How To Make A Rainbow Salad

January 7, 2022

You may have heard someone sharing, “Eat a Rainbow Salad Daily”. However, you may have been put off having to make it yourself, thinking it is either too expensive or too time consuming, or perhaps do not know which ingredients to include. A Rainbow Salad, as the name implies means creating a salad using most or all the colours of a rainbow, which are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. By choosing foods from every colour of the rainbow and more, you maximise the number of different micronutrients you consume, which will keep your immune system much stronger.

Examples of some of the foods you can use for the various colours include, avocado, capsicums or bell peppers, lettuce, dandelion leaves, sweet corn, beet root, carrots, spinach, pumpkin, arugula or rocket leaves, watercress, chard, organic celery, cucumber, tomatoes, parsnips, radishes, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage. All these can be easily and quickly prepared to make a healthy, colourful and nutritious salad. You can also purchase ready to eat spinach, rocket leaves and watercress. We do not recommend using pre-cut salads as these would have been cut at least 24 hours before and oxidised, leaving minimal or no nutrition by the time you eat it.

If you are some who cannot eat fresh salads with minimal or no dressing such as mayonnaise or salad cream, do try the less calorie dense dressings such as Apple Cider Vinegar or fresh lemon or lime juice. When using lemons or limes, you can also add the zest or flesh of the fruit to your salad. When eating tomatoes or cucumber, ensure you eat the skin as well as a alot of the nutrients are just under the skin. Once you have thinly sliced, diced or grated most of the ingredients, you will see how much you can create just from a few items, which makes a rainbow salad very affordable.

For extra nutrients, taste or crunch, you can also add sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, cashews and almonds. You can also add a slightly cooked sweet potato and raisins to give your rainbow salad a naturally sweeter taste. Fruits and vegetables that are brightly coloured are rich in antioxidants. These antioxidants protect us from free radical damage and helps prevent diseases. Each ingredient has a variety of nutrients, which is why it is important to have a variety at each meal.

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You can eat this rainbow salad with your main meal of rice, pasta, fish, chicken or other meat dishes. You can even add thinly sliced red onions and also garnish with other herbs such as basil, mint, coriander, parsley or chives. You can also moisten the salad with Organic Cold Pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil or Coconut Oil and add a sprinkle of sea salt per your taste.

This rainbow salad is packed with nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, fibre and healthy fats. It will contain protein, magnesium, iron, selenium, lycopene, Vitamins A, B, C, E and K. Eating a rainbow salad daily will definitely make you more healthy, energised and even notice a much smoother bowel movement afterwards.

If you wish to be more adventurous, try adding other ingredients such as chick peas, kidney beans, edaname beans, goat’s or sheep’s cheese and/or tofu or beancurd to your rainbow salad. There is basically no fixed rule as to what ingredients you should use to make a rainbow salad. Be creative and use the ingredients you have at home, instead of stressing yourself by shopping for specific ingredients each time. The more you get used to it, the more often you will get used to adding a rainbow salad to your meals, if not daily, several times a week.

If you have a bit more time or want more variety, you can even add brussel sprouts and mushrooms to your rainbow salad. Some other salads will also include pasta, potatoes or rice with the vegetables, making it a more wholesome and nutritious meal. By keeping the ingredients varied each time you prepare your salad, this will avoid you being bored with eating the same ingredients. Furthermore, it is important to diversify to ensure we are consuming all the nutrients we need.

Adding seaweed or sea vegetables to your salad will help with your iodine intake. Iodine is important for helping the body to create hormones for the thyroid, which hels digestion, metabolism, mood and immunity. Sea vegetables also have antibiotic and antibacterial properties, reduce cholesterol and support health digestion. Types of sea vegetable include arame, nori, dulse and wakame. You may read more about the Health Benefits of Seaweed in our blog below.

Health Benefits of Seaweed

Enjoy your rainbow salad and remember to share this article with anyone else who may find this informative. Once you get used to preparing a rainbow salad, your taste buds will soon get used to it and you will notice improvements to your health. Remember this feel great factor of eating a rainbow salad regularly so that you keep eating it regularly.