Total Health Breakthroughs: Free Natural Health Newsletter and Alternative Health Articles

This refreshing spring-time salad is a tasty way to get a wide array of important vitamins and minerals. This is an easy recipe to double so that a delicious serving of vegetables is always on hand.

Time to table: 15 minutes

Serves: 4

This raw island delight is a delicious way to start your day. And it just might be a recipe for a flatter stomach. Recent research published in Diabetes Care found that monounsaturated fats (like those in the avocados and almonds in this recipe) help to reprogram your body and thwart the accumulation of belly fat — the most dangerous kind.¹

Time To Table: 5 minutes
Serves: 4

When you feel like you just have to have a starchy food, quinoa is a pretty good choice forlow carbers. Though a quarter cup uncooked or 1/2 cup cooked is still the equivalent of 2 starch servings (30 grams), the high fiber content reduces the net carbs, and the high protein content slows the carb release for less net effect from those carbs. I like sprinkling a little quinoa into salads. Here’s a great recipe that’s mostly veggie and a little grain to satisfy you when a carb craving hits.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Serves: 4

This fresh and simple salad is packed with monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) from the macadamia nuts. MUFAs are one of the heart-helping ingredients abundant in the Mediterranean diet that help to stabilize blood sugar and promote a feeling of fullness.1

Time To Table: 10 minutes

Serves: 6

This vibrant fall salad features vegetables that reach their peak of flavor in cool fall weather. While your guests savor the rich medley of Mediterranean-inspired flavors and textures, they’ll also get a healthy dose of immune-boosting, cold-fighting vitamin C.

Time to table: 30 minutes

Serves: 8

One of the tricks to eating well is knowing when to buy fresh foods for peak ripeness. Buying foods in season generally means lower price and better taste. Pears are in season right now, so it’s a great time for this salad — so light and simple, but so tasty.

Time to table: 10 minutes

Serves: 2

If you enjoy the house salad dressing from Japanese steakhouse restaurants, you’ll like this one. As a vinegar-free salad dressing option, it’s a refreshing change of pace. Agave nectar makes a nice alternative to sugar as the sweetener. This recipe serves as a base dressing with which you can get a variety of different flavors by adding grapefruit or orange zest. Adding a little lime juice gives it a Thai taste. Ginger dressings aren’t always sweetened, so omit the sweetener sometimes if you want, and add soy sauce for a different taste.

Serves: 9

Time to Table: 30 minutes

This simple, upscale recipe is sure to impress your friends. In addition to its elegant looks, it also provides a good source of five nutrients, including calcium. An analysis of ten studies published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute found that people getting the most calcium from food had a 14% lower risk of colorectal cancer compared to those getting the least.¹ Be sure to choose a high-quality, organic goat cheese for this recipe.

Time To Table: 20 minutes

Serves: 6

At the end of summer, I love finding farmer’s markets or roadside stands selling their bounty of fresh tomatoes. Recently, I have been into trying different types of course salts — black and pink Hawaiian and Himalayan salts for example. They are great on sliced fresh tomatoes with fresh ground pepper. If you need more ideas for using up your fresh tomatoes, here’s a great tasting salad that makes up really quickly.

Time to table: 5 minutes

Serves: 4

A symphony of tropical flavors, this simple dish is an excellent source of the antioxidant mineral, selenium. A study published in the journal, Urology, found that men getting the least amount of selenium were four to five times more likely to develop prostate cancer than men getting the most.¹ Choose sumptuous (and sustainable!) Weathervane scallops from northeast Pacific waters for this recipe. You can find them at VitalChoice.

The Benefits

Excellent source of protein, selenium, vitamin A, vitamin C
Good source of magnesium, potassium, vitamin B12

Time to Table: 20 minutes
Serves: 4