Monday, June 21, 2010

Mango, Apple and Mint Salad


Sometimes you just want a salad, or least that is what happens to me. ;-) I seem to crave healthy vegetables and fruit particularly in the summer. Yesterday was one of those days for me. After spending so much time on the new refrigerator project all I wanted was salad. Here is what I made:

Mango, Apple and Mint Salad
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon red miso
2 tablespoons mirin
¼ cup fresh mint, julienned
1 romaine heart, finely julienned
1 cup spinach, julienned
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced
1 red delicious apple, diced (red delicious have the highest level of antioxidants)
2 tablespoons walnuts

Directions:

Whisk the miso and mirin together and set aside. Add more mirin if you want the dressing to be thinner.

Combine the mint, romaine and spinach and toss to evenly distribute. Place half of the greens on each plate. Top with the fruit and drizzle with the dressing. Finish with walnuts on top.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 230.3
Calories From Fat (22%) - 51.81

Total Fat - 6.83g
Saturated Fat - 0.78g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 362.14mg
Potassium - 1268.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 48.07g
Fiber - 11.64g
Sugar - 27g
Protein - 7.25g

Comments:

This is a salad I put together quickly last night from what I had on hand. It is definitely better than the sum of its part. I had the same thing today for lunch. If you like mint this is really good. The one thing that I wished I had for this was teriyaki walnuts for garnish. Today I have a small test batch of raw teriyaki walnuts in the dehydrator. We should know by tomorrow how that experiment turned out. I can’t wait to sample one or two, LOL.

Unrelated note:

Sorry I haven’t been around this morning it has been a very busy day. Starting the day earlier to exercise and taking 45 minutes to make raw veggie and fruit juice for Dan to take to work means my morning have gotten more hectic. After Dan left for work I walked to the grocery store to pick up a few veggies, carrots, celery and broccoli sprouts. I prefer to walk to the store to get more activity into my day. I feel all the little things like that add up. Today has been another scorcher so I also needed to spend a little time watering the garden so my little plants didn’t fry in the heat.

It was noon before I had a chance to kick back a little. I used that time to whip up the teriyaki walnuts I mentioned above. Now I still need to make something for dinner, and figure out what that is going to be. I also still need to write up the prostate cancer prevention steps. My day seems to get away from me more often than it should. *shakes head*

I hope everyone is having a great day, for a Monday. ;-) I will be back later with a post or two.

14 comments:

  1. I think I will be whipping up a similar salad for myself tonight minus the mint as I don't have any. I have had an upset stomach lately so for the next few days I am going to eat 100% raw.

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  2. She Woke Up,

    You should plant some mint. I started with one little plant and how I have more than I can use. It roots easily and grows like a weed, literally. LOL

    Sorry to hear about your upset stomach. I hope you feel better soon,
    Ali

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  3. My mint got out of hand and I decimated it this spring. I think I still have some spearmint, though ... do you use spearmint too?

    I know what you mean about days "getting away from you", today was one of those for me too. Cooking is sooooo time consuming! But I did make a couple pounds of beans, hummus, chili, veggie burgers and kale soup. Plus I listened to the final DVD in Dr. Greger's 2009 set...wow wow wow! Why aren't those studies publicized? I've been eating a little fish and chicken here and there, but that's going to change. But then we're extremely limited on places to eat out...you're so lucky to have a chef friend that will cook for you. I guess we can get the salad bar at Ruby Tuesday if we bring our own dressing. Or maybe some pizza with whole-wheat crust and vegan cheese at a local joint, although we'd like about 5 times the number of veggies they put on it!

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  4. Laura,

    I am surprised your mint didn't come back. I have friends that swear they can't rid of it, LOL. I do use both spearmint and peppermint. But normally I use peppermint only because that one is more abundant in my yard. ;-) But we do take a gallon ziploc bag full to our chef friend each time we go to keep it to a dull roar.

    Cooking can be time consuming, particularly when you are doing everything from scratch. My favorite "non-traditional" pizza is to spread hummus on the par cooked crust like sauce and top with roasted veggies. Many restaurants can make that one. We also like it with basil pesto in place of marinara and sliced tomatoes and a few pine nuts for texture.

    I agree with you that we are very lucky to have a chef friend so close otherwise we wouldn't go out much at all. Do you have any local Asian places with brown rice? Most of them have at least a few veggie dishes. Sushi places are a great option too. All the ones around here have veggie sushi plates.

    Glad to hear you are enjoying the Dr. Greger DVDs. I ordered the 2010 DVD on Friday. I can't wait for it to arrive. *shakes head* It is a shame I am such an nutrition geek, LOL.

    Ali

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  5. Lovely salad! That's about all I have had time for the last few days. My dad is in the hospital, so much of my time has been spent there. Good thing we like salad, raw fruits and veggies, they are fast!

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  6. Janet,

    I am so sorry to hear about your father. =( He is going to be okay isn't he?

    hugs,
    Ali

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  7. I also ordered the 2010 DVD and look forward to getting it.

    I forgot about the nearby Thai places, which do serve brown rice. I'm not sure how much oil they use, but at least there are lots of veggies, plus tofu if I want it. Dr. Greger said that red rice is better for us than brown-- do you use it more often? I don't see it in the store very often and haven't eaten it in years.

    I'm sure my mint will come back, at which point I'll put it into a pot and kill the rest because it was springing up all over the place, even in the grass.

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  8. Ali, he has a pulmonary embolism and is on meds, blood thinners to try and dissolve it. He's feeling good though. The dr. said anyone who has had cancer is at higher risk for that, which I didn't know. My dad has had cancer twice. That also means my son is at higher risk for it. Scary.

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  9. That salad sounds great. I'm not really a big mango fan (Jason is) but I think I might enjoy the textures in this salad.

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  10. Janet,

    I hope the blood thinners work for your dad. Thanks for the info on the pumonary embolism issue. I will discuss that with the oncologist and see what details I can get and will share that with you.

    hugs,
    Ali

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  11. Laura,

    I agree that most restaurants use way too much oil. I always ask that they go easy on the oil and hopefully they do.

    We aren't eating much rice now but I do use red rice when I find it. My healthfood store doesn't always have it. I need to check Amazon for it. Thanks for the reminder. ;-)

    My mint is running wild too. Good thing I really like it, LOL.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  12. Heather,

    Sounds like Jason likes a lot of the sam ethings I do and you are more like Dan. He isn't crazy about the texture of mango but eats it because it is good for him. ;-)

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  13. Ali, do I understand correctly that it take you 45 minutes to make the veggie juice (I assume that includes clean-up)? I was going to pull out my old juicer, but now I'm afraid to!

    Also, do you get different kinds of kale where you are? They have at least 3-4 types at our store. I bought the regular green kale (cheapest) the other day and find it has a more bitter taste than the red kale I used last week. It's also chewier and less pleasant to eat raw, as in a salad. When making a smoothie or soft serve, do you cut out the center (stalky) part?

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  14. Laura,

    Yes it does take me 45 minutes to make fresh juice in the morning. But that is because I clean all the produce and cut it just before juicing, and I make 8 cups of juice each morning. When I was making 2 mugs of juice it only took me 10-12 minutes. I seem to be getting a little quicker but it still well over 30 minutes even when I rush.

    My favorite kale is lacinato but I also like the red kale. When I make the soft serve I include the stem but I shred the leaves and stem and put them in the blender first with the liquid and nuts so that they get completely pulverized before adding the frozen fruit.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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