Are Your Taste Buds Bored To Tears?

You and I both know “the problem”.

You want to be healthy.  Therefore, you try to eat healthy.

To point you in this direction, your Nutritional Consultant (maybe even I) may have advised that you sneak in at least one giant green salad into your daily meal plan.

So, you do.  Faithfully...at first.

Then, after days...weeks...months...or years (depending on your constitution), eventually the thought of yet another bowl of romaine laced with an olive-flax oil and apple cider vinegar dressing “starts to get old”.  You don’t want any more salad!

And this is a problem – because, bottom line:  GREENS ARE GOOD!

So, what is the solution?  To cut back on salad to once a week?  To once a month?  Give up salad altogether… and run out to your nearest fast food franchise for a burger and fries?

No.  No.   NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

There is a better solution. 

You simply need to “mix it up” a little.  Your taste buds are probably crying out for novelty.  They are bored, bored, bored – to tears.  Sobbing in desperation, actually. 

So, you need to indulge them!  Make them happy again – without comprising your health!

Here’s how:

• Have you tried using a variety of salad greens, either separately or in combination? Spinach, arugula, watercress, beet greens, baby kale (or ‘grown up’ kale) – mix & match!

• Wake up your salad and your palate with added chives or onion (sweet, green, or red). Everything is better with onions, I say!

• Chopped fresh herbs can take your ‘greens creation’ to a whole new level! Dill, parsley, cilantro, oregano, and basil come to mind.

• Add some extra crunch – with hemp seeds, nuts (raw or lightly toasted), or pomegranate seeds – which are juicy and crunchy at the same time.   The contrast in textures might be just enough to rescue a salad that is otherwise, well, boring.

• Don’t leave your greens naked! From time to time, dress them in something new…

Like this Creamy Tahini and Turmeric Dressing, a recipe I stumbled upon in a Canadian Living magazine.  I haven’t tried this recipe yet.  Sounds good though, right?  Try it – and let me know what you think!

CREAMY TAHINI & TURMERIC DRESSING

• 1 cup olive oil

• ¾ cup lemon juice

• ¼ cup tahini

• 2 large cloves garlic, finely grated or pressed

• 3 Tbsp. grated peeled fresh turmeric or 2 tsp ground turmeric

• 4 tsp Dijon mustard

• 4 tsp liquid honey

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp water, approximately (optional)

Add all the ingredients to a food processor, and process away – until salad dressing consistency is achieved.  (Add more water if necessary.)

Makes 2 cups

Yesterday, I walked (okay, hobbled) into my kitchen for the first time in six weeks.  (My knee cap has healed, so now I’m learning how to walk again.)  The first useful thing I did was make some pesto with the bountiful but frost-threatened basil from my garden.  Fall comes early to Northern Saskatchewan!!