Summer is a great time of year for picnics, barbeques and light salads. Over the years I’ve learned that salads don’t have to be made of boring lettuce. The more texture and variety they have, the more likely children are to love them. Here are some great ones to add to your summer menus.
Broccoli Avocado Salad
Ingredients
2 heads of broccoli
1 large avocado
1 tomato
1/4 cup diced red onion
3 carrots
1 lime
dash of salt
Preparation
1. Wash, cut and lightly steam the broccoli. Steam it just long enough to become slightly tender.
2. Cut the de-seeded tomato into cubes and the carrots into circles while the broccoli is steaming.
3. Rinse the steamed broccoli under cold water to make sure it stops cooking.
4. Toss the broccoli, carrots, tomato and red onion in a large bowl with a dash of salt and the juice of half a lime.
5. Cut the avocado into cubes, add to the salad and very gently toss the salad while adding the juice from the rest of the lime. If you’re making this in advance wait until the last minute to add the avocado.
6. Add just a sprinkle of salt on top
The avocado seed helps keep the avocado from browning, so go ahead and put the seed in the middle of the salad and use it as decoration. This trick works wonders with guacamole too!
Cucumber Citrus Salad
Ingredients:
3-4 cucumbers, peeled and deseeded, sliced into thin rounds
1 small red onion, peeled and sliced into thin crescents
1 small head of lettuce, shredded
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 tsp. lemon zest
sea salt
Directions:
Mix cucumber, onion and lettuce. Combine orange juice and lemon zest and coat cucumber salad evenly. Let marinate for 10 minutes inside the refrigerator and sprinkle with a touch of sea salt right before serving.
Jacqueline Banks is a certified Holistic Health Counselor focused on nutrition and green living strategies. She works with women in all stages of motherhood, from mothers struggling with conception, through pregnancy, lactation and beyond to ensure the best health and nutrition for both mother and baby.
