Chopped Salad and Sardines

My lunch often consists of a large chopped salad and some canned sardines that have been rinsed with water and splashed with lemon juice (so no one at work can smell the sardines)! I love chopped fresh veggies, and I often prepare enough for a few days and store it in the refrigerator at work. Especially in the summer – but anytime of the year as well – I enjoy this healthy and low-carbohydrate lunch!

For more information on what I put into one of my favorite chopped salads and why I chose these veggies, see the short video/podcast that I did with my sister – who was kind enough to agree to participate without any notice at all. In fact, as soon as I called her on her cell phone to ask if she would work with me on this, she pulled over in her car and we did this video/podcast with her on her cell phone and me on my regular speakerphone.  So this video/podcast is totally unrehearsed, and yet I think it came out really well! I’m still amazed!

Since we did this podcast, I have come up with another idea I want to share with you. If you do not like sardines that much, you can get used to eating this very healthy fish, gradually. For example, you could bake a mild fish like Dover sole; let it cool; and then mix it in with the sardines. Over time, you can add more sardines and less sole. I made this half-half mixture and added LOTS of chopped fresh dill, and it was great!

Kitchen tips on how to do some of the things mentioned in the video:

Zest lemons or limes (and freeze the fresh juice in small quantities for use later)

One way to cut a ripe avocado into chunks and another way to cut a ripe avocado into chunks

Note: Wash the avocado before you cut into it!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Thyme and Lime Flavored Blueberries with Tofu Avocado Cream

Blueberries are BEAUTIFUL…DELICIOUS…and HEALTHY! No wonder they are one of my favorite foods!

For a comprehensive and authoritative summary of the many health benefits of blueberries, see the excellent Huffington Post article (published online in 2011) by Leo Galland MD.

This post is about an awesome blueberry dessert — one that reminds me of a mixture of blueberry pie and key lime pie – but guilt-free! And, yes, this recipe involves parchment paper, which might make it seem difficult and complicated, but trust me, working with parchment paper is easier than wrapping a present! And the results are dramatic and delicious! This dessert will delight you and wow your guests! I guarantee it!

And…if you have kids at home…you might want to ask them to help you — or let them make it all by themselves. This recipe is really EASY and FUN to make!

So let’s get cooking!

Thyme and Lime Flavored Blueberries with Tofu Avocado Cream

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 cups fresh (or frozen) blueberries
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh squeezed lime juice
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons cold tap water
3 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped

1, 10-ounce block of firm tofu
1/2 medium-size, ripe Hass avocado
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

For garnish: fresh blueberries and fresh thyme leaves

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Cut 4 pieces of parchment paper, each 12 x 12 inches. Place each square of parchment paper over a small bowl (for example, a cereal bowl). Carefully place 1 cup of the blueberries into the center of each piece of parchment paper. (Note: This takes two hands, because with one hand you need to make a well in the center of the paper for the blueberries.) Set bowls with blueberries aside.

In a cup (or small bowl), mix lime juice, honey and water until fully mixed. Spoon 2 tablespoons of this mixture over each serving of blueberries. Then sprinkle the fresh thyme leaves evenly over the blueberries.

Using 4, 18-inch pieces of raffia or kitchen twine, tie each bundle of blueberries tightly and finish it off with a little bow.

Place the 4 packets of blueberries onto a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees F. (Note: I tested the time with frozen blueberries, and it was the same!)

While the blueberries cook, place tofu, avocado, honey, vanilla extract, salt, and thyme leaves (2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves) into the work bowl of the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Process for 30 seconds; scrape down the sides with a spatula; process again for 30 seconds to 1 minute; scrape again, and process again if needed, until fully blended and smooth. Using a spatula, remove the tofu avocado cream from the food processor and place the cream in a small bowl. Garnish with fresh blueberries and a sprinkling of fresh thyme leaves.

