Summer Salad with Berries and Avocado

One of my favorite ways to get more fruits and vegetables into my diet is green smoothies. You can read about why I love green smoothies so much and get two of my favorite recipes here.

Another favorite way is to have a big green salad for lunch. My sister just did the Whole 30 plan a few months ago and she has been a good influence on my lunch habits. While we were on vacation earlier in the summer in St. Joseph, Michigan (a beautiful beach town on Lake Michigan with an amazing farmer’s market!) she got me back in the habit of having a big salad for lunch. It is such a great way to boost your nutrition for the day. My mom also often adds fruit to her salads. So I have been taking lessons from both of them and getting more creative with my salads. I just wish we had access to these beautiful farmer’s market berries all year long.

This is currently one of my favorite lunches. I even packed it for lunch on the beach several days. Mixed greens with fresh berries, avocado and pistachios for a little crunch. In place of dressing I just squeeze half a lemon over my salad and drizzle with a good quality extra virgin olive oil. Loaded with nutrition, satisfying and delicious–this salad keeps me feeling good all afternoon!

This salad has 2 servings of vegetables and 2 servings of fruit and packs a huge nutritional punch. Blueberries, strawberries and blackberries are all low glycemic and among the most nutrient dense fruits you can eat, containing more antioxidants than almost any other fruit. Blueberries, specifically, are rich in proanthocyanidin, an important antioxidant that has been found to fight cancer, promote weight loss and give you healthy glowing skin. I used blueberries and strawberries this time, but blackberries are in season here right now and are delicious in this salad too.

Avocado is also often considered a super fruit because of its nutritional content (high in folate, Vitamin K, and potassium among other things) and because it is high in healthy, monounsaturated fat. The healthy fats from the avocado, olive oil and nuts increase the satiety factor and help keep you feeling full. In addition, salad greens such as romain, kale, chard and spinach are all great sources of carotenoids, and studies have found adding avocado to your salad increases the rate at which your cells absorb and utilize these important antioxidants by two to six times. And, of course, the addition of healthy fats also increases the bio-availability of fat-soluable vitamins A, D, E, and K.

So enjoy this nutrient dense salad for lunch and you can feel good all day knowing you are giving your body a good dose of the nourishment it needs to fight inflammation, prevent disease and stay healthy!

But don’t worry …

If you glaze over reading all of this nutritional information, I’m with you. I share it just to motivate you (and me), but the truth is you don’t need to remember one word of it. I don’t believe in counting calories or fat grams or even tracking RDAs of specific nutrients, unless you need to address a specific health concern. If you want to skip to the bottom line, all you really need to know (to paraphrase Michael Pollan) is:

Eat real whole foods. Mostly vegetables, fruits and healthy fats.

Skip the sugar and processed junk.

And watch your health soar.

Print Recipe