This beautiful and tasty salad was inspired by a bunch of pink lady roses that I got on St. Valentine's Day. Pink in all it possible shades! I hope you enjoy this recipe, not simply for its health value, but also for the mixture of flavors, textures and colors. I can only hope that you don't get put off by the slightly bitter taste of radicchio. According to TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) the bitter taste is associated with the heart. Bitter tasting herbs have cleansing action. They remove the toxins and help reduce mucus secretions, this reducing inflammation and infections.
Ingredients:
for the salad
- 1 medium large radicchio lettuce
- 1 small beet, chopped or shredded
- 1 small purple onion, thinly sliced
- 6-8 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup raspberries
- 1/2 cup purple micro-greens (I used purple shiso and red cabbage micro-greens)
for the dressing
- freshly pressed juice of 1/2 pomegranate (about 1/4 cup)
- freshly pressed juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1/4 cup raspberries
- 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup virgin olive oil or any cold pressed oil of your choice
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 1/2 tsp pink Himalaya salt
- generous amount of freshly ground black pepper
Method:
- Break or chop the radicchio leaves into manageable pieces. You can cut it into wedges if you prefer.
- In a large bowl gently mix all salad ingredients. Reserve some raspberries, radish slices, and micro-greens for the garnish.
- In a blender, whiz a dressing using all the dressing ingredients. I did not use any sweetener. The natural sugar from pomegranate and raspberries was quite satisfying. Adjust the taste to your personal liking. If it is too liquid for you add a bit more oil and a few more raspberries. Raw honey can be used for sweetening if needed.
- Add the dressing to salad bowl and mix gently.
- Arrange the salad on individual platters. Garnish with raspberries, radish slices and purple micro-greens and serve right away. Enjoy in good company!
For a dish to claim that it has a detoxifying properties it must have ingredients that are actually known for their detoxifying capacity. If you only used lemon juice, garlic, and apple cider to make the salad dressing, your liver would already profit from the synergistic action of the healing compounds in these ingredients. Purple onions, radicchio, radishes will help you to detoxify as well. Raspberries and pomegranate contain powerful cancer fighting compounds that help protect the DNA. Use these ingredients in different combinations as often as you can. Your body will thank you.
In radiant health - passionately raw - Dominique
Dominique Allmon©2017
*Information in this article is not meant to diagnose or cure a disease.