When the blueberry packets have finished baking, remove the baking sheet from the oven and let the packets of blueberries cool on the baking sheet for about 5 minutes.

To serve, place each packet of blueberries in a small shallow bowl and then place each bowl on a plate. As you can see, the packets are very dramatic and beautiful! So this is how I like to serve them at the table. But to make it easier to eat, it’s good to trim the packets to within about an inch of the tie. So I pass a pair of scissors around the table and let everyone do their own trimming.

After a little trimming — and a lot of laughing about how this reminds everyone of kindergarten — it’s time to open the packets. (Be prepared for “oohs” and “ahs”!) Then pass the bowl of Tofu Avocado Cream so everyone can top their blueberries with a dollop or two.

Ingredient notes

• Blueberries –  This recipe should be made with highbush (cultivated) blueberries (not the small wild blueberries).
• Lime juice – If you don’t have fresh limes, use store-bought organic lime juice which comes packed in glass jars. A really nice product to have on hand!
• Thyme leaves – You can store fresh thyme leaves (on stems) in your freezer so it’s ready when you need it.
• Tofu – For this recipe, use the tofu that comes packed in water and found in the refrigerated section.

Equipment notes

• Parchment paper – The unbleached parchment paper (kraft or light brown color) can be found at health food stores and it is a much better choice than the bleached (white) parchment paper. Who wants bleach leaching into their food?!
• Raffia – I like the look of raffia (what you see in the photos) but plain kitchen twine will do. If you choose raffia, make sure it’s the natural raffia – not plastic. Plastic will melt in the oven.

Recipe note

• I have entered this recipe into the “Make It – Blog It – Win It! Blueberry Recipe Contest for Bloggers.” Results will be announced on or before 20 September! (I will let you know how it turns out…) Meanwhile, if you would like to leave a message about this recipe, please do. I’m sure the contest judges would like to know what you think!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Chocolate Banana Gelato

Chocolate Banana Gelato with Blueberries

This gelato is made from frozen bananas. You may wonder: Why feature a recipe made from bananas when bananas are not one of the more nutritious fruits? According to the ANDI scoring system of nutrient density, bananas rate a mere 30, while strawberries are 212, and cantaloupe comes in at 100. Why do bananas score so low? Because they’re not chock-full of fiber, vitamins, minerals, or phytochemicals.

In addition, per unit weight, bananas are quite high in sugar, and very respected medical nutrition experts have been waving the red flag against sugar.

But what if bananas came packaged with cocoa – which is rich in antioxidants, proanthocyanidins, and many polyphenols? Then the ANDI scoring system would surly give bananas a much higher score! So…

• Step one: Add cocoa to bananas as we do in this recipe.
• Step two: Enjoy this gelato at the end of a meal – especially at the end of a meal loaded with fiber — not as a snack all by itself (as explained by the medical nutrition experts who caution against sugar, as mentioned above).

CHOCOLATE BANANA GELATO
I absolutely love this desert! And it’s a lot healthier than the square of dark chocolate I used to eat after dinner. After all, compared to even just a small piece of a dark chocolate bar, this Chocolate Banana Gelato is very low in fat and saturated fat. Just take a look at this table to see how cocoa and dark chocolate compare.

Each serving of Chocolate Banana Gelato contains 2 tablespoons of cocoa. A 1-ounce serving of bittersweet chocolate has about 1 1/2 tablespoons of cocoa, if made according to the recipe provided by Joy of Baking. So Chocolate Banana Gelato is a great low-fat way to get the health benefits of cocoa without all the saturated fat that comes with a chocolate bar!

Serves 2

Method 1 – food processor

Ingredients

1 large very ripe banana, peeled, cut into triangular chunks, and frozen (See ingredient note below.)
1/4 cup high quality cocoa (See ingredient note below.)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
a little freshly grated nutmeg
2 – 3 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk (See ingredient note below.)
Your choice of berries for garnish

Directions
Place the frozen banana chunks, cocoa, vanilla extract, and nutmeg into the work bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade. Wait a minute or two to let the banana thaw ever so slightly (makes it easier to process the bananas). Then place the almond milk into the feed tube of the food processor and process the mixture until it’s smooth and creamy.

