Christina Najjar

4 Ingredient Beet Radish Salad (vegan, paleo)

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I’m not the biggest fan of beets, but this beet radish salad is one way I’ll actually somewhat enjoy them. I make it when I need to incorporate raw beets into my diet. Beets and radishes support the liver, and I know that my liver can always take a bit of extra help. Raw beets are also a great food for platelet health, and they have anti-cancer properties. You can read more about the health benefits of beets.

4 ingredient beet radish salad

If your digestive system has been known to cause you problems, proceed with caution. Raw beets can be difficult to digest because of its high insoluble fibre content, or, simply put, “roughage”. If you’re new to beets, it’s also important to note that in 10-15% of people, consuming beets can temporarily alter urine colour. The pigmentation will also show itself in stools, so don’t panic! You could probably make a movie (a funny one, too!) out of all my reactions when I’ve forgotten that I ate beets the night before.

If you haven’t worked with beets before, I will warn you that your hands will be a funky colour by the time you’re done cutting everything. You can wear gloves when cutting beets to avoid that. Otherwise, washing your hands with soap a few times should take care of it.

4 Ingredient Beet Radish Salad

Ingredients
1 large beet or 2-3 small beets, peeled
1 large watermelon radish (aka pink radish) or 2 small watermelon radishes, peeled
1 lime, zested and juiced
1/2-1 tsp chili power (or to taste)

Directions
Peel and chop (or julienne) the beets and radishes. Zest the lime, and then juice it over the beets and radishes. Add the chili powder and mix well. This beet radish salad will store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-5 days.

No Cook Carrot Salad (vegan, paleo)

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Today is probably the hottest day we’ve had so far this year in Ottawa. Like, carrot salad for dinner hot. While I was running around town getting a bunch of stuff done, I stopped into Starbucks to get hydrated. The barista commented that I was a in earlier than usual. When I told her I was just stopping in and that I didn’t have a blog post for today, she said, “But what about your fans?”

No cook carrot salad

So, for my readers, I went home and I made something that didn’t require the oven. My apartment is on the 5th floor, so it’s even hotter in there than outside. I seem to always have carrots and apples in the fridge, no matter how long it’s been since I’ve done groceries. In the winter, when I just couldn’t get to the grocery store, I made a raw carrot salad for dinner out of desperation a few times. It tastes good, but it won’t make a full meal if you’re looking for something protein packed.

I julienne the carrots using my trust Jamie Oliver Julienne Peeler, but you can use a mandoline or buy bagged julienne carrots. If you’re really committed, you can also just chop the carrots into juliennes slices. Let me know if you do that, because that’s pretty hardcore.

No Cook Carrot Salad

Ingredients
3 large carrots, peeled and julienned
1/2 granny smith apple, chopped (and peeled, if not organic)
1/4 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
1 1/2 tsp raw honey

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Serve immediately or refrigerate for no more than a couple of hours. If you plan to prepare the salad ahead of time, add the sliced almonds when you’re ready to serve it. If kept longer, the almonds will soften.

Mushroom and Fennel Seed Pasta Salad (vegan)

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I know it’s so cliché, but pasta salad is honestly the easiest thing to bring to a potluck. When I worked in an office, half the potluck dishes were pasta salads. With my food sensitivities, I usually only get to feast on these dishes with my eyes.

Roasted mushroom and fennel pasta salad

In theory, going vegan sounds really great to me. I don’t like the thought of eating all sorts of antibiotics and hormones. I can’t afford organic meat. Also, it helps to take into consideration the ethical and environmental aspects of going vegan. However, every time I go vegan, I find myself losing too much weight. Because my metabolism works extra hard, I need to eat a lot of protein to keep weight on.

…Oh, the joys of my belly monsters. I would love to eat tons of legumes. However, those little buggers seem to run my life, and I find myself having to avoid lots of decent sources of protein. I manage to sneak all kinds of inoffensive protein into my morning smoothies, but what about the other meals? That’s something for me to ponder for a while.

While brainstorming for weight-gaining ideas with friends and family, the idea of pasta salad came up. I know it’s not as high protein as some other items, but it’s a start. I find that most vegan pasta salad recipes online are rather disappointing. They mostly just use pasta as a replacement for lettuce. I decided to give my pasta salad a different burst of flavour. The fennel seed really complements the mushroom flavour.

