Spirit as Healer, Lifestyle as Medicine
This salad tastes so incredibly fresh, and it will surprise you at how fast it is to make. It’s perfect to have ready to go for when you walk in the door and want to start nibbling. Full of volume, fiber, and nutrients – you won’t have to feel guilty for enjoying this (vs. chips). Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food (April 2009)
This recipe is a simple variation of the Cauliflower Quinoa Tabouli recipe. I love four things about both these recipes: 1) remarkable amounts of nutrition and therapeutic properties, 2) the freshness, 3) the burst of flavors in every bite from mincing the veggies, and 4) that it’s a great failproof template to mix and match veggies and acids (like lemon juice and vinegar) to create endless varieties (which leads to #1 being on your plate more often!).
Fruit and herbs together are some kind of heaven. Think of tomatoes and basil, the classic combination for a caprese salad. When in season, the sweet, herbal basil brings forth the slightly acidic taste of the tomato, so that the flavors of both components together are better than their individual parts. Basil pairs brilliantly with other sweet, lightly acidic fruits like blueberries, strawberries, plums, and peaches. You could easily swap out the strawberries in this recipe for any of them, or better yet, a mix.
We know spring is near when markets start stocking bundles of young, tender asparagus. Thin stalks cook faster, and are sweeter, milder, and don’t require peeling or trimming like thick stalks do. A simple rinse under cold water is all the prep they need. Some thin stalks will have woodier, tougher bottom ends that can be snapped off just like you’d do with thicker stalks, if preferred.
In addition to incredible volume to help keep you full, this salad provides a remarkable amount of bioactive compounds. Cauliflower is a member of the brassica family known for their powerful cancer-protecting properties. Parsley is rich in immune-supporting Vitamin C and green onions contain immune and liver boasting sulfur-compounds. Olive oil is a source of desirable monounsaturated fat and, given that all ingredients are enjoyed raw, this salad is a strong natural ‘digestive’.
Shishito peppers, until recently, were hard to find in markets. However, today they can be found in most grocery stores including recent sightings at Costco.
Here the texture of riced cauliflower pairs incredibly with the diced potato goodness of tater tots. The cauliflower allows us many more bites of tater tot than having them by themselves. Cauliflower and potato pair extremely well together in many dishes. I find it much more enjoyable to keep a touch of potato in any revised idea rather than just trying to use cauliflower as a full substitute for potato. For example, when making cauliflower mashed potatoes I always add one potato and it has made all the difference with my family. The same applies here mixing tater tots with riced cauliflower.
