Mark Alyn Cooks with FoodTrients: Aztec Berry Salad

Published by FoodTrients

About

Learn to make easy, tasty, healthy dishes with Mark Alyn and his guest chefs. The program is designed for singles and couples of all ages, who dine on fast food and take out. If you’re divorced, widowed, or empty nesters, you’ll have fun exploring food trends from around the world. Did you know your kitchen is not for stacking empty pizza boxes? Celebrate food and elevate your palate with exciting food that will tingle your taste buds and amaze your family and friends. From vegan to ethnic foods, mild to spicy, Mark Alyn Cooks Your Dinner serves up food to get your inner chef going!

Aztec Berry Salad With Chia Dressing with Mark Alyn

Aztec Berry Salad With Chia Dressing

The Aztecs recorded using chia seeds as far back as 1540. This colorful and refreshing salad is perfect for summer afternoons and evenings. Serve this salad as a starter, side dish, or light summer meal.

Benefits: Chia seeds provide energy in the form of healthy fats (including anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids) and plant-based protein. Fresh, seasonal berries provide a concentrated source of beneficial antioxidants such as vitamin C and anthocyanins, which improve capillary function in the brain, eyes, and skin.

SERVES 4

Ingredients

For the salad
2 cups (packed) roughly chopped baby spinach
1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 cucumber, diced
½ cup sunflower kernels
¼ cup (loosely packed) chopped fresh basil leaves

For the dressing
2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 Tbs. chia seeds
1 tsp. honey or maple syrup
1 Tbs. water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Procedure

Combine salad ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients.
Toss the salad with the dressing immediately before serving.

Gluten-Free
Vegan if using maple syrup
Vegetarian

FoodTrients
Anthocyanins
Fiber
Flavonols
Manganese
Omega-3 fatty acids
Vitamin C
Vitamin E
Vitamin K

This recipe appears in Anti-Aging Dishes From Around the World. Buy it now!

Anti-Aging Dishes of the World cover

FoodTrients

Combining her passion for food and a lifelong commitment to promoting a healthy lifestyle, Grace O has created FoodTrients, a unique program for optimizing wellness. Grace O is a fusion chef with a mission: to cook up recipes for sustaining a long and joyful life that are built on a foundation of anti-aging science and her work in the health care industry. Mixing foods and unique flavors culled from a lifetime of travels from Asia to Europe and America, Grace O encourages young and old to celebrate a full life that embraces diversity. Lifestyle tips, age-defying recipes, and secrets of the healing properties of food are the centerpiece of FoodTrients-–all available through cookbooks, e-newsletters, and this website.