Mexican Superfood Salad

Many of us do not eat our proposed amount of vegetables daily. The amount suggested in several meal plans I saw in my nutrition classes and proposed by medical professionals who specialize in nutrition is about 3 cups daily. I certainly fall short on many days, but I do my best to incorporate as many vegetables, especially leafy greens into my meals. It is not an easy task and takes quite some effort to buy fresh vegetables and prepare them in a way that is healthy and tasty. It is my major goal to do just this without having to eat boring food and also motivate other people to eat healthier without giving up their favorite dishes. One of the staples in my fridge is organic baby spinach which I use from pasta over sauces to fish cakes and burgers. It barely alters the taste and the only indication that it is in there is that the food turns green.

In this salad I use either cabbage or a superfood mix with sprouts, kale and shaved brussels sprouts. Even if you are not a fan of brussels sprouts (which I am) especially when it is raw (which I do not like) you will not notice it in the salad because it is chopped and mixed with many other ingredients. The creamy dressing with taco seasoning and lime juice gives it a fruity taste with a kick of Serrano pepper that really puts the crunchy raw ingredients to a different level. It tastes great with a piece of salmon or a fish cake with a dab of aioli (https://foodiewithpurpose.com/healthy-blender-bearnaise-hollandaise-and-mayonnaise-and-other-egg-based-sauces/).

The following recipe yields about 8 to 10 portions and you can divide the ingredients into halves for a smaller amount. I usually make the full recipe and nothing ever goes to waste. We eat it as a side for dinner, a small bowl of it is a quick snack for me during the day, and my husband takes it for lunch at work. It keeps for another 2 days in the fridge. My son also adds corn, but I do not like corn, especially frozen corn, which I find mushy, so I do not put it into my salad. Of course it is an option. I would recommend boiling some fresh corn or using it canned, but make sure that there are no additives in that can.

This recipe yields 8 to 10 servings and can be made in 30 minutes.

Ingredients:

Dressing:

• ½ cup home-made olive oil or store-bought avocado oil mayonnaise (like Chosen Foods)
• ½ cup organic fat free Greek yoghurt
• 1-2 Tbsp organic taco seasoning (to taste)
• 1 small or ½ large serrano pepper, finely diced (seeds removed, optional)
• Juice of one lemon
• Salt and pepper to taste

Add:

• 2 cups chopped up superfood salad mix, slaw, or crunchy greens
• 2 small organic red bell peppers, finely diced
• 1 cup chopped organic cilantro
• 1 cup chopped organic baby spinach
• 2 cups cooked or canned black beans, drained

Directions:

First make home-made mayonnaise (https://foodiewithpurpose.com/healthy-blender-bearnaise-hollandaise-and-mayonnaise-and-other-egg-based-sauces/). Add to a bowl with the other dressing ingredients and whisk until mixed thoroughly. Taste to see if you want to add more taco seasoning or add salt and pepper. Mix with all other ingredients and put in the refrigerator for at least one hour before serving.

Black Beans

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Legumes are so healthy and good for us. They contain no cholesterol, are low in fat and high in folate, potassium, iron, and magnesium. They are also high in dietary fiber, also called prebiotics, which are great for our gut health. Legumes can help lower blood sugar, blood pressure and heart rate, and are beneficial for the prevention of type 2 diabetes. Legumes contain antioxidants that help prevent cell damage and fight disease and aging.

I like to cook dried legumes myself rather than using cans. For black beans, I soak them in cold water for about 2-3 hours and then cook them in salted water for about 1 – 1 ½ hours (check after 1 hour) to then use as an ingredient in other dishes like this salad. For typical Cuban black beans I use my mother-in-law’s recipe which I will share at a later time. If I am in a rush or have no dried black beans at home, I sometimes use cans. I always have cans of organic black beans in water with sea salt (same with chickpeas) in my pantry for fast recipes if necessary. They are just as good and healthy. Just make sure you read the ingredient list on the back of your can to ensure that the only ingredients added are water and sea salt.

Probiotics vs. prebiotics

I talked about the health benefits of prebiotics, which are various types of fiber which feed probiotic strains and help our gut health by promoting the growth or good bacteria.

Probiotics are made of good live bacteria and/or yeasts and help keep our body healthy and help fight infections. They help eliminate bad bacteria and maintain the balance between good and bad bacteria. Probiotic foods include yoghurt, kefir, tempeh, kimchi, kombucha, miso, sauerkraut, sourdough bread, etc.

In the above Mexican Superfood Salad, you not only have prebiotics in the form of black beans, but also yoghurt as a probiotic. 

What makes a healthy diet?

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An Australian study (the SMILES trial) explored the benefits of a modified version of the Mediterranean diet (the ModiMed diet) on mental health. The results showed the power of this diet in improving depression. It is also the most recommended diet for the prevention of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes.

As mentioned at the beginning of this blog, the recommendation for vegetables, including leafy greens, is 3 cups per day as well as 3-4 cups of legumes per week. The good thing is that we don’t have to eat bean soups and salads all the time. These items can be easily incorporated into many of our usual traditional dishes.

Here I want to share a typical example how a modified Mediterranean diet plan could look like as proposed by one of the professors at Wageningen University:

To eat every day:

• 3 cups of vegetables, including leafy greens
• 3-4 cups of whole grains
• 1 ½ cups of fruit
• 3 Tbsp olive oil as your main added fat
• 1-1 ½ cups of dairy
• 1 ½ Tbsp of unsalted nuts
• Drink lots of water

To eat weekly:

• Up to 6 eggs
• 1 ½-2 cups legumes (beans, peas, chickpeas, lentils, etc.)
• 1 ½-2 cups of lean meat
• 1-1 ½ cups of poultry
• ½-1 cup of salmon or other fatty fish
• Not more than 1 ½ cups of “extras”, such as sweets, refined cereals, fried food, fast food, and processed meats (combined)

Please note that when they talk about “extras” in the form of sweets this means your typical cake, cookie, ice cream and other sugary foods. When you take for example my recipe of Olive Oil Cake (here’s the link: https://foodiewithpurpose.com/olive-oil-cake/) it does not have the usual unhealthy cake ingredients and you can eat more of it, although it still contains sweetener (albeit a healthier one) and should not be overdone. There will be more recipes for healthy sweet treats in the future.

There is also a wonderful TED talk by Dr. Terry Wahls: Minding your mitochondria https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc, where she explains the disabling effects of MS and how she did her research (yes, she is an MD and did scientific research on nutrition) and cured herself with a similar diet.

Of course, if you are a relatively healthy individual, you do not have to drastically change your eating habits. A complete overhaul can be completely overwhelming and might lead to resistance if you cook for other people like your family. Sometimes a health crisis forces some people to either take extreme action or become another example of a chronically ill, suffering patient, who takes a myriad of medications to suppress symptoms, like in my case when I was on my way to chronic heart disease. At that point it was either stay on medication for the rest of my life or make a very drastic change. I made the change and it worked. I am lucky that my  husband also likes this type of food. For the average healthy person who eats a typical Western diet, it often seems better to make one or two small changes at a time. Taking small steps to improve your eating habits can result in more long-lasting changes. 

Happy cooking, and please remember when you are cooking to ask yourself if there is just one more vegetable you could add. A handful of chopped spinach in your smoothie or stew, some baby greens and tomato on your sandwich, mushrooms and onions (and maybe chopped spinach) on your burger, your body will thank you for it!

View more recipes and information on my blog www.foodiewithpurpose.com