As a chef, the question I’m most often asked is, “What is your favorite thing to cook?” My answer to that question varies, as I have different favorites from time to time.

This summer, I spent a month living alone while my children and granddaughters were out of town visiting other relatives. I had an unusual amount of time to spend focusing on taking care of myself, reflecting, reading, writing and studying. During this time, I prepared and ate a lot of salads— combinations of leafy greens, coarsely chopped veggies, and beans or sprouts sprinkled with feta cheese and pumpkin seeds and layered in big white bowls. These combinations were nutritional works of art and quickly became this summer’s favorite dish to prepare.

The combination of flavors and textures in these bowls satisfied much more than just my daily nutritional requirements. By selecting, preparing and arranging these beautiful combinations, I cared for myself in a way I typically don’t. Instead of eating with any emphasis on convenience, I chose to give the care and attention I normally reserve for others to myself and the foods I was eating: I chose the freshest summer vegetables, prepared them, and very consciously arranged them in pleasing and savory combinations.

And that’s the beauty of a salad. The base is a blank slate, giving you the ability to think of your favorite tastes and flavor combinations and bring them to life in your meal. So, before summer’s flown out that window and we’re thinking of warm and hearty soups, fix yourself your favorite salad. The combination possibilities are endless!

My Favorite Salad
(Serves two, or offers two servings for one)
Here’s a recipe for a summer-September salad with my favorite flavor combinations. I share it in hopes that you will make, prepare and enjoy it as an act of love for both yourself and others!

Ingredients:
3 cups leafy greens (spinach, romaine or baby bib lettuce)
1 1/2 cups chopped, fresh, organic vegetables of your choice (try crispy cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes broccoli and/or red onions)
1/2 cup cooked and fully drained garbanzo beans
3 tbs raw pumpkin seeds
2 tbs crumbled feta cheese (or other flavorful goat cheese)
Dressing of choice

Instructions:
Pick your ingredients, consciously aware of the flavor combinations that will create your savory salad. Then, layer all ingredients in a bowl, dress and enjoy!

Variation: If you’ve got a sweet tooth and prefer the flavors of sweet over savory, you can choose different additions to your salad base to satisfy your palette. Carrots, with their natural sweetness, can stay from the ingredients above. Then, look for other fruits and vegetables with a sweet bent, like corn and fresh apples, and replace the pumpkin seeds with dried fruits, like cranberries. Keep the feta for a combination of sweet and savory!

Tips for Taste

A great salad should have a variety of textures and tastes. When choosing from the array of vegetables available, think of combinations that please your personal taste, satisfy your palate and restore your body. Naturally sweet carrots are one of the best sources of vitamin A, which helps the body maintain healthy eyes and skin and is a powerful antioxidant. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli can give a salad lots of crunch and have been discovered to have anticancer properties. And don’t overlook the flavor powerhouses of tomatoes and onions, whose nutritional contributions often go unnoticed. Tomatoes contain vitamin C and bioflavonoids, which are both known to support the immune and vascular systems. The natural and flavorful oils contained in onions carry antiseptic properties.

Jennifer Franklin is the staff trainer for Sevananda Natural Foods Market in Atlanta, operations specialist for The Children’s Wellness Network, and director of Olive Group. For more information on Sevananda Natural Foods Market, visit sevananda.coop or email info@sevananda.coop.

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