Wild Child Summer Salad

I'm not really sure how to categorize this salad. Extravagant coleslaw? Caribbean? Whatever it is, it is delicious and a real looker! And it's really good for you too! This gorgeous salad will outshine any dish you try and serve with it, so you might as well let it be the star!

Warning: If you think nutrition is boring, skip the next paragraph because here it comes!

Eating by the rainbow ensures you are getting the full range of antioxidants and vitamins from your foods and also pushes you outside of your comfort zone to try new foods. Variety is the key to healthy eating. Here are the ingredients and health benefits by color:

Cranberries, Radishes vitamin C, lycopene, anthocyanins
Carrot, Apple Cider Vinegar alpha-carotene
Mango, Cumin beta-carotene, alpha-carotene, vitamin A
Cucumber, Cilantro, Magdalena Pepper, Avocado, Pistachios vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, capsaicin, lutein flavonols, fiber, potassium, vitamin E, folic-acid
Purple Cabbage, Shallots, Purple Garlic vitamin K, vitamin C, Manganese, Potassium, vitamin B6, diallyl sulfides, anthocyanins
(The cloud right?) Feta Cheese, Coleslaw Dressing Calcium
Flax Seed (definitely the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow) Iron, Fiber, Protein

Let's get started with the dressing. . .
Yes, I use store bought Coleslaw Dressing because I like it, but I give it my own twist. Start by chopping up some purple garlic, about 2 cloves, and scrape it onto a flat piece of tin foil. Add about a tablespoon of flax seeds to the tin foil. Place it on a cookie sheet and place on the top oven rack and put it on broil. Don't walk away from the oven! The flax seeds burn really quickly. Only let them bake for 2 or 3 minutes. Then pull them out and mix them into the dressing. Add 1 or 2 tablespoons of the Apple Cider Vinegar to the dressing as well as salt, pepper, and a good dose of Cumin.

Slice the cabbage into strips, I like mine about 1/2 an inch wide and 2 inches long. The cabbage should make up about 2/3 of the salad's bulk.
Skin the cucumber and then slice.
Slice the radishes, carrots, and scallions.
Mince the magdalena pepper.
Chop the cilantro.
Cube the avocado.
Slice the mango into wedges.
Top with the feta cheese and cranberries.
Crack open the pistachios, and smash them between two paper towels so they are crumbled. Sprinkle over the top of the salad.
Top it all off with the dressing and fresh ground pepper.

You can have a lot of fun with layering this salad since it's so colorful, so play around with the presentation!

Edible Color Palette Cauliflower Curry with Green Lentils

There is a big push right now to eat based on the colors of the rainbow. As an artist who spends a significant amount of time thinking about colors anyway, it sounds like a very Kelsey kind of way of eating. I love learning about all of the different nutritional benefits of the different fruits and vegetables, but it sounds complicated to try and fit red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple into my daily or even weekly diet. I want a healthy and satisfying rainbow meal I can cook in one pot. Am I the only cook who loathes doing dishes??


Red tomato, watermelon (lycopene) strawberries (anthocyanins)
Orange carrot (alpha-carotene) yam, pumpkin (beta-carotene)
Yellow yellow bell pepper, table queen squash (beta-carotene)
Green spinach (lutein) kale, broccoli (flavonols/lutein)
Blue blueberries (anthocyanins) Concord grapes (resveratrol)
Purple plum, eggplant, blackberries (anthocyanins)
(from Vegetarian Times www.vegetariantimes.com )

This is an attempt at cooking/eating the colors of a rainbow all together.

1 cup Green Lentils
1 head Cauliflower
2 stalks Celery
2 Carrots
1 Lemon
2 Scallions
1/3 cup Raisins
2 or 3 cloves Garlic
Fresh Oregano
Fresh Sage
Yellow Curry Powder
Cumin
Grapeseed Oil
Salt
Pepper



So it's not quite the whole rainbow, red bell pepper could easily be added, but bell peppers have sadly been at $2.50 a piece lately so I had to let them go. As for blue. . . . I didn't have a clue. The plate?

I boiled the lentils for about 25 minutes. During this time I chopped up the carrots, cauliflower, and celery and threw them into a wok with about a 1/3 cup of water. Once that cooked off and they were softening I added the raisins, garlic, scallions, grapeseed oil, and curry powder and cumin. Oh by the way I decided at this point I did not like sage so I actually left it out. But I did add the oregano! Once the lentils were soft but not yet falling apart I added them to the veggies. I added more curry powder, salt, and pepper. As a major garlic lover I added a little more chopped garlic at this point so it would be nice and potent, along with another handful of chopped scallions.

Now that it is spring and things are starting to grow in abundance, I am thinking about trying another rainbow meal. Any ideas?