But they can also get old, quickly, which can tempt you to grab a fast food alternative. Before you grab the phone and order take-out, give this recipe a try.
Spicy Southwestern Salad is a delicious salad any time of the year, but for raw food or live foodists, it’s particularly nice during the winter because the spices are very warming. The resulting dish is both filling and festive—red, yellow, green, purple—and tastes like a southwestern fiesta!
Ingredients
- 4-6 Romaine leaves, washed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 cups of baby greens, preferably arugula or mixed wild greens
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced julienne (long, thin strips)
- ½ yellow bell pepper, sliced julienne
- ½ cup purple cabbage, chopped
- ½ to whole cucumber, sliced in big pieces on a diagonal
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ¼ cup chopped cilantro
- ½ to whole avocado
- Handful of raw sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds for garnish
Dressing
- 2-3 tablespoons olive oil (use your discretion)
- ½ lime, juiced
- 1 teaspoon of ground chipotle pepper (best) or ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
- Dash of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of course sea salt
- Ground pepper (optional)
Optional garnish
- Handful of fresh alfalfa or clover sprouts
- Lime wedge
Directions
- Combine all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl, mix well and set aside
- Wash (and spin, if you have a salad spinner) all salad greens and set aside
- Slice the red pepper and place it in the bowl with the dressing, and toss well. Do the same with the cabbage and cucumber. This will allow the spices to saturate the vegetables, which will give your salad the spice you’re aiming for
- Add salad greens, parsley and cilantro and toss with the vegetables until coated.
- Arrange salad on two dinner plates (for entrée-sized salad)
- Top salad with sliced avocado, a sprinkle of pumpkin or sunflower seeds, an additional sprinkling of olive oil and some ground pepper. Add sprouts for more liveliness and color, and serve with a lime wedge.
- Tip: toss the pumpkin seeds with olive oil and a dash of chipotle and warm them in the dehydrator for an hour or more before serving.
This meal is especially flavorful served with a frozen fruit sorbet for dessert. If mango is in season, that’s your best option. An hour or so before dinner, chop 1-2 mangos into pieces and place in a dish or Tupperware in the freezer. After dinner, place the mangos in a Vitamix or blender, and blend until smooth.
Throw a few leaves of fresh mint into the mix for a really refreshing treat. Serve in martini glasses with a sprig of mint or some fresh raspberries, and you’ll have the perfect end to a delicious meal.
Related articles: Middle Eastern Salad Recipe
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