Summer Harvest Salad

Today we enjoyed a wild summer salad made from natures finest. Wild freshly harvested amaranth leaves packed with nutrition topped with mini bell peppers, red onion, garlic, nopales, cucumber, a handful of mixed nuts, rice cake crumbles for extra crunch, an apple on the side with TUNA!

HA! Don't worry not the fish - it's another name for the prickly pear, the fruit of the nopales cactus!
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Amaranth was a staple of pre-Colombian Aztecs and is still enjoyed in many cuisines. In Mexico and India the seeds are popped and mixed with sugar or chocolate to make a tasty treat. The Peruvians make beer from the grain.

Amaranth has been used by herbalists to to treat toothaches, inflammation of the gums, fevers, as a wash for external wounds and internally as a treatment for diarrhea and dysentery.

"Amaranth seed is high in protein, some 16%, contains lysine and methionine, two essential amino acids that are not often found in grain,  and is high in fiber, three times that of wheat. It also has calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorus, vitamins A, C and E."
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Amaranth leaves are nutritionally similar to beets, Swiss chard and spinach, but are nutritionally superior! For example amaranth leaves contain three times more niacin (vitamin B3) than spinach leaves and 2 x's more Zinc than Kale.

The plants are easy to grow and supply a grain packed with protein that can be made into cereal and flour. We discovered Amaranth in 2011 and have been enjoying it as much as possible since. We planted some in AR and CA with success! This year we tossed a few seeds out and were happy to find big plants among other WILD amaranth plants! Salads and green smoothies are covered this season. My husband picked a bowl for us yesterday, I picked one today!

With temperatures blazing I couldn't think of turning the stove on so today we enjoyed a Summer Harvest Salad for lunch!

Fresh squeezed limes brought the meal to the next level!

PREP TIME: 15 minutes | Serves 2
Per Serving:
Calories: 214
Fats: 10.4 g
Protein: 5.1 g
Carbohydrates: 28.2 g

gluten-free, soy-free, refined sugar-free, dairy-free, raw

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch dark leafy greens (amaranth, spinach, kale...)
• 3 mini bell peppers, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1 garlic clove - diced
• 1/2 cup chopped cucumber
• OPT: 1 small nopales pad, needles removed, diced
• 1/4 cup mixed nuts
• 1 rice cake, crumbled
• 1/2 lime, squeezed
• 1 green apple, cored and sliced
• OPT: 1 TUNA a.k.a. prickly pear (seriously optional: my husband wasn't a fan of all the seeds!)

Peaceful Preparation:

1. Wash and prepare the vegetables and place in two bowls.
2. Start with the dark leafy greens, add the chopped bell peppers, onion, garlic, nopales, cucumber and top with nuts, rice cake crumbles. Place green apple slices and optional Cactus Pear slices on the side. Squeeze with fresh lime.
3. Add your favorite dressing (s) and enjoy!!!

Plus this recipe has great benefits:

• No cholesterol
• Low in sodium
• High in manganese
• High in magnesium
• Very high in selenium
• Very high in vitamin B6
• High in vitamin C

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I hope you enjoy this Summer Harvest Salad! Today marks the last day of August. What a great month of summer sunshine fun! Beginning September 1 is not only my sisters birthday  but it marks the start of VeganMofo! I had no idea what VeganMofo was and just so happened to stumble upon it with only a couple hours left to sign up. It was described as a worldwide blogging extravaganza - The Vegan Month of Food! For one month bloggers are challenged to present a minimum of 20 blog posts that are 100% vegan. Warning, I am about to flood your inbox with delicious tantalizing recipes that are healthy! My theme? Vegan Alchemy!!! Gerald and I just recently started making colloidal silver so the theme seems fitting.

I'll talk with you tomorrow for an exclusive birthday treat!

Love and Light!
Christa xo