My favorite thing to do every week that makes me feel good and keeps me on a Nutritarian eating plan is to make a big huge fresh salad. I use my Weight Loss Salad recipe every time because it’s just a basic formula for making a salad, but then I use whatever veggies I have in my fridge to create something new. It keeps it interesting and ensures that I’ll never get bored — there are literally an endless set of possibilities that you can use!
The Inspiration for the Salad
This particular combination was inspired by a half a head of purple cabbage that I had left in the fridge that needed to be used up. I’ve become pretty good at using up most veggies I’ve bought that week, because I look at whatever’s only got a few days left of freshness and I throw it into whatever smoothie, soup, salad, or whatever else I might be making.
So I knew I would be making a salad with the cabbage because cabbage is always best when it’s raw, as it is a cruciferous veggie — one of the healthiest! Cruciferous veggies, who get their name from the cross-like arrangement of leaves on the bottom, are among the healthiest veggies you can eat.
They have lots of fantastic nutrients (very high in nutrients per calorie) and they also contain glucosinolates, which have powerful anti-cancer protective effects. So eat as much of them as you can!
Some delicious cruciferous veggies are:
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They tend to be the ones that people like to cook first because they have more pungent or bitter flavors, but if you can stand to eat them raw (this salad recipe is a great way!) they are best eaten that way.
Then I just added in whatever else I had in the fridge and this Purple Haze Chopped Salad was born. :) Make sure to chew the salad well to get as many nutrients from the veggies as possible.
The Dressing!
I ate this one plain, because I ate it alongside a simple tomato, cucumber, dill salad, a side of roasted beets and a bowl of mushroom soup. I find that alternating between tastes of salads and soups, etc, makes it so I need very little dressing, if any at all. But if you’re not there yet with your tastebuds, feel free to use a vinegar, lemon/lime juice or even an avocado.
- 1 heart of romaine, chopped very small
- 1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped very small
- ½ small head red cabbage, chopped very small
- ¾ cup alfalfa or clover sprouts
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 2 stalks celery, chopped
- If you have the OXO Salad Chopper bowl that I always recommend, use that to chop the lettuce into very small pieces first, then add the veggies and toss to combine.
I bought an Oxo salad bowl and chopper after I saw you use it on this blog because I, too, eat lots of huge salads (a la Fuhrman). My chopper doesn’t chop well, bruising the Romaine and other lettuces and cannot chop green onions, etc. Am I expecting too much or do you think I have gotten a bad one that isn’t sharp? The blades do not feel sharp to the touch at all.
Also, if I may say, your videos are very good and you seem adorable, but I wish you would get to the point sooner and keep the videos shorter. I’m not always really busy, but I have a limited amount of time that I want to spend watching them. I certainly do not want to hurt your feelings by saying this.
Thank you for your comment! So the chopper isn’t really meant to chop green onions and things like that, it’s really just for the lettuces and softer things like peppers. Just don’t use it with tomatoes or cucumbers either because it will just smash those. The point of using this bowl, from my perspective, is to get the lettuce suuuuuuper small. You’re going for 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch size pieces, so you can more easily fit larger portions of greens in each bite. And it makes quick work of that.
For romaine, yes it does bruise it. I don’t mind that myself. And actually, the more you chop lettuce, the more nutrition is released, so I see it as a good thing. The only thing to be careful of is if you use *too* fresh of lettuce, it will get super watery and that is a thing I do not like. I really dislike a bunch of water at the bottom of the bowl. It’s especially helpful for kale and greens like that as well.
And as far as the videos go, you are commenting on a post without a video so I’m not sure which ones you’re referring to. My recipe videos? My vlogs? As far as the vlogs go, well they’re vlogs. So I just speak at normal speed. Many people enjoy the fact that I speak my mind on there, and they enjoy watching them to relax and as a distraction, so I will keep those how they are.
As far as my recipe videos go, I usually keep them between 1-3 minutes. That’s too long for you? I try to put relevant information that is helpful for a Nutritarian to learn, so it’s not really possible to make them shorter. I really make them as short as possible, using fast forward techniques, etc. If you prefer short recipe videos, I suggest you check out Buzzfeed for those. The personality and tips are what set mine apart from Buzzfeed, and I actually value that and think it’s helpful for people who want to watch recipe videos and learn how to make something. Maybe next time you watch, you can just skip ahead to the recipe part by using the fast forward dial on the video, if you don’t appreciate the other information.