Experience Nutrition

Tag: salad

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Arizona Winter Salad: Arugula and Avocado

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    It’s fun to intuitively create a quick salad with an avocado base and a few farmers’ market goodies. Today’s Arizona Winter Salad features a few of my very favorite goodies from our local Arizona farmers, including incredible carrots and arugula. Plus, an avocado, which adds to the richness of the salad with its good healthy fats. And, I included a whole grain, with left-over brown rice in the refrigerator.

    Thanks to Turkish Fair Trade Imports, LLC for the great Turkish Basil Extra Virgin Olive oil and to the Uptown Farmers’ Market and Arizona farmers – Steadfast Farms for the incredible carrots, and McClendon Select for the fresh arugula.

    Steps to Create a Quick Winter Salad

    Step 1: Choose a few organic produce. Plus, an olive oil, whole grain, and fresh herb.

    A-winterAZsalad-IMG_8861

    Step 2: Get your mise en place – everything into place – with veggies chopped and mindfully organized.

    a-winterazsalad-img_8868.jpg

    Step 3: Decide which ingredients to pair together for the salad. Today’s pairings: Arugula, tomatoes, sea salt, brown rice, and basil olive oil. Avocado pairing: the avocado, carrots, tomatoes, and fresh Arizona lemon. When you are pairing your ingredients, have fun and use your intutition. There are no right or wrong pairs.

    A-winterAZsalad-IMG_8870

    Step 4: Toss the arugula ingredients to coat the leaves with olive oil, lemon, and sea salt.

    Step 5: Gently mix the avocado ingredients and press into a ring mold.

    Step 6: Plate and enjoy! I had fun playing a little with the sweet carrots!

    A-winterAZSalad-IMG_8918

    A-winterAzsalad-IMG_8920

    If you are looking for more simple culinary skills, recipes, and ideas to cook intuitively, check out my book, “A New View of Healthy Eating.”

    A-IMG_5209

  • A New View of Healthy Eating: Daily Healthy Recipes by Melanie Albert: Salad Inspired by Arizona Farmer’s 3 Pound Lettuce

    by Melanie A. Albert, intuitive cooking expert, author, speaker, Founder & CEO Experience Nutrition Group, LLC

    I was so excited at the Uptown Farmers’ Market in Phoenix this week to see huge lettuce grown by Tom at Latchkey Gardens. The lettuce was so heavy, I asked Tom to weight it…it was an amazing 3 ¼ pounds.

    Today’s intuitive salad features this lettuce, local Arizona farmer’s produce, and offers you some culinary ideas to create your own unique salad. Take a look at the techniques used to create this fresh farmers’ market salad and choose one or two add to your own salad creations.

    • Step 1: Get organized with a few of your favorite fresh veggies. Today I’m excited to make this salad with local Arizona farmers’ produce including a tangerine (thanks Community Exchange), carrots (thanks Steadfast Farms), tomatoes (thanks Tiger Mountain Foundation), along with asparagus, avocado, walnuts, and my favorite olives and capers.

    a-img_8621.jpg

    • Step 2: Make the 3-Ingredient Salad Dressing. Start with an acid, add twice as much fat, and a little sea salt to create the base for your dressing. Today’s acid is a tangerine and the fat is organic extra virgin olive oil. I added fresh thyme for extra flavor. Experiment with other fresh herbs and/or minced garlic.
    • Step 3: Peel a few carrots. Place carrots in a bowl with ice and water to curl.
    • Step 4: Add a quick steam / sautéed veggie. Try a quick steam and saute a veggie, such as asparagus. Place the veggie in a small pan with a little water on medium heat. Onc water has cooked the veggie, add about a tablespoon of olive oil to saute.

    A-IMG_8666

    • Step 5: Add broiled avocado. Quick broil avocado with a little olive oil and sea salt.

    A-IMG_8669

    • Step 6: Tear the lettuce into bitesize pieces and place in a large bowl. Gently toss and coat the lettuce with the salad dressing.
    • Step 7: Add other ingredients to the lettuce to create your salad. Be creative using your local farmers produce. Today’s salad features carrots, tomatoes, asparagus, avocado, walnuts, olives, and capers.

    A-IMG_8685

    • Step 8: Mindfully plate your salad and enjoy.

    Action: Have fun creating your own lettuce salad using a new culinary technique. Share photos of your salads with us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/NewViewHealthyEating

    Melanie’s book, “A New View of Healthy Eating: Simple Intuitive Cooking with Real Whole Foods” features 54 simple plant-based recipes, 3 wild salmon recipes, and 84 simple culinary techniques.

    IMG_2592