Mushroom and Fennel Seed Pasta Salad

Ingredients
150g/5oz pasta of your choice (I used brown rice fusilli)
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp fennel seed
Olive oil to coat pasta (the amount will depend on the type of pasta you use)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Salt to taste
Oil for frying

Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. When finished, drain and rinse in cold water. Drain well and add just enough olive oil to coat completely without having it swimming in oil. Set aside to cool.

In the meantime, heat a bit of oil in a frying pan over medium-low heat. Add the mushrooms and the fennel seed and keep tossing them around. The idea is not the make the mushroom toasty. You just want to cook it a bit and have it pick up the fennel seed’s flavour.

When everything has cooled down, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Makes 2 servings, so multiply as needed.

Detox salad

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The people around me must be getting tired of hearing about this detox I keep talking about. Unlike lots of other detoxes, it’s not harsh, and doesn’t work by depriving your body of its essential nutrients. The idea is to cut out toxins by going vegan, gluten free, sugar free, and alcohol free for a week, and to eat organic as much as possible. During that week, you eat foods with detoxing properties. Here is the link to the website.

This salad is more than some side dish. The quinoa provides protein, making this a full meal. For added protein (and tons of other nutrients), you could even sprinkle some hemp hearts on there, but I prefer to use hemp hearts in places where I won’t taste them as much.

Instead of cooking one cup of quinoa by itself, I made the salad at the same time as the cilantro lime quinoa, which is also good detox food, and which will keep in the fridge for a few days as well. The good thing about quinoa is that you can make enough of it over the week end and keep eating it for most of the week without having to constantly cook more.

Detox Salad

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, lightly packed
4 large leaves kale, ribs removed
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 cup cooked quinoa – for raw, soak overnight
1 tbsp + 1 tsp (4 tsp) raw apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil

Directions
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. It will be good for at least three days in the fridge (provided that your greens aren’t already at the end of their lives).

10-Minute Creamy Chickpea Salad (vegan)

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I’m a fan of chickpeas. They’re a tasty frugal option. They’re also really versatile. They can be used as snack, a dip, a main course, or you can turn them into a quick and easy chickpea salad.

Really, your imagination is the limit. Maybe my next kitchen challenge will involve turning whole chickpeas into some kind of dessert. I have no idea if that would be any good.

If you want solid avocado pieces in this chickpea salad, make sure that the avocado you use isn’t too ripe. I used a really ripe avocado when I made it this time, and it disappeared into the dressing. It did contribute to the creaminess, but the dressing is already plenty creamy. I think I’d rather have actual pieces of avocado to provide more texture and to offer different flavour options in different bites. I find it makes my meals more interesting.

10 minute vegan Creamy Chickpea salad

10-Minute Creamy Chickpea Salad (vegan)

Ingredients
1 large can chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or about two cups cooked chickpeas)
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 avocado, chopped or mashed
3 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp water
2 tsp coconut aminos
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground ginger
Salt and black pepper to taste

Directions
Combine the chickpeas and veggies in a large bowl. In a small or medium bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well before pouring in the large bowl. If you want the dressing to be extra creamy, opt for mashed avocado.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Makes 3 servings.

Apple Kale Salad (vegan, paleo)

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When I buy kale, I start dreaming about all the meals and green smoothies I’ll be able to make. There’s only so much I can make with one bunch of kale though, and I don’t buy more than one bunch for fear of wasting it. This time, I went for an apple kale salad.

Apple kale salad

This salad is wonderful for so many reasons. It’s high in iron and other essential nutrients. It’s easy to make on a student budget. Also, it’s filling. And most importantly, it’s tasty.

Apples are the #1 item on the Dirty Dozen list, and kale is about to make its way onto the list (update 03/31/16: kale is on the 2015 list). If you don’t know what I’m talking about, I suggest you have a look at this. While this is the US version, it’s not very different from what you should expect in Canada. If you can use organic apples and kale, I highly recommend it. If not, wash your kale really well and peel your apple.

Apple Kale Salad

Ingredients
About 6 large leaves of kale
1 granny smith apple
Pumpkin or sunflower seeds to taste (I used about a handful)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp olive oil
0.5-1 tbsp maple syrup
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar

Directions
Cut up the kale leaves, removing the ribs. In a small bowl, mix the wet ingredients together. Cube the apple into bite size pieces when you’re ready to pour the dressing on the salad. The lemon in the dressing will stop the apples from darkening. Sprinkle seeds and toss well. The kale leaves will soften up a bit after a few minutes. Serve right away.

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Christina Najjar - Natural Nutrition

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