Summer is the perfect time to enjoy flavorful healthy greens and sweet produce. I've made this beautiful arugula, baby spinach, and strawberry salad with an option of including some colorful chopped mango or sliced almonds as well.
It's a light and refreshing salad with just the right amount of crispness and interesting flavors.
It makes a lovely eloquent presentation to serve to guests, yet it is easy and fast enough to whip up for any weeknight dinner.
We eat a salad everyday and I especially try to eat some dark greens.
I like to alternate the greens and vegetables that go into our salads. Arugula and baby spinach are especially nutritious.
Arugula has a slightly peppery taste while baby spinach is mild and appealing. The sweetness of the strawberries brings out the best of both greens.
Arugula and Spinach
Both of these greens provide generous amounts of immune building antioxidants, vitamins A which helps support the eyes, teeth, and bones and fiber for digestion and regularity.
Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable
Surprisingly (to me), Arugula is a cruciferous vegetable with many similar health benefits of broccoli, kale, cauliflower and the other cruciferous veggies. I like it because it contains a good amount of chlorophyll (like most dark greens) and helps the body detoxify.
Beware of the Dirty Dozen For Produce
When it comes to strawberries and spinach, I follow the guidelines of the EWG which publishes a Dirty Dozen List and Clean 15 list every year. The Dirty Dozen lists produce that is very heavily treated or sprayed with chemicals. The Clean 15 lists produce that isn't sprayed or treated with pesticides as heavily or has a peel to remove before eating.
Strawberries are the top offender for pesticides on the Dirty Dozen and spinach is number 2!!
Therefore I always buy organic strawberries, especially for the grandkids. Actually, Aldi's sells organic produce for a fairly reasonable price and their produce is usually quite good.
The organic strawberries last week were only $2.99.
I bought the organic arugula and baby spinach mix at Aldi's too.
I think it was also about $2.99
Environmental Working Group (EWG) website. They also provide guides for safer cosmetics, sunscreen, and many other consumer guides. Very informative and helpful information on their website of current information that we often aren't aware of until years later.
I try to buy organic because I feel it is grown with much less harmful chemicals for any item listed on the dirty dozen.
This year's EWG Dirty Dozen List:
- Strawberries
- Spinach
- Kale/Collard/Mustard greens
- Nectarines
- Apples
- Grapes
- Cherries
- Peaches
- Pears
- Bell and hot peppers
- Celery
- Tomatoes
This year's EWG Clean 15 List:
- Avocados
- Sweet Corn
- Pineapples
- Onions
- Papayas
- Frozen sweet peas
- Eggplant
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Cabbage
- Kiwifruit
- Cauliflower
- Mushrooms
- Honeydew
- Cantaloupe
The Salad
Ingredients:
5 ounces of arugula and spinach mixture
1 cup of sliced strawberries
Optional:1/2 cup of sliced almonds and or 1/2 cup of chopped mango
Directions:
Assemble and mix together.
Notes:
1. The juices from the strawberries will moisten the salad. I did not need a dressing.
2.
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