Meet the Simple Green Salad, because we all still need to eat our greens even on Thanksgiving.
This time of year, it can be so easy to skip over the salads in favor for the sweet potato casserole or the mac and cheese but challenge yourself to get a good mix of all of those things you love, including a simple green salad.
Additionally, it’s important to make sure you’re eating enough fiber for the day to keep your blood sugars balanced (with the possible influx of holiday food!), and to give your digestion the fiber and bulk it needs to stay regular, which can be a stressor for so many people who travel for the holidays.
What’s So Nutritious About Greens?
Greens are incredibly nutritious and an easy way to add fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants to your diet.
When it comes to making a simple green salad, there’s really no “wrong” way to make them! You can use whatever dark leafy greens you like combined with seasonal fruit and this simple olive oil and vinegar dressing.
Dark leafy greens are excellent sources of vitamin K, A, C, magnesium, manganese, calcium, and phosphorus. In addition to the micronutrients, dark leafy greens are a great source of fiber, low in fat, and low in protein.
Stripped
Endive
Endive is a great source of fiber, and it’s rich vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin E, folate, beta-carotene, riboflavin, iron, magnesium, calcium, and potassium.
Add that to the pears in this recipe, which are incredibly digestive-friendly and packed with their own gang of vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, potassium and phosphorous and you have a winning combo.
Pumpkin Seeds
Pumpkin seeds not only taste great but have been shown to help with general antioxidant support, most notably from vitamin E. Most diets, the Standard American Diet, in particular, are low in minerals — pumpkin seeds are loaded with minerals and are great to incorporate often.
Pumpkin seeds, oils, and extracts have unique anti-microbial benefits, from the lignans in these seeds. Pumpkin seeds have also been studied with anti-cancer benefits, cardiovascular benefits, decreasing blood pressure, benefits with benign prostatic hyperplasia (i.e. prostate enlargement).