Method 2 – Vitamix (heavy duty blender)

I don’t quite have the quantities down, but you can wing this on your own. Just use about 4 frozen bananas broken into 1-2-inch pieces (they do not have to be pre-cut into triangles). Put the bananas into the Vitamix along with all the other ingredients (in about four times the amounts shown above). Be sure that the almond milk comes up to right over the blades; if not, add more almond milk. If you have to add a disproportionately large amount of almond milk in order to cover the blades, then add about 1/2 of a ripe avocado. That will keep the resulting gelato nice and creamy!

Freeze for later

You can freeze this yummy desert for later, too.  Just freeze in individual serving dishes or in silicone muffin pans. If you are using the muffin pans, then remove the frozen individual servings and store them in a plastic bag for the freezer.  When ready to enjoy, just microwave (set on defrost) to bring the frozen gelato to the right consistency.

Ingredient notes

Banana - cut into triangular pieces

Bananas – For food processor only: Cut the banana into triangular pieces as shown in the photo so that there is more surface area for the blades of the food processor to grab onto, which helps the processor process faster and better.  Also, when you freeze the banana pieces, spread them out on a baking sheet so that they freeze individually, not clumped together. This will make it a lot easier for you to remove just the quantity you want when you are ready to make your gelato.

Note: Click on photo to read details

Penzeys High Fat Cocoa – Be sure to choose a pure cocoa powder – not a cocoa mix that contains sugar and other ingredients! I like Penzeys Natural High Fat Cocoa, even though it has more fat than cocoa not labeled “high fat.” But the Penzeys product is still not high in fat when you compare it to chocolate itself! And this Penzeys Cocoa is also not Dutch processed, which is good because Dutch processing (adding alkalizing agents) destroys some of the antioxidants in the cocoa.

Almond milk – It’s best to use almond milk rather than dairy milk because dairy foods interfere with the absorption of the antioxidants in cocoa.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Applesauce Made in the Crock Pot!

Apples, pears and apricots waiting to be made into applesauce

This is a very easy recipe, and the applesauce is absolutely delicious — a lot tastier than store-bought applesauce. It’s also much less expensive than most organic, store-bought applesauce, especially if you buy apples at a good price. (I find that Trader Joe’s 2-pound bags of organic apples are usually available at a reasonable price. These apples are the smaller size ones, but that’s just fine!)

I shared some of my homemade applesauce with my friends at work today and they loved it!  Unfortunately, I had none left when one of my colleagues came into the kitchen foraging for a snack and left with a plate of potato chips and a bottle of orange soda…his fruits and veggies! : – (

BASIC RECIPE

Ingredients

4 pounds of apples – any you like. Here is what I used:

• 3 pounds of organic honey crisp apples (or another rather sweet apple with thin skins)
• 1 pound of organic Granny Smith apples (or another rather tart apple)

Notes:

• If you can, use only organic apples. That’s because apples are one of the most pesticide-laden fruits according to EWG’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides – a reliable resource.
• You might not want to make applesauce with all Granny Smith apples because it would be too tart. And I found that the skins of the Granny Smiths were quite thick and more noticeable in the applesauce than the skins of the Honey Crisp apples.

1 cup of filtered water

1 tablespoon lemon juice (or less if you prefer a less tart applesauce)

Directions

Cut the apples (skins and all)  into chunks. Put the apple chunks into the crock pot, add the water, and lemon juice; cover and cook on low for 8 hours. Remove the lid and use a potato masher to lightly mash the apples until they turn into a chunky applesauce. But keep mashing if you want a less chunky sauce.

