I love Asian inspired salads, the flavors and textures are always so delicious and they still have a quality about them that makes them feel unique. They are a great example of how you can make healthy food taste delicious and makes you wonder why you would eat any other way.
This is such a great colourful salad that really demonstrates how to eat a rainbow of the colours everyday. Each fruit and vegetable colour group contain different phytonutrients, which are beneficial to our health, so by eating a variety of colours, the greater the benefits we are getting from our food. By filling your body with antioxidants, vitamin & minerals we are helping to prevent illness and keep ourselves healthy.
The high concentration of vegetables and fruit in this salad, also means, it has a very alkalizing effect on the body. Too much red meat, dairy, salt and processed foods have an acidic effect on the body, when the body is too acidic, it increases inflammation and the kidneys and liver are over worked. The acidity is then neutralized with calcium from the bones, just 1g of acid can lead to 3g of bone loss. Therefore it is so important for healthy bones as well as kidney function to eat a diet that is high in alkalising foods and low in acidic foods.
I have used Tamari in this recipe instead of Soy sauce as it has a lower salt content, it is also gluten free. The fermented miso paste as well as giving an amazing flavour is also a fantastic prebiotic meaning it is great for the digestive system.
The vibrant green from the herbs and cucumber show they are full of wonderful flavonoids. The bright yellow and orange of the mango and the carrot indicate it contains lots of beta-carotene, an important nutrient which converts to Vitamin A- an antioxidant good for the skin and eyes. And the deep red cabbage contains significantly more phytonutrients than green cabbage making it even more nutritious! These protective phytonutrients are highly anti-inflammatory and contain lots of antioxidants. They are also high in vitamin K and vitamin C.
In fact every ingredient in this delicious little salad has numerous positive reasons why it should be eaten, so give it a whirl and let me know what you think!
- ¼ red cabbage shredded
- 3 large carrots grated or ribboned with a peeler
- 1 Cucumber (deseeded and ribboned with peeler or thinly sliced)
- 1-2 Red chillies (deseeded & chopped)
- 1 Mango thinly sliced
- 1 Tbsp Mint leaves
- 2 Tbsp Coriander leaves
- 350g King Prawns
- 1 Tbsp Toasted sesame seeds
- DRESSING
- 2 Tbsp Miso paste
- 4 tbsp Rice vinegar
- 2 tbsp Tamari
- 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp grated ginger
- Add all the salad ingredients into a big bowl, mix well.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds.
- Next whisk all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl until well combined
- Serve the dressing in a little dish on side of each plate, dress before eating.
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