Antioxidant August: Very Berry Salad with Mango Dressing

Salad_Dressing

This salad packs a healthy punch! Here's a rundown of ingredients and their health benefits:

  • Avocado – packed with biotin, a vitamin that prevents
    brittle hair and nails and dry skin
  • Blackberries and Raspberries and Blueberries – loaded with
    the fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants that are crucial for helping the body to
    age well
  • Spinach – full of folate, which helps skin maintain and
    repair DNA
  • Pine Nuts – packed with Vitamin E, known for speeding up
    healthy skin cell regeneration
  • Mango – full of beta-carotene, an antioxidant that gives
    skin a rosy glow and combats the skin-damaging effects of the sun
  • Canola Oil – full of the heart-healthy kind of fat
    (monounsaturated fat) that is required to help the body absorb all the nutrients
    and vitamins found in this salad (in other words, a bit of healthy fat in salad
    dressing is healthier than a fat-free dressing)

Very Berry Antioxidant Salad with Mango Dressing                               

Serves 6-8     

Ingredients:

For the Avocado Berry Salad:

¼ cup pine nuts

10 ounces baby spinach

1 cup blackberries

1 cup raspberries

2 small avocados, halved, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced
or diced

mango vinaigrette*

 

*For the Mango Vinaigrette:

½ cup frozen chopped mango, thawed

1½ tablespoons agave

2½ tbsp. canola oil

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 tbsp water

 

Instructions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Arrange the pine nuts on
    a parchment-lined baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 5-7 minutes, or
    until the pine nuts are lightly golden – watch carefully, as they burn quickly.
  2. In a food processor or blender, add the chopped mango,
    agave, canola oil, vinegar, and water. Puree until vinaigrette is smooth and
    creamy.
  3. Arrange the spinach, berries, and avocado on serving plates.
    Drizzle Mango Vinaigrette over the salad. Top with toasted pine nuts.

For more information on The Block Center for Integrative Cancer Treatment, call (847) 230-9107 or visit BlockMD.com.

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