RECIPE VARIATIONS

Instead of just apples, use apples plus:

• Pears
• Frozen organic berries
• Dried cranberries
• Dried chopped apricots (I like the unsulfured apricots. That’s why you see brown-looking apricot pieces in the photo.)

You may want add:

• Ceylon cinnamon . Sprinkle cinnamon on the individual servings, as desired.
• Mix some ground flax seeds into the applesauce.
• Top with yogurt.
• Top with walnuts.

More information….

• Heirloom apples in the USA – Many hairloom apples are in danger of extinction… See what the Ark of Taste program sponsored by Slow Food USA is doing to keep these apples and other heirloom fruits and vegetables from going extinct.
• Grow your own organic apple trees! Learn how from Michael Phillips of Lost Nation Orchard, author of The Apple Grower.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Roasted Tomato and Roasted Garlic Soup

Roasted Tomato and Roasted Garlic Soup

I went to the farmer’s market and came home with about 20 pounds of tomatoes – all seconds. What a delight to have so many beautiful tomatoes of all sizes, colors, and stripes! And what fun to take the afternoon to turn these beauties into a delicious soup!

With just a few simple and healthy ingredients, this wonderful and healthy soup is easy to make. It just takes time.

To find out more about how tomatoes, garlic, thyme, and oregano help to prevent cancer, see these earlier posts:

• Tomatoes
• Garlic
• Thyme and oregano

Ingredients

about 20 pounds fresh tomatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

12 Monamifood Smooth and Mild Garlic Flavor Cubes

Fresh thyme

Fresh oregano

Freshly ground black pepper and a little salt, to taste

A few extras, if desired:

• A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
• A few tender tips of fresh thyme
• A squeeze of fresh lemon – very nice, especially in cold soup!

Directions

Prepare the tomatoes for cooking:

• Large size tomatoes – Using a sharp serrated edge knife (cooking gear recommendation at end of this post), remove the spoiled sections of each tomato. Cut each tomato in half (through the widest midpoint; not thru the stem). Separate the large tomato halves that feel soft from those that feel hard.

• Small and medium size tomatoes – Using a sharp serrated edge knife, remove the spoiled sections from each tomato.  This will result in odd shaped pieces. That’s perfectly OK.

Take two, full-size baking sheet pans (with lips on all 4 sides) and line each one with a silicone baking mat, such as such as a Silpat mat. (See cooking gear recommendation at end of this post.) If you do not have a silicone baking mat, that’s OK, you can use parchment paper or just use  a silicone pastry brush and brush the baking sheet with olive oil before you place the tomatoes on it.

As your oven and the number of baking pans you have permits, fill each silicone lined baking pan with either:

• Large and hard tomato halves, face down

• Large and soft tomato halves face up

• Small and medium size tomatoes so that as much of the cut sides of tomatoes are exposed as possible

Notes:

• When tomatoes are placed cut side down, they roast AND steam at the same time, which helps large and hard tomatoes cook faster. When placed face up, the tomatoes just roast, which probably gives a slightly better flavor, but I decided to opt for faster cooking which also takes less energy.
• If you need to reuse the same pan to roast a second batch of tomatoes, be sure to wipe the surface of the baking sheet and the silicone mat with a paper towel to remove the burnt, or soon-to-burnt, bits that will end up tarnishing the taste of the soup.

Generously grease all of the exposed surfaces of the tomatoes with olive oil. (I just poured about a tablespoon of olive oil — per baking sheet — into the palm of my hand and rubbed the exposed surfaces.)

Start preheating the oven to 450 degrees F.  (Note: No need to waste energy waiting for the oven to preheat; just pop your baking sheets into the oven as soon as they’re ready to go.)

• Place the baking pan with the large tomato halves on the top rung of the oven.
• Place the baking pan with the small and medium tomatoes on the shelf that’s two rungs below the top rung.

