Recently I was chatting with someone in a health and wellness Facebook forum who was struggling to add salads into her diet. She stated quite simply that she just doesn’t like them. Honestly I really don’t care for them either. I’ve always thought they were boring, not very filling and I didn’t like the texture.
Also, it seems that every time I eat a beautiful green salad loaded with raw veggies, my stomach hurts. During my recent bout with diarrhea, I discovered raw fruits and veggies were aggravating the problem. Maybe my achy tummy has been trying to tell me something all these years and I wasn’t a rebellious kid who didn’t want to eat her salad!
If you have felt the same way, I encourage you to pay attention to your body. Not everyone thrives on the same healthy diet and you need to be aware when you need to tweak your diet to fuel your body to help it perform at an optimal level. Sure there are tons of benefits to eating raw foods, but not if they are making you sick! Also, consider taking a digestive enzyme tablet prior to your meals.
There is good news for you though! You can have your salad and eat it too! You just need to think outside the traditional salad bowl. Making a salad with cooked veggies is a great alternative. I find that they are more satisfying and they don’t leave me with a belly ache or making a mad dash to the potty! The other benefit to a cooked salad is that it keeps longer in the fridge, making great leftovers with out being wilty and disgusting!
Are you turned off by the traditional salad? Leave a comment below and share your favorite alternatives or let me know what you think of my favorite, the Southwestern Sweet Potato Salad!
Southwestern Sweet Potato Salad
Ingredients:
- 4 medium or 3 large sweet potatoes
- 1 tablespoon olive oil (more it needed)
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 15 ounce can of black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro
- 2 avocados, pit and skin removed, chopped
- juice of 2 limes
- salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Peel potatoes and cut into half inch slices then quarter each slice. Place potatoes in roasting pan and coat with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. Remove and let cool. (This can be done the night before or earlier in the week to save time. Store covered in the refrigerator.)
- In a large bowl combine the cooled potatoes with the black beans, red peppers, green onions, cilantro & avocados.
- Squeeze lime juice over mixture and toss to coat.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
This can be served at room temperature or cold. This is one of those salads that tastes even better the next day! Makes to meal size servings or serves 4-6 as a side dish.
