Recipe: SOS Salad Anti-Inflammatory Health Booster

SOS salad stands for So-Oh!-So-Good-for-me Salad, which in my book works for me-time or even we-time. This SOS salad recipe is full of anti-inflammatory raw vegetables, blood orange dressing, and fruit segments and texture from crunchy oven roasted walnuts and seeds. If you've been feeling low, ill or are in that mood when nothing really tickles you food wise SOS salad will brighten your mood and boost the vitamin and mineral body bank. 

Enjoy, get inspired and feel free to join us:  Yes!  

SOS Salad: Boost The Mood and Charge The Batteries

Winter tends to bring grey days and low moods. Is the color of the sky connected with how you feel? Some say definitely. Actually, the lack of sun means that natural vitamin D doesn't come free of charge.

Seasonal Inspiration

Raw or mashed?

What this season brings are root vegetables that sing their own song, if treated nicely. Surely you can overcook, mash and generally treat them as stodge.

You can also eat cabbage, turnip tops, radish, carrots and onion raw. Let them speak with distinction.

Place these high notes on a bed of lightly steamed broccolini (broccoli stems) t0 give it earthiness and that dinner satisfaction pass. If you then add a dressing of blood orange - and add some fruit segments to the mix - you are in for a real treat.

Take it to another level by adding some oven-roasted spiced walnuts and seeds. This final crunchy texture takes this salad to a surprising so-oh-so good tasty bookmark-worthy height. (Yep! that is what my recipe tester said 🙂 )

Why Mood Booster and Battery Charger 

The raw vegetables bring anti-inflammatory properties in full swing. Fresh vegetables are naturally low in fat, salt and sugar, making them an excellent food choice.

Vegetables provide energy, vitamins, minerals, and fiber and there is growing evidence of additional health benefits from a range of phytonutrients. If you want to check the vitamins and minerals in each vegetable click here. 

Ideally, your dinner vegetables should cover half your plate and if you choose a range of different colored vegetables it's even better. About one-quarter of the plate should be starchy foods for energy.

SOS Salad Recipe

In this recipe, however, vegetables are the main hero. If you need a cooking converter click here. 

SOS Salad - recipe on thegoodista.com/

So-Oh-So Good (for me) Salad

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So Oh So Good for Me Salad or SOS Salad

SOS salad for Me or We-time gives you flavour, texture, nutritional goodness, anti-inflammatory fighting power and most of all a recipe to come back to again and again.

Prep Time 20 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 25 minutes minutes

Servings 2

Author The GOODista

Ingredients

• 1 Broccolini bunch
• 1 Orange blood orange is best. Juice for dressing and segments for salad
• 1 Onion Medium
• 5 Radishes small to medium
• 2 Carrots medium or 1 large
• 100 gram Red Cabbage
• 400 gram Watercress
• 2 Turnip Tops small or 1 medium
• 8 Walnuts
• 50 grams mixed seeds sunflower, pumpkin, flax, sesame for example
• 1 Lemon juiced for dressing
• 2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon honey
• 1/2 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Turmeric
• 1/2 tsp Sweet pepper
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Instructions

For the Dressing

• Peel the orange and take out the fruit segments and set aside. Squeeze the 'left-over' juice into a bowl.
• Juice the lemon and save half of it. Pour the rest in your bowl.
• Add salt, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, sweet pepper and tickle in 1 tsp of honey and the dijon mustard. Then the balsamic vinegar goes in. Mix it all an slowly incorporate the olive oil.

For the Salad

• Set your oven to 250 degrees celsius.
• Use the food processor to evenly grate the carrots, 1/2 onion, radish, turnip, and red cabbage - or do it by hand for some extra exercise.
• Add this raw vegetable rainbow colour ix to the bowl with the dressing and turn to let it all get coated.
• Steam the broccoli stems and add a small drizzle of olive oil and some Himalaya or Kosher salt at the end. Let cool a bit.
• Spread your walnuts and mixed seeds on grease proof paper on an oven-tray. Trickle over the rest of the honey, some cinnamon and salt. You can also add some chilli if you like (optional). Leave to roast for max 5 minutes or until bubbling and golden. Let cool until crunchy (and don't eat them all!)

Put It All Together

• In a serving bowl place the watercress in the bottom.
• Add your semi warm broccolini and the already dressed raw vegetables on top.
• Place the orange segments around the salad bowl rim and then crown it with the nut and seeds mix.
• Enjoy!

Notes

If you wish to make it more substantial you can add feta, or blue cheese. Or - indeed have this as a side salad to a piece of salmon or chicken. This SOS salad is for inspiration, so add or take away and experiment away!

Feel, Be and Do Good Inspiration

Did you like the recipe? Feel free to charge ahead with your add-ons and edit the SOS salad so it fits your family and culture. The main thing is that you felt inspired.

The GOODista aspires to inspire a healthy lifestyle every day and when working (far) away. Check out some of our other recipes to see what we mean. 

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