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Eat The Rainbow Paleo Salad

August 17, 2016
Rainbow paleo salad with fork

Rainbow paleo salad with fork

I know what you’re thinking. Are you seriously going to write a recipe for a salad? Yes. I seriously am. Because I take my salads very seriously. And I really do not understand why they are so underrated as a meal. They’re either the obligatory side dish or a necessary evil in dieting hell.

WHY?

I think it’s because people are making them the wrong way.

What are you putting in your salads? Lettuce. Tomatoes. Cucumber. Ranch. Ugh. That is SO 10 years ago. Where's the color? Where's the variety? Where's the WHOLE REASON we eat salads? To give us one big dose of highly nutritious ingredients all at once. Duh!

Salads – done right – can be showstoppers. In one bite, you can have crunchy, creamy, crispy and kale-y goodness. You can bring ingredients together that normally never associate with each other – for one big party in a bowl. Mango and avocado. Kale and pomegranate. Almond butter and charred broccoli.

Saute a few carrot shreds in coconut oil, caramelize some onions in ghee, add some well-seasoned chicken, juicy ground beef or even a tin of tuna on top, and you’ve got yourself one of the best entrées on the menu, my friends. (Note: I do not mean combine all these ingredients together. That's just silly).

Becasue I am concerned for your relationship with this vital meal, today, I share with you…

The BEST salad I ever made.

No joke. Search this entire blog and I’ve never said that before because it’s a bold claim.

This baby is warm yet cool, crunchy and creamy, melts in your mouth, but with a refreshing finish. And best part, it’s SO full of nutrients. You know how I know why? Because it’s RAINBOW COLORED!

Random flashback moment:

Rainbow Brite flashback.

ANYWAYS.

Where was I? Colors, right. Different nutrients give different colors to the foods they are in. And get this. It's all on purpose. Mother nature planned it that way. GENIUS!

Plants can't get up and walk around, right? So the way they literally spread their seed is by attracting animals and organisms to them with their good looks and vibrant colors. Animal likes what he sees. Animal eats. Animal hops, crawls, runs, or flies away. Animal poops out seeds somewhere else. And tada! A whole new pretty plant. So it's in their favor to stand out and look attractive.

But wait! There's more.

In addition to the pigments looking good, they also can protect the plant from UV damage, enable photosynthesis, and even act as antioxidants for the plants. The better the protection they provide, the longer they live. We humans, in turn, cash in on these benefits when we eat the plants ourselves.

Which brings me back to this beautiful salad. Let's see what we got here…

Red Cabbage
The blue tint in red cabbage (anthocyanins) –> keeps your mind sharp.

Green Kale
The deep green in kale (indoles and isothiocyanates)–> increases the production of enzymes that clear toxins from the body.

Orange Carrots and Sweet Potatoes
The orange in carrots and sweet potatoes (beta carotene) –> keeps your bones strong, your eyes healthy and boosts your immune system.

Crimson in Beets
The dark crimson in beets (Betacyanins) –> works in conjunction with vitamin C and manganese to offer benefits for eye health and overall nerve tissue health in addition to functioning as anti-inflammatory compounds.

Boom.

Forget the weird, unpronouncable words. Just eat the colors! Eat all of them. Red, orange, yellow, green blue, purple. Look out for them at the grocery store. Try weird veggies just because they're colorful. ROYGBV it up!

They're not just good for you, they're just plain GOOD.

You ready for this? I thought so.

Rainbow paleo salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 Heirloom Carrots
  • 1 Small Sweet Potato
  • 1-2 Tablespoons Coconut Oil
  • Bowlful of Kale
  • Red Cabbage, chopped
  • Hemp Seeds
  • 1 Tablespoon Beet Dip – See here for beet dip recipe.

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Shred one carrot; chop the other carrot. Set aside.
  2. Shred the sweet potato using a vegetable peeler. Don't kill yourself trying to shred the whole thing up. Just get as far down as is comfortable and use the rest of the potato to chop up and saute later if you'd like.
  3. Heat coconut oil on pan and toss sweet potato shreds on. Saute until slightly crispy – 5 minutes-ish. Remove from pan to a side plate.
  4. Add more coconut oil to the pan and toss on carrot shreds. Saute until slightly crispy – 3 minutes-ish. Add shreds to sweet potato plate.
  5. Chop up kale so that it’s in nice bite-sized pieces. Put in salad bowl.
  6. Mix in red cabbage and chopped carrots.
  7. Top with sweet potato and carrot shreds.
  8. Scoop beet dip on top. Note, it's not TOTALLY necessary if you don't have the time to make it, but I highly recommend it. It's kind of what sends this salad over the edge. Might I suggest, too, that you just use sliced cooked beets as an addition if you don't want to make the dip.
  9. Sprinkle with hemp seeds.

Paleo Beet Dip with a lemon wedge

 

Much Love,

http://www.healthystacey.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/HealthyStaceySignature.jpg

P.S. Make it easy on yourself and Pin this baby!

