One of the big truths about health & wellness is that our issues go into our tissues & our psychology becomes our biology. I see it all the time. Stress getting stuck in the body and manifesting in physical symptoms of illness. In order to heal, the body needs the right fuel to feel safe & strong enough to enable this process of letting go of our stressors.
This healing fuel must come from our food choices. That is why I believe so much in the power of love-led nourishment. Because when we choose to eat foods that show our body our love & kindness, we fuel our body’s natural ability & desire to heal & thrive.
Here’s a recipe to deliver love & compassion to your liver - the most underworked and underpaid organ in the body. Poor, darling liver! It fights for your quality of life every day, but we frustrate the heck out of it with stress that we drown out with wine & comfort foods.
This salad delivers all the nutrients your liver needs to rock through its 500 daily functions. And you know what that means? You may just be able to say I’m fine and REALLY mean it!
DeLIVERme Love Salad
Ingredients
1/2 medium raw beet (peeled & chopped into matchsticks)
1 radish (thinly sliced)
½ cup broccoli sprouts
1 medium sized carrot (peeled & shredded)
¼ cup chopped coriander
1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
2 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds
2 cups of mixed greens (e.g. arugula, radicchio, romaine lettuce, baby spinach)
Protein of choice: e.g. 2 boiled eggs OR 4-5oz of grilled chicken or leftover roast chicken or grilled salmon or cooked shrimp or grilled beef or ¾ cup of cooked chickpeas or lentils
Dressing: 2 tbsp olive oil, juice of ½ lemon, 1 tsp Dijon mustard, salt & pepper
Other optional add ons: ¼ avocado, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, spring onions, fresh orange segments, cashews, peppers
Method
1.Wash, peel & prep all the veggies. Do not try to shred the beet because it will make an awful mess.
2.Toast the sesame & pumpkin seeds separately. To toast, I simply put them on a dry frying pan over low-to-medium heat and keep stirring until they’re fragrant.
3.Make the dressing by stirring together all the ingredients.
4.Assemble all the ingredients in your salad below. Add the dressing and enjoy!
Therapeutic Notes:
Beets activate liver enzymes & increase bile to help the liver’s detoxification process. Beets are high in betalains & other compounds that reduce inflammation & protect the liver. Beets also stimulate lymphatic flow & help increase oxygen by cleansing the blood .
Broccoli sprouts are super rich in sulphur. Sulphur + methionine which your body is getting from the protein you add to this salad is the basis for our master antioxidant glutathione which the liver needs in abundance for its detoxification process.
Arugula, radishes & radicchio are bitter foods which stimulate bile flow & contribute to liver health.
Coriander is a herb that is assists in detoxifying heavy metals from the body.