Here is the timing that worked for me:

• Hard tomato halves, face down on the top rung of the oven — about 60 minutes or until they looked like this:

• Soft tomato halves, face up on the top rung of the oven — about 40 minutes or until they looked like this:

• Small and medium size pieces of tomatoes when cooked at the same time as the large tomatoes — about 40 minutes, but they were on the third rung of the oven, underneath a pan with the large tomatoes.

When the roasted tomatoes have cooled down enough to handle, use your fingers to slip off the peels; discard the peels. As needed, use a sharp serrated edge knife to cut off the hard stem ends and cut the large tomato halves into a few smaller pieces. Discard the stem ends.

Place the cooked, peeled, and stem end-removed tomatoes into a large non-aluminum pot. (Aluminum reacts with tomatoes.)  Pour the juices from the baking pans into the pot.

Here’s what my 20 pounds of tomatoes cooked down to!

Using an immersion blender (cooking gear recommendation at end of this post) chop/blend the tomato pieces so that you get a smooth yet chunky mixture. Heat the mixture over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until steam starts to rise from the pot. During this time, stir the pot occasionally with a sturdy silicone spatula and scrape the bottom of the pot so as to prevent burning. When the steam starts to rise from the pot, turn off the heat. (Cooking briefly helps preserve the fresh taste of this soup.)

Add 12 Roasted Garlic Flavor Cubes (mine were made in a silicone mini-muffin pan and were only ½ inch high) to the pot and then stir to dissolve and mix the roasted garlic into the soup.  Using a pair of sharp kitchen shears, cut the fresh herbs finely and let them fall directly into the soup. Stir to mix.

Note: I don’t think you have to measure the herbs, just use as much as you like. This photo will give you an idea of how much I used:

Fresh tender thyme and oregano on saucers

I did not cook the soup any more at this point. I just cover the pot and let the herbs meld into the soup for about 15 minutes.

Soups on! (Thanks to Ricky Dahne for the beautiful bowl)

• To serve hot, heat and serve as is or mixed with a little fresh squeezed lemon juice. with a little olive oil drizzled over each serving and a few tender tips of fresh thyme for garnish.

• To serve cold, refrigerate the soup in small glass bowls (so it can cool down quickly) and then, if you like, mix in some fresh squeezed lemon juice. Serve garnished with olive oil and fresh thyme, if desired.
• This soup freezes well.

Cooking gear

Note: I do not have a relationship with any of the companies whose products I mention on this blog. I simply want you to know about my favorite cooking and food related products are so that you can have a more successful cooking experience.

• My favorite serrated edge knife that’s great for tomatoes and other soft fruits and veggies with skins is Ergo Chef’s “Knuckle Sandwich 5 ½ inch utility knife – ‘Draggon Dagger’ with Fork on Tip”.  I had a hard time overcoming the look of this knife, but it works so well…that I forget what it looks like! Some of you may even like its looks! If you decide to buy it, talk with the folks on the phone first; they’re very helpful. Have them explain to you how to hold the knife. Grasping a knife the right way, makes a  big difference.
• Silicone baking mat, such as such as a Silpat mat.
• Immersion blender: Phillips 4 Speed Hand-Held Blender . Only the metal parts of this immersion blender touch the food.

A few other notes….

• If you would love to make this soup — or another healthy soup like this one — but you just do not have the time…you can buy great freshly made, seasonal, salt-free, soups (made with as many organic or pesticide free foods as possible) from 100 Bowls of Soup which are carried at the Organic Butcher of McLean in McLean, Virginia. Also, when the farmer’s markets in Northern Virginia are open, you may find Katharine Mardirosian, the mom who started 100 Bowls of Soup, offering tastes of her delicious high-quality soups at the markets, including the one in Reston, VA.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Why tomatoes?

