This is a salad you can make in 5-10 minutes. I make sure I always have ingredients for salad, this way, no matter how busy it gets, there’s always time for a large bowl of salad, and your daily dose of veggies and fruit is guaranteed.

Everything here is interchangeable: swap baby lettuce with arugula or spinach, swap mango with another sweet fruit such as peach, citrus with another acidic fruit such as kiwi; any nut or crunchy topping works. The main idea is combining colors flavors and mouth feel. Making your own dressing is very easy.

Ingredients:

For the salad

·       5-7 ounce washed and dried organic baby lettuce (the boxes and bags of tripled washed greens in supermarkets are great!)

·       1 ripe mango, chopped

·       1 grapefruit or orange, chopped

·       A handful of roasted sliced almonds

·       A handful of hemp hearts (optional) 

For the dressing

·       4 tablespoons olive oil

·       2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

·       1/2 teaspoon of agave

Preparation

1.     In a large bowl, place salad leaves with the rest of the salad ingredients.

2.     In a cup or small jar, mix the dressing ingredients with a fork or by shaking the jar

3.     Add the vinaigrette to the salad right before serving, toss well, correct seasoning if necessary.

Basic salad dressing principles:

All you need is oil, acid and a bit of sweetness. The classic proportion of oil to acid is: 2 to 1.

Oil: Extra virgin olive oil is my first choice, toasted sesame and other tasty oils, or a combination of them, are nice variations.

Acid: balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, orange juice, any other vinegar

Sweet: a tiny touch of agave or honey for balance

Additions, completely optional: chopped herbs, mustard, finely grated ginger, crushed garlic, salt and pepper.

Dr. Ayala