It is winter here, and who couldn’t use an extra boost of sunshine and vitamins from nutrient dense foods?

This salad is the inspiration of my eight year old son who is in second grade.  He wanted to make me a very special salad.  It is a salad made with love.   

 


We had been to the Whole Foods Store in Greenville, South Carolina the day before, and picked up some wonderful fresh organic produce.   Some husbands may bring their wives flowers, some may bring chocolates, or jewelry.  But my husband knows the way to spoil me is to take me to a healthy foods store and buy me the best living foods we can get.  We don’t get to do this often, our budget with seven members in the family doesn’t afford us this luxury often.  I try to raise healthy salad fixins in the garden, but it is winter, and I am just so hungry for some really good, fresh, nutrient dense produce.  We usually try to find ingredients as much as possible at regular grocery stores.  But it is a special treat to go to an organic store that has a vast arrray of fresh produce.  The flavors of the food are far superior to Walmart and Aldi produce, I guarantee it!

Back to the kitchen scene, I was going to prepare myself a simple salad for lunch, when my son asked if he could help.  He loves to make and create in the kitchen.  But this was going to be my special lunch salad.  I looked at his sweat face, and I could see it was important that he get to help using the special ingredients his dad went out of the way to get for me.  So I decided to be brave and let him have some culinary freedom in using the ingredients.  I am so glad we did this together.  I helped guide him, took pictures (I later realized I only got his hands, no head shots), and together this is what we came up with.

Here are the steps and ingredients to create this super nutritious salad.


Wash and tear one head of romaine lettuce.



Wash eight to ten raspberries.



Juice one clementine.  Slice it in half and squeeze the juice out of it.  He thought that was a lot of fun, and we peeled a few to eat while we worked too.



Rinse a handful of sunflower sprouts in cool water.  Set on a paper towel to dry.  This was my first time to try them.  My husband saw them at the store and thought we should give them a try.  They are wonderful.  I can’t believe I have been missing them in my diet for 41 years!



Wash a handful of alfalfa sprouts. Set on the towel with the other sprouts to dry while you make the salad.



Wash a handful of sprouted legumes.  This was a mixture of peas, lentils, and adzuki beans.  I loved the sprouted lentils and sprouted adzuki beans in this salad.  They were sweat and crunchy. 

I did not like the sprouted peas in this salad, as they had a slight bitter taste and kind of a spongy crunch texture.  I think the peas would be better suited in a cooked dish.



Peel a red onion.



Dice about 1/4 of the onion.



Dice about 1/4 cup of bacon.  I really like Apple Gate Farms Turkey Bacon.  It is preservative and nitrate free.



Saute the onion and turkey bacon in a pan on medium low heat until the they are cooked through.  I was looking for the salty taste of the bacon and the sweet taste of sauted red onion.  I could have left the onion raw, but it would have been spicy and I was looking for a sweet flavor.



While the bacon and onion cooks, mash some of the raspberries with the clementine juice.



Add this mashed berry mixture to the salad.  Add the cooked onion and bacon to the salad.



Toss in a few grape tomatoes.



Drizzle with Cindy’s organic Balsamic Vinaigrette dressing.  This dressing is addictive!  I use it on my sub sandwiches, with raw vegetables, as a dip for chicken or fish, and any way I can find to use it.  It is loaded with omega 3 fatty acids too.  Very nutritious!



A special meal made with love by my son’s loving hands.  I know my immune system was thankful for the boost.  Wow, what a special treat!  A perfect blend of flavors and textures.  I savored every bite!