Anti-Inflammatory Salad

Tis the season for cookies, charcuterie boards, cocktails, wine, pastries, well if it was a typical holiday season it would be. Don’t get me wrong there will still be some of these things, or most, but not as many as usual in 2020.

Since it isn’t a typical year, and won’t be a typical holiday season, we’ve prioritized things differently and with that we spent the weekend outdoor since it was unseasonably warm! Again we got lost in the woods in at the lot we will hopefully build our dream home at the end of next year. Last week was crazy and I got some recipes through final recipe testing but didn’t get them photographed over the weekend as planned. Adapting is where it’s at this year and with everyone home, chasing Baby G around, and the sun setting so early the best time for me to photograph is weekends but they’ve been crazy. I tried to photograph last week and G was covered in chocolate after helping mama (check out my Instagram for a giveaway today, or to see what I was trying to photograph with help from little hands).

So I decided to share a recipe first posted over 2 years ago that is still in rotation here and also fitting as I’ve been craving it and it’s packed with nutrients our bodies need probably more than ever. While 2020 is far from our healthiest year I’ve been trying to get back to it as much as possible without stress (yep ordering groceries is stressful and doesn’t always show up as planned) and my body is craving the green juices, smoothies, salads, buddha bowls, and of course hot cacao and sourdough.

I hope you’re having a wonderful holiday season, despite the year it’s been and trying to find peace and joy!

Original post Feb 2018:
Monday after Super Bowl many people might be feeling a salad after indulging in delicious game day eats. That along with it being Meatless Monday seemed like the perfect time for sharing this Anti- Inflammatory Salad. I was planning on sharing this weeks ago but it was one of the many recipes that I accidentally erased the photos for. I cleared a card from my camera thinking I had uploaded them to my computer but grabbed the wrong card. Which means I will have to re-photograph many recipes I had planned to share this month.

One of the top recipes pinned on the blog in the last year is my Anti-Inflammatory Buddha Bowl. Which just happens to contain foods that I love and enjoy often. This is a quick and easy salad that can be thrown together for a quick and easy lunch or dinner. While I’m not a big fan of salad kits there are a couple that have been staples for years like the Sweet Kale Salad Mix. There are many brands that now make a Sweet Kale Salad Mix. Usually I get the big bag from Costco that Eat Smart, but they sell smaller bags at many other stores and I’ve seen a couple other brands including one at Trader Joe’s. There is a difference with the Trader Joe’s one though as it contains a different nut/seed blend packed and has dried blueberries instead of dried cherries but either will work in this salad. I then transform these salads with different toppings and make my own dressing. It’s an easy way to get a variety of greens without having to buy them all, or prepping them, which is what I love.

One of my favorite ways to transform this salad is this Anti-Inflammatory Salad, a close second is one I make with apples. For this salad you can either purchase pre-cooked refrigerated beets or if you meal prep you can roast your beets ahead. I usually make this with just red beets but sometimes I like to have fun and use golden beets. I just happened to have some pre-cooked golden beets I bought at Trader Joe’s. The only thing about them is they put something with them so I rinse them off. If you pick up refrigerated pre-cooked beets the hardest part of making this salad is shaking, or blending, together the Turmeric Vinaigrette. Not that cooking beets is hard it just takes time to roast them and when you get the craving for this salad and don’t have beets already roasted sitting in the refrigerator refrigerated pre-cooked make it easy.

Besides tasting good and having texture this salad packs some serious nutrition so it meets all my requirements! Anti-inflammatory foods are something I focus on for recovery especially as I age and my body doesn’t handle the stress of exercising as much as it use to. In order to maintain a very active lifestyle I focus on these foods. One of the best ways to heal our bodies is with whole food nutrition. I love turmeric and ginger, golden turmeric milk is a favorite and recipes that use them. Here are a few favorites. Did you know that there are many other anti-inflammatory foods? Many that I’ve included in this salad as well as many others that I consume on a regular basis.

A breakdown on the anti- inflammatory foods in this salad:
Kale is an incredibly effective anti-inflammatory food, potentially preventing and even reversing these illnesses.
Beets are a source of phytonutrients called betalains. Betanin and vulgaxanthin are the two best-studied betalains from beets, and both have been shown to provide antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support
Blueberries, and cranberries, I think we all know are packed with antioxidants and phytoflavinoids. These berries are also high in potassium and vitamin C
Pumpkin seeds are filled with minerals including phosphorus, magnesium, manganese, iron and copper. Pumpkin seeds, along with many other seeds and nuts, help reduce inflammation.
Turmeric supports a healthy immune system as it’s packed with antioxidants and includes great anti-inflammatory properties.
Ginger is well known for it’s anti-inflammatory properties. To help relieve nausea, help with digestion, and for helping relieve pain and reduce inflammation.

Again I’m not a doctor or a dietitian but I do my research and try to pack in as much nutrition, superfoods, and anti-inflammatory foods to aid in my recovery. There aren’t any miracle foods but any way I look at it you can’t go wrong with healthy whole food nutrition or consuming any of the foods in this salad.

Meatless Monday, or any day, this salad is a winner in my book! Thank you for joining my co-host Deborah and me for another Meatless Monday. I hope you are inspired by this recipe and the ones linked up below. Have a Meatless Monday recipe to share I hope you link up with us below.