 Eat The Rainbow Salad Pin

Rainbow paleo salad
Eat The Rainbow Paleo Salad
Print Recipe
Rainbow paleo salad
Eat The Rainbow Paleo Salad
Print Recipe
Ingredients
ACV Dressing
Servings:
Instructions
  1. Shred one carrot; chop the other carrot.
  2. Shred the sweet potato using a vegetable peeler. Don't kill yourself trying to shred the whole thing up. Just get as far down as is comfortable and use the rest of the potato to chop up and saute later if you'd like.
  3. Heat coconut oil on pan and toss sweet potato shreds on. Saute until slightly crispy – 5 minutes-ish. Remove from pan to a side plate.
  4. Add more coconut oil to the pan and toss on carrot shreds. Saute until slightly crispy – 3 minutes-ish. Add shreds to sweet potato plate.
  5. Chop up kale so that it’s in nice bite-sized pieces. Put in salad bowl.
  6. Mix in red cabbage and chopped carrots.
  7. Top with sweet potato and carrot shreds.
  8. Scoop beet dip on top. Note, it's not TOTALLY necessary if you don't have the time to make it, but I highly recommend it. It's kind of what sends this salad over the edge. Might I suggest, too, that you just use sliced cooked beets as an addition if you don't want to make the dip.
  9. Sprinkle with hemp seeds.
  10. Pour ACV dressing on top and aggressively mix it all together.
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Super Healthy Omega-3 Sardine Salad Recipe

August 12, 2015

Writing this blog often makes me realize that I am not following my own advice. I've written a lot about inflammation, including my most recent cauliflower post. But one of the most important things you can do to keep your inflammation low is increase your Omega-3 intake. And although I make a great effort to cook fresh fish once a week, I think I could be doing a lot better.

So I decided to reassess and see how I can shove it back in. 

I started by adding a spoonful of Omega-3 oil to my smoothie every morning. This made a noticeable difference. For one, I feel more satisfied after my breakfast. And because I am also giving up coffee for a bit (more on that later), I found that it increased my energy and morning concentration.

Feeling these differences only made me want to get even more in my diet. But not through supplementation. Through food.

Enter: the sardine.

Sardines at Jewel

Ahhh, the sardine. The bottom of the aquatic food chain. The kind of canned fish that you’ve passed a million times in the grocery store, but most likely never even considered picking it up. The kind of topping that Michelangelo would put on his ‘za. (The turtle, not the artist).

I know, I know. Your face just scrunched up at the thought of eating one. But in all seriousness, sardines are one of the best and most underrated health foods out there. Better yet, they’re also one of the cheapest. I'm talking less than $2 here. And because they are at the bottom of the food chain – feeding solely on plankton, their mercury levels are much less of a concern than other fish higher up on the food chain.

Need more reasons before you dive in? Well, let me see…

Vitamin D $$Rich$$

This is the stuff that you're supposed to get from the sun (but if you live in Chicago like me, the rays can be PRETTY hard to catch). Sardines have an unusually high amount (one can gets you 63% of your daily intake). Plus, they are a great source of phosphorus, a mineral that is important to strengthen the bones.

Loaded with Protein

Protein = Amino acids.

Amino acids –> Create new proteins.

Proteins = Basis of muscles and connective tissues, antibodies that keep our immune system strong, and deliver oxygen and nutrients throughout our bodies. Good stuff.

Hearty Heart Health

Sardines actually rank as one of the THE MOST concentrated food sources of B12 in the world (one can will get you to 100% of your daily intake). Vitamin B12 promotes cardiovascular wellbeing.

Very Mineral-y

This is one of the few cases where getting the can is even better than getting fresh because with canned sardines, you’re getting the whole animal – bones and all. Don’t get grossed out; sardines are so small and cooked so thoroughly that even the bones are soft enough to eat, providing a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, and healthy fats in one easy peasy package. I’m talking 35% of the recommended daily intake in one can.

Oh yeah, and the whole point – They are Omega-3 ROCKSTARS

They are one of the most concentrated sources of the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, which have been found to lower triglycerides and cholesterol levels; one can of sardines actually contains over 50% of the daily value for these important nutrients. One can is actually equivalent to taking a fish oil supplement, but with even more added benefits. That’s insane.

Anyways, enough chit chat for today. I’ve got a great recipe to help you get a little sardine love in your life. I’m 99% sure that, even if you don’t think you like sardines, you’ll like them like this. And everything else in the recipe is also really, really good for you. Can’t go wrong. Right?

Much Love,

HealthyStaceySignature

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SOURCES

  1. http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=147
  2. http://paleoleap.com/eat-this-sardines/
Super Healthy Omega 3 Sardine Salad Recipe
Print Recipe
This may be the easiest, quickest meal recipe I've ever put on this blog. It is stupid, simple, but ridiculously satisfying and really really good for you. Every single ingredient is beneficial to your health. I know what you're thinking - SARDINES? Yes, sardines. If you're ever going to love them, it will be in this form. So go ahead. Un-scrunch your face and give them a try. You just might LOVE them.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Super Healthy Omega 3 Sardine Salad Recipe
Print Recipe
This may be the easiest, quickest meal recipe I've ever put on this blog. It is stupid, simple, but ridiculously satisfying and really really good for you. Every single ingredient is beneficial to your health. I know what you're thinking - SARDINES? Yes, sardines. If you're ever going to love them, it will be in this form. So go ahead. Un-scrunch your face and give them a try. You just might LOVE them.
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Servings Prep Time
1 person 5 minutes
Ingredients
Servings: person
Instructions
  1. Slice your 1/2 avocado in a grid, then scoop out the meat with a spoon OR literally squish both sides of the shell together and squeeze out the avo.
  2. Toss the rest of the ingredients in there - including your sardines! And mash them up with abandon.
  3. Eat up and reap the benefits.
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