Almond Ginger Salad w/ Green Apples & Brown Rice

Our latest salad features crunchy almonds & green apples with an almond ginger dressing.

Our greens of choice include:

• Baby leafy greens:arugula, mizuna, mustards, red cabbage, kale, micro onion, and micro radish

• Shoots: sunflower shoots, radish shoots

Suggested salad toppers:

• shaved almonds

• brown rice

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Almond Ginger Dressing
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Yields: 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

• ½ cup raw almonds

• ½ cup unsweetened nut milk

• 1 cup water

• 4 tablespoons tahini 

• 6 dates, pitted 

• 1 clove garlic, peeled

• 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

• pinch of salt

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a high powered blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. Add more water to reach desired consistency.

Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Enjoy!

Lastly, we’re highlighting the health benefits of dates!

Beyond being oil and salt free, this week's Almond Ginger dressing has a sweet and healthy spin. Our plant-based dressings typically use maple syrup or agave to balance the acidic vinegars common in salad dressings. This week we added dried dates which contain more nutrients other sweeteners, even honey.

A tablespoon of date syrup (made by cooking dates down in boiling water) has more than twice the potassium, calcium and magnesium in comparison to maple syrup or honey. Plus, dates are packed with antioxidants. Refined sugars contain none of these good guys!

Dates are low on the glycemic index which means consuming them will not result in a spike in blood sugar. It is also lower in fructose than most other sweeteners.

So, whenever possible use dates to sweeten your foods for some extra nutrients. We often blend them to smoothies and cook them into oatmeal. Just be sure to remove the pits!

Learn more about how to have a healthy sweet tooth here.

Photography, Food Styling, and Recipe Developed by Sara Thornton. (Photo credit for dates: via mynetdiary)