Un-Beetable Avocado Citrus Cruciferous Crunch Salad

Hello and Happy New Year! I hope you all had a nice relaxing holiday. While we were feeling under the weather for most of it I soaked up all the time with the family and relaxing and it was nice to take a much needed break from the blog. I’m feeling refreshed and ready to jump back into things with some new inspiring ideas and some great things coming this year. What better way to start off the year than an exciting Meatless Monday link-up with my co-host Deborah and a delicious healthy Un-Beetable Avocado Citrus Cruciferous Crunch Salad!

If you’re like me you’ve had a few treats (ok maybe more than a few), lots of holiday eats, and wine (a little more wine than usual) and are craving all the healthy fresh foods. I’ve been craving a nice big salad with so much seasonal flavor and texture. This salad is far from another boring green salad. The greens are far from boring as I use a mix (that you can make on your own but it’s so easy to just pick up a mix) with kale, shaved Brussels, broccoli, and cabbage that really packs a crunch and a punch of flavor and nutrition! You really need a strong bed of greens to hold up all the delicious toppings that add so much flavor and healthy nutrition. Yes all about packing in all the flavors and health benefits in this salad to help your body start the year strong! Beets, grapefruit, avocado, pomegranate arils, red onion, and chopped pistachios in this perfectly balanced sweet and savory combo. There is so much flavor you don’t even need a dressing but I like to top with a little vinegar, salt, and pepper or a simple spicy brown mustard vinaigrette sometimes. Another option is to message the greens with a little extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil or mash in the avocado with the greens. It’s simply delicious and will have you craving salads because ones like this are far from boring. It’s cold here, like sub zero cold, and I just escape to somewhere warm and sunny while I eat this Un-Beetable Avocado Citrus Cruciferous Crunch Salad sitting in the chair soaking up the sunshine.

The nutritional breakdown. The powerhouse cruciferous vegetables that pack an amazing amount of nutrients into every bite. Kale is high in fiber, as well as anti-cancer chemicals and antioxidants, both of which help cleanse the body of harmful toxins. Kale is also packed with lots of vitamins and minerals (which also help promote detoxification) and is anti-inflammatory. While some people might think kale is so 2015 I’m still over here saying Kale Yeah! Brussels sprouts are low-glycemic nutritious vegetables, exceptionally rich sources of protein, dietary fiber, vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Really I don’t even care if their healthy because my oldest and I love our Brussels sprouts and would eat them daily. Cabbage and broccoli are in the same family of green leafy vegetables that also packed with cancer fighting antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals. Beets are another favorite vegetable of mine. They are highly nutritious and a“cardiovascular health” friendly vegetables. They are rich folates, glycine betaine, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and unique plant derived anti-oxidants Great for antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification support. Avocado significantly increases your body’s ability to absorb two very important carotenoid antioxidants: lycopene and beta carotene. Carotenoids aid with it’s anti-inflammatory properties. Avocados are also one of the few land plants that carry the fatty acid polyhydroxylated fatty alcohols (PFAs). PFA’s have excellent anti-inflammatory benefits. Pomegranates are rich in powerful antioxidants, have anti-inflammatory benefits, may lower blood pressure, fight against heart disease and cancer. Pistachios are one of my favorite healthy nuts packing an array of phytochemicals and nutrition. Again I’m not a doctor or a dietitian but I do my research and try to pack in as much whole food healthy nutrition into our meals, especially when they taste this good, to help fuel us.

I often debate on adding this information to posts and again debated adding it to this one. When it comes to healthy delicious whole foods like these I really don’t need a list of reasons to eat as I know they taste good and make me feel good and that’s all that really matters. Again with my recipe creations I hope they inspire you and if you don’t like a particular food omit it, if you love beets or avocados like I do add more, if you want a bigger meal (although this is very filling) you can add more greens. Maybe you don’t have the mix to make this and no time to run and get it or the time to shave your Brussels and make your own mix that’s ok I even swapped out the greens for baby spinach as those are more my youngest daughter’s A’s speed and it was just as good. It’s all about inspiring others to live their best with healthy creations. As always if I inspire you I’d love to hear your twist, you can comment below or tag me on social media.

Now to Meatless Monday, it’s always an inspiring link up and we love it when you join or are inspired by others posts! For those who don’t link up how we can further inspire you? For those who link up, again this isn’t about numbers or boosting posts but inspiring and supporting others. Deborah and I have talked about how to bring the Meatless Monday link-ups to the next level and would love to hear from you. We would keep this to once a month not to add stress but to make it fun and challenge us all. We are open to other ideas as well if you have them, so let’s hear them! What would you like to see this year for our 2017 Meatless Monday link-ups?

Un-Beetable Avocado Citrus Cruciferous Crunch Salad
Makes 2-4 servings
10-20oz blend of kale, brussel sprouts, broccoli, and cabbages like Cruciferous Crunch mix from Trader Joe’s
8oz sliced cooked beets, (about 8-10 small Love Beets or 3-4 medium)
1 grapefruit
1 avocado, cubed
1/4c pomegranate arils
3-4 thin slices of red onion
2-3 TBSP chopped pistachios

Dressing options:
Simple vinegar, salt, and pepper.
Equal parts spicy brown mustard, vinegar, and grapefruit juice. (Sir Kensington Spicy Brown, Nocu Coconut Vinegar, squeeze remaining grapefruit juice)
Massage greens with extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil, or avocado.

This salad can be mixed together and served, plated and served individually, or prepared in a container to go. If massaging greens do so now. Otherwise plate or add greens to bowl/container. Slice grapefruit in half horizontally (not from stem to stem). Using a grapefruit knife run your knife around the inside edges of each segment, scoop out with a spoon. Top with sliced cooked beets, grapefruit, avocado, pomegranate arils, red onion, and pischaios. If making ahead squeeze part of the grapefruit juice from one half of grapefruit remains over to prevent browning of the avocado. Prepare dressing if desired, reserving grapefruit for this or if not using for dressing you can squeeze grapefruit to reserve juice for later. Top with optional dressing. Enjoy!

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Spreading the Meatless Monday love I’m also linking up with Running on Happy and The Fit Foodie Mama!