Recipe – Iron-Person Salad

Prep Time

10 Minutes

Cooking Time

N/A (plus the time for pre-cooking the lentils, quinoa and sweet potatoes.

Yields

2 main dish salads (or 4 side salads)

Ingredients

Salad

  • 5 oz “Power Greens”
  • 1 large Sweet Potato, cubed and steamed
  • 1 cup cooked Quinoa
  • 1 cup cooked Lentils
  • 3 large Green Onions, chopped, white and green parts
  • ½ bulb Fennel, thinly sliced
  • 3 tablespoons Pumpkin Seeds
  • 3 tablespoons dried Goji Berries

Dressing

  • Juice of 1 Orange
  • 2 tablespoons Apple Cider Vinegar
  • ¼ cup Olive Oil
  • ¼ teaspoon Chipotle Powder
  • ½ teaspoon Cumin
  • ½ teaspoon Salt
  • 1 tablespoon Smoked Paprika

Directions

  1. Put Goji berries into the orange juice to soak while you prepare the salad.
  2. Place all of the salad ingredients in a large bowl.
  3. When the goji berries are plump, remove them from the orange juice (saving the juice) and add them to the salad ingredients.
  4. Prepare dressing.
  5. Combine saved orange juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, chipotle powder, cumin, salt and paprika.
  6. Whisk together with fork.
  7. Start out with about ¼ cup of the dressing and toss into the salad. If you want more, add as needed. The remaining dressing will keep in the fridge for about a week.

NOTES

This salad is meant to be a powerhouse of plant based iron that will be easily absorbable. To increase absorption, plant based iron needs vitamin C. If you change the ingredients – make sure the iron content stays high and the vitamin C does as well.

Power Greens are found under different names, but they are usually a mix of baby greens – Kale, Spinach, Chard, etc. You can substitute other dark, leafy greens, as long as the green you choose is high in iron.

You can substitute butternut squash for the sweet potato and get even more vitamin C.

Substitutions for goji berries that are high in vitamin C

  • Raw cranberries, chopped in half (also soaked in orange juice to decrease their bitterness. (When cranberries are dried, they lose most of their vitamin C and also, usually, have added sugar.)
  • Fresh pomegranate seeds.

(Raisins, although high in iron, are NOT high in vitamin C. If you choose to use raisins you might want to use the butternut squash option to increase the vitamin C.)

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