Guest Post by Krista A. Parr
When you include all the colours of the rainbow in your diet daily, you can be sure that you’re getting a wide variety of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients. This is a great way to cover many of your nutritional requirements without over-analyzing the components of your food. This colourful salad is packed with too many antioxidants to name, but all antioxidants are important for male and female fertility in that they protect eggs, sperm, reproductive organs, hormonal glands, and even DNA from free-radical damage. As well as consuming colourful, antioxidant-rich meals like this salad, you can also support your fertility by avoiding free radical damage from cigarettes, alcohol, over-exercising, hydrogenated oils, and excessive stress.
Salad Ingredients:
2 cups cooked and cooled quinoa (1 cup uncooked)
1 red bell pepper, diced
1.5 cups cucumber, diced
1 large carrot, shredded or chopped into matchsticks
1 cup radishes, chopped
½ cup raw, unsalted pumpkin seeds
2-3 green onions, finely chopped
¼ cup fresh oregano, chopped
½ cup fresh parsley, chopped
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
1.5 cups crumbled feta cheese (made from goat or sheep’s milk)
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
Dressing Ingredients:
1/3 cup raw apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup cold-pressed olive oil
1/3 cup raw, No.3 (dark) organic Maple Syrup
Directions:
Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine dressing ingredients in a jar and shake well.
Pour half the dressing over salad and mix well, adding more dressing if necessary.
Refrigerate and, ideally, allow salad to marinate so flavours can meld for at least an hour.
Serve as a side dish along with your favourite barbequed delights, or serve on top of a bed of lettuce and top with chopped avocado for a full meal.
Krista A. Parr is a Vancouver Registered Holistic Nutritionist and founder of Root to Fruit Nutrition, specializing in fertility and women’s health. www.RootToFruitNutrition.ca
