Spring Greens
Etta and Luca found the Spring greens delectable this past weekend. We went outside between rain showers to bring in Swiss chard, mustard greens and mizuna from our mesclun mix we planted in the Fall. Mesclun is a mix of young greens ranging from mild to spicy. Many seed companies will make their own signature mesclun mix. Spring is a perfect time to plant a mix that suits your taste buds as a way to add more leafy greens to your diet. I often recommend leafy greens for many reasons. Leafy greens are rich in calcium, magnesium, potassium and iron, which make them excellent for the treatment of muscle spasm, constipation, and iron deficiency anemia. Plant based iron is more difficult to absorb compared to iron from red meat so just add lemon to the greens as Vitamin C will help iron to be absorbed in the small intestine. You can also purchase an organic Spring mix from your local grocery store or farmers market if you do not have a garden.
A little side note, for those individuals who have hypothyroidism, I recommend they limit goitrogenic foods like spinach, cabbage, broccoli and soy (for a more complete list visit whfoods.com and type in goitrogenic foods). These are typically wonderful for your health, however if you have hypothyroidism, goitrogenic foods can block the production of thyroid hormone. Steaming goitrogenic foods will reduce their goitrogenicity. Now say that three times! Here is a quick salad I made for my family.
Enjoy!
Serves: 4-6
Salad:
5 ounces spring mix
10 medium to large organic strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup raw or roasted sunflower seeds
Sea salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Dressing:
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons coconut or dairy kefir
- In large salad bowl combine the spring mix and strawberries.
- In small jar combine the dressing ingredients and whisk until we’ll blended.
- Add the desired amount of dressing to the salad mixture and toss. Sprinkle with sunflower seeds salt and grind some fresh ground pepper and serve.
Just in the nick of time! The Karlin boys (Tom & great-nephew Brady) chopped up all the veggies for a gigantic salad bar lunch, but dressing…. dressing… I know! I’ll go look up Anna’s recipe blog! This turned out great. So surprised that it didn’t need sweetener. The heat was just right, too — not like peppery condiments that make Mom cough. Thank you, Anna, for gracing our table with this easy and tasty recommendation for salad dressing!