Some of the main health benefits of tomatoes, as reported by Dr. Servan-Schreiber in his book, Anti-Cancer, page 122, are:

• Lycopene in tomatoes leads to longer survival from prostate cancer in men and who consume tomato sauce for at least two meals a week.
• Lycopene and other carotenoids found in tomatoes stimulate the growth of immune cells and increase their ability to attack cancer cells.
• A study of breast cancer patients showed that those who consumed the most foods rich in carotenoids lived longer than those who consumed less (over a six year period).

Give your body the benefit of the lycopene you consume

It’s wonderful that the luscious tomato is so rich in the potent anti-cancer phytochemical lycopene. But whether YOUR BODY actually GETS the lycopene from the tomatoes in YOUR FOOD depends on how well your body absorbs the lycopene in the particular food or foods you eat.

And the absorption of lycopene depends on a number of factors:

• “Tomatoes must be cooked in order to release their lycopene.” (Anti-Cancer, page 122)
• “Moreover, olive oil improves their assimilation.” (Anti-Cancer, page 122)

So pasta sauce made with cooked tomatoes and olive oil gives you more lycopene that your body can absorb than a glass of gazpacho made with the same quantity of raw tomatoes and no oil.

Cooking a nice big pot of Monamifood's Roasted Tomato and Roasted Garlic Soup

Sun-dried tomatoes

What about sun-dried tomatoes? Are they absorbed as well as cooked tomatoes?

The research I can get my hands on doesn’t clearly answer this question…but I think we can draw our own conclusion from some bits and pieces of information that I could find.

First, it takes 20 pounds of fresh tomatoes to make one pound of sun-dried tomatoes!
So naturally there’s 20 times more lycopene in sun-dried tomatoes than in fresh tomatoes.

How many pounds of fresh tomatoes does it take to make one pound of cooked tomatoes? According to Colorado State University researchers:  “Approximately 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 1 quart of canned tomatoes” – which is roughly 2 pounds of canned tomatoes.

OK, then let’s make this simpler and say that 3 pounds of fresh tomatoes makes 2 pounds of canned tomatoes. So, there must be about 1 ½ times more lycopene in the canned tomatoes than in the fresh tomatoes (3 divided by 2 = 1.5).

And since canned tomatoes are flash-cooked, let’s assume that cooked tomatoes also have 1.5 times more lycopene than fresh tomatoes.

One and half times more lycopene in canned or cooked vs. raw tomatoes is good, BUT 20 times more lycopene in sun-dried vs. raw tomatoes is even better. Or said another way, sun-dried tomatoes are 13 times richer (20 divided by 1.5 = approx. 13) in lycopene than canned/cooked tomatoes. And that’s a good thing, wouldn’t you say?

Now…let’s think about this. Because there is SO MUCH MORE lycopene in sun-dried than in cooked or canned tomatoes, even IF lycopene is not as well absorbed from sun-dried as from cooked or canned tomatoes, that’s probably not an issue. After all, you start out with 13 times more lycopene in sun-dried vs. canned/cooked tomatoes!

And…sun-dried tomatoes – preserved in olive oil — are so incredibly delicious! So I happily include sun-dried tomatoes in my own anti-cancer diet.

More good information about tomatoes, tomato products, and the packages they come in, as relates to cancer from Eat to Beat Cancer.

Enjoy and be healthy,

~Leni

Note to Readers: Mushroom Contest – My recipe is on the web!

Hi everyone,

I just entered a mushroom recipe contest sponsored by Taste of Home. For this contest, entrants had to create a recipe using mushrooms, and I created the appetizer recipe, Shitake ‘Bacon’, Avocado and Mango Bites.

I can’t publish this recipe on this blog because I entered it into a contest so it’s the property of the sponsor of the contest. But you can see my recipe on the Taste of Home web site.

As you know, mushrooms have significant anti-cancer properties, so these Shitake ‘Bacon’, Avocado and Mango Bites are not only delicious, beautiful, and easy-to-make, but they are very HEALTHY besides!

I think you will LOVE these Shitake ‘Bacon’, Avocado and Mango Bites. They’re a BIG hit around here!

