healthy lunch

Food Friday: Colourful Broccoli Salad

broccoli salad.jpg

Why buy pre-made "salads" coated in calories when you can made your own with delicious ingredients that are oh so good for you and that is very easy to make! I love this salad for lunch as a side dish with salmon salad, roast chicken or really anything. I aim to get at least one serving of greens a day and this easily covers me. Try mixing up the recipe to your liking with different nuts like roasted cashews, shallots instead of red onion or even a little shredded cheese if your stomach permits. However, even my broccoli hating guy was pleasantly surprised how good this version was. 

Broccoli is chalk full of nutrients with so many health benefits! This is a powerful cruciferous vegetable, meaning it contains I3C which aids in liver detoxification. It is anti-inflammatory from its sulphoraphanes and omega 3s and has shown in studies to decrease the blood inflammatory market CRP. It is an antioxidant with the plethora of vitamins, nutrients and phytonutrients. With all that in mind, broccoli is a unique food in terms of cancer prevention, with a recommendation of 1/2 cup a day. Finally, with a high fibre content broccoli is helpful for most digestive concerns. What's not to love! So what are you waiting for? Get mixing :)

Ingredients:

  • 1 Head broccoli, chopped in bite sized pieces 
  • Handful of shredded carrots (I prefer pre-shredded in this recipe as they can be thicker strands)
  • 1-2 tbsp raisins
  • 1/4 or so diced red onion 
  • 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
  • 1.5 tbsp avocado mayo (more if needed for desired consistency) 
  • Drizzle of olive oil
  • 1/2 tsp or so of honey (optional)
  • Salt to taste

Directions:

Pretty simple! Just mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Add more mayo or olive oil to create consistency you like. Enjoy!

In health & happiness, 

Dr. Karen