Summer Salads

By Dr. Brenda Cobb

Summer salads are light, refreshing, delicious and nutritious. Salad bowls full of cucumbers, tomatoes, greens, carrots, summer squash and the whole bounty of summer freshness is not only beautiful and colorful to look at, it's great for you health too.

The raw fruits and vegetables in these summer salads are best when they are organic. This assures that you are getting the optimum food value without chemicals and pesticides. A real advantage in preparing a big salad bowl is that it takes only a few minutes and if you do have any leftovers, which is doubtful since it's so good, it will easily keep in the fridge for a few days and still taste great.

Salad greens are valuable as an internal body cleanser and they boost the calcium and other minerals in your body. Cucumbers are very alkaline and cooling which helps to neutralize blood acidosis. Celery contains coumarins that are useful in cancer prevention and carrots are one of the best detoxifiers known to man and good for the liver and digestive tract. Cabbage is one of the most healthful vitamin-protective foods. It helps kill harmful bacteria and viruses, soothes and heals ulcers and helps clear up the complexion. Avocado is one of the world's most perfect foods with a perfectly balanced pH, easy to digest and very rich in mineral elements that regulate body functions and stimulate growth. Eating because it tastes good is fun! Getting the extra benefit of ultimate nutrition is an added bonus.

Try these delicious salads and enjoy the energy and lightness you'll feel while getting satisfied at a cellular level.

Use ORGANIC vegetables and pure, filtered water to wash them in.

Avocado, Olive, Cucumber, Tomato Salad

3 cups chopped cucumbers
3 cups of chopped tomatoes
fi cup of chopped pitted raw olives
fi cup chopped green onion
1 cup of chopped avocado
2 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
dash of cayenne pepper
2 Tbs. fresh chopped cilantro

If the cucumbers are waxed, peel them first and then chop into bite-size pieces. Chop the green onion including the green tops. Chop the tomatoes and avocados and slice the raw olives. Toss the cucumbers, tomatoes onions and olives together and put in a bowl with the lemon juice, sea salt and cayenne pepper. Top with the chopped avocado and garnish with some fresh cilantro. Enjoy your feast!

Cauliflower Carrot Salad

4 cups cauliflower chopped
2 cups carrots chopped
2 Tbs. dried dill
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
4 Tbs. olive oil
3 Tbs. lemon juice
1 Tbs. chickpea miso

Chop the vegetables into bite-size pieces and put in a bowl. Combine the dried dill, Celtic sea salt, olive oil, miso and lemon juice into a dressing, and then toss with the cauliflower and carrots. Eat alone or pile on top of a plate of mixed baby greens. Remember to chew really well.

Rainbow Slaw

2 cups green cabbage chopped
2 cups purple cabbage chopped
2 cups carrots grated or chopped
1 cup chopped green onion
fi cup lemon juice
fi cup raw sesame oil
2 Tbs. Nama Shoyu raw soy sauce
1 Tbs. dried mint or 4 Tbs. fresh mint
1 Tbs. dried basil or 4 Tbs. fresh basil

Chop all the vegetables and put in a salad bowl. Mix the lemon juice, raw sesame oil, Nama Shoyu, mint and fennel together in glass jar with a lid. Shake well and then pour over the vegetables. It tastes great right when you make it or it keeps for 3 to 4 days in the fridge and continues to get more flavor as it marinates.

Living Light Salad

2 cups mixed baby greens
1 sliced tomato
1 cup shredded purple cabbage
fi cup purple onion chopped
1 cup zucchini chopped
1 cup carrot shredded
1 cup red or yellow bell pepper chopped
1 cup sunflower seeds soaked in filtered
water for 4 hours and drained
1 cup mung bean sprouts
3 Tbs. raw coconut oil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. Celtic sea salt
fi cup lemon juice

Chop all the vegetables and put in a salad bowl. In a separate bowl combine the coconut oil, cumin, chili powder, sea salt and lemon juice. Mix well and then toss with the salad vegetables until all are well coated. It's delicious and you can eat as much as you want and still feel light!!!

Brenda Cobb is founder of The Living Foods Institute and author of The Living Foods Lifestyle, Colon Cleansing For Optimum Health, 101 Raw and Living Food Recipes, Get Started Now Towards Better Health, and The Living Foods Lifestyle Training Manual. For information about classes, free seminars and free banquet feasts call 404-524-4488.

References:
101 Raw and Living Food Recipes by Dr. Brenda Cobb
Whole Foods Companion by Dianne Onstad