The contest has not yet been judged so I do not know if my recipe will take a prize….but I sure hope so. And if you would like to rate the recipe and write a review, just go to the link on the Taste of Home site!

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Why Mushrooms?

Shitake, maitake, enokidake (enoki), cremini, portobello, oyster, and thistle oyster mushrooms all contain substances which stimulate and strengthen the immune system. In Japan, mushrooms are used as an immune-boosting compliment to chemotherapy.  (Anti-Cancer, David Servan-Schreiber, page 123)

What about white button mushrooms?
White button mushrooms also have a significant anti-cancer effect.

Other mushrooms?
For information about ALL the different medicinal properties of many different kinds of mushrooms, check out: Wikipedia.

Why thyme and other herbs that are part of the ‘labiate family’?

The herbs in the “labiate family,” for example, mint, thyme, marjoram, oregano, basil and rosemary are rich in a substance called terpenes “that have been shown to act on a wide variety of tumors by reducing the spread of cancer cells or by provoking their death.” (Anti-Cancer, David Servan-Schrieber, page 109).

For recipes with thyme, see:

Thyme and Lime Salad Dressing

Roasted Grape Tomatoes with Thyme

Spinach and Onion Crustless Quiches

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni

Baby Romaine and Arugula with Tomatoes, Blueberries and Mango

Did you know that…

• Baby romaine lettuce comes in absolutely gorgeous deep red and green leaves?
• Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable and therefore has the same anti-cancer properties as broccoli and cabbage?

This salad of Baby Romaine and Arugula with Tomatoes, Blueberries and Mango is stunningly pretty, absolutely delicious, and wonderfully HEALTHY — a great way to enjoy summer’s bounty.

BABY ROMAINE and ARUGULA with Tomatoes, Blueberries and Mango

For each serving of salad

1. Fill a dinner plate with a couple handfuls of Olivia’s Organics Baby Romaine (absolutely gorgeous green and red leaves) and one handful of Olivia’s Organics Baby Arugula.
2. Scatter 1/2 cup of each of the following over the salad greens on the plate:

• bite-size chunks of tomato
• bite-size chunks of peeled mango (I used a champagne mango.)
• fresh blueberries

3. Scatter 1 tablespoon of chopped walnuts over the salad greens.

4. Scatter 2 teaspoons of fresh thyme leaves over the salad greens. (See tips about fresh thyme leaves below.)

5. If desired, sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of Fresh Lime Salad Dressing (see recipe below) over each serving.

Ingredients – Fresh Lime Salad Dressing

To make 1 serving (about 2 tablespoons):

2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

To make 4 servings (about 2 tablespoons per serving):

2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions – Fresh Lime Salad Dressing

Place the salad dressing ingredients into a little bowl and mix with a fork or a little whisk until fully mixed.

TIPs: Fresh thyme leaves

1. If the thyme  is very tender and you are using the tips of the plant, then you really do not need to take the leaves off the stems. Just use a pair of kitchen scissors and cut the stems and the leaves into small pieces.
2. If the thyme is not that tender, then you will want to take the leaves off the woody stems. Here’s a nice trick for doing that easily!

• Wash the fresh thyme and spin dry it.
• Place the spun-dry thyme into a quart-size plastic bag for the freezer and freeze.
• When the thyme has frozen, remove the bag with the thyme from the freezer, and without opening the bag, take hold of the sprigs of thyme and rub them vigorously against each other. Very soon, almost all of the leaves of thyme will fall off the stems and end up in the bottom of the freezer bag!
• Now when you need a teaspoon of fresh thyme, just spoon it out of the freezer bag!
• Note: To be kind to the environment, re-use the plastic bag — without washing it. When you’ve used up all the thyme leaves and only the stems remain in the bag, keep the stems for your next pot of soup. Also keep the empty plastic bag, as is, in the freezer until you have some more fresh thyme to put into it.

Enjoy and be healthy!

~Leni