One of the deterrents for me in making a salad at home is that it takes too long! All the chopping and rinsing… leave that to the restaurants.

But having a salad with meals (or as a meal) helps aid our digestion, giving us the enzymes to break down other foods. Plus the nutrients and polyphenols in fresh fruits and vegetables help to lower inflammation in the body, even if they are accompanied by meats, breads, and processed foods.

So my solution has been to keep it simple. The salads I make at home usually only have three to five ingredients, and the dressing included in this recipe can usually be made with things we have on hand.

Ingredients

2 handfuls baby spinach or lettuces of choice
1 carrot (sliced)
1/8 Cup sliced tomatoes or dried fruit
3 green olives or avocado (sliced)
2 Tablespoons toasted pumpkin or sesame seeds

Hummus Dressing

2 Tablespoon prepared hummus
Squeeze of half a lemon
1 tsp olive brine
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp flax or hemp oil

Wisk hummus, lemon juice, olive brine, and oils in a small mixing bowl and set aside to rest. Assemble spinach/lettuce, sliced carrot, tomatoes or dried fruit, olives or avocado and toasted seeds in salad bowl. Toss with 1-2 Tablespoons hummus dressing or dressing of your choice. Enjoy!

This light soup with umami broth is a nice break for the stomach from heavier winter meals. Proteins can be added easily, and it can replace the classic Chicken Noodle Soup in your wellness routine.

You can adjust the salt to your liking if you use homemade broth. Homemade broth is an incredibly alkalizing food. It offers easily digestible nutrients and electrolytes.

Dulse {red seaweed} is a great source of complete protein amino acids and iodine, plus helps to remove heavy metals and toxins from the body.

If you don’t do wheat, you can replace the udon noodles with a variety of gluten-free noodles: buckwheat, kelp or NoOodles {made with yams}.

Serves 4

6 ounces udon, kelp or yam noodles
6 cups homemade veggie broth or broth of your choice
6 Crimini or Shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 handfuls baby spinach leaves
2 handfuls cooking greens: kale, dandelion, chard, collard greens, bok choy
Sea Salt to taste
2 teaspoon coconut aminos (or tamari)
1 Tablespoon dulse granules
Coconut nectar (or sweetener of your choice) to taste {optional}
1 Tablespoon onion flakes or diced onion
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
Garnish with toasted sesame seeds, black seeds or Gomasio (seaweed, sesame seeds and sea salt)

Cook udon noodles in salted boiling water until tender, about 5 minutes (if using yam or kelp, wait until the end to add). Drain and rinse under cold water until cool.

Place broth in a pot and bring to a boil. Add mushrooms, greens and onions or flakes and bring back to a boil.

Stir in spinach and oil and season with salt, aminos, sweetener and dulse granules to taste. Add noodles and cook just until heated through.

Let rest for 5-8 minutes for full flavor. Top with sesame oil and seeds. Enjoy!