Seeing how my father has been a vegetarian for 45 years (most of my life), I grew up eating salads every. night. of. the. week! You would’a thought I was tired of eating salads. But nothing could be further from the truth. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I go a few days without one, but I realize very quickly how much I miss it when I don’t have it.

You see, just like the caterpillar from Eric Carl’s famed children’s book, I know the magic of salads. There is something deeply primitive about a green salad.

Deeply…. primitive?

Yes.

The simplicity speaks to our most basic parts. The most down-to-earth. There’s something incredibly satisfying about the “fruits” of the earth.

The ingredients of a salad literally speak to your most basic parts… your genes. The food is broken down into it’s smallest molecules that then become you. And these molecules dictate which of your genes are turned on and which are turned off. This is the work of epigenetics – the way your food and environment acts on or exerts effects on your genes.

As with most of my cooking – it’s simple. This serves two purposes: 1. I’m lazy in the kitchen (I don’t like to clean a lot of dishes), and 2. I am usually short on time (or I’d rather be doing something other than meal prep).

So my salads are simple too. Usually with less than 10 ingredients (including the salad dressing). Check it out. This salad has cucumber, hearts of palm, Cannellini beans, kale, avocado, broccoli, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Okay, technically this one has 11 but who counts salt and pepper as ingredients? The dressing is really a condiment, right?

Okay, your turn. Got a favorite salad recipe you want to share? Leave me a comment. You know I can’t resist a good salad!