You’re offered two salads, one green leaved with a little extra green thrown in for good measure, or a rainbow salad full of peppers, quinoa and color.  What do you chose – I’ll wait? If you chose option 2, yay for you, come and stand over here on the sunny side of life! Chose option 1, no worries, I’m still going to reveal a delicious rainbow salad recipe to you anyway.

But first, a little background on this perky little salad. It really is more than just a pretty meal, in fact rainbow salad follows some health principles that can really benefit your body in more ways than you realize.

Why Rainbow Salad Is So Gosh Darn Good For you

In ancient cultures taste and smell played a major role in discovering the effects of a food on the the body. Other factors such as external and internal color, consistency, texture, habitat and methods of harvesting provided additional information, as they also influenced and modified the basic properties of the food.

According to the ancient Chinese food principles, flavors of food and plants can be: salty, sour, bitter, sweet and spicy. Each of these flavors is related, in its worldview, to each of the 5 phases of energy movement, known in the West as 5 elements, which are: Water, Wood, Fire, Earth and Metal, respectively.

How Food And It’s Elements Effect Your Health

The flavors have the ability to stimulate the organs and systems to which their element is associated. They can also affect other organs that are in a relationship of dependence or control. The effect of the flavor of a food can be enhanced or made more specific if the time of day in which it is consumed is chosen with precision. For example: eating something sweet between 7 and 9 am, favors the energy of the stomach and therefore the digestive capacity, while from 9 to 11 am favors the absorption of nutrients and the movement of fluids in the body.

Someone may have deficiency in the large intestine, however with a dose of spicy food, administered in the corresponding time, could improve their intestinal peristalsis.

According to Traditional Chinese Medicine, each person, according to their genetic constitution and their life history, is favored by some flavors and types of food as well as disadvantaged by others.

A quick way to provide nutrition and stimulate our body and system is to consume in a balanced way the 5 elements in our meals. This is the exact reason why a hat is why I wanted to share this salad with you.

Rainbow salad with quinoa (Recipe)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 handful of arugula
• 3 small carrots
• 1 Large cucumber
• 3 Watermelon radish
• 2 Ripe bananas
• 1/2 cup of coconut oil

For the dressing:

• 4 Tbs. Olive oil
• 2 Tbs. Fermented apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons. Himalaya salt
• 2 tbs. Organic fermented soy sauce (optional)
• Pinch of pepper

Mix and reserve.

Procedure:

• Wash, dry and reserve the vegetables.
• Peel, cut finely and reserve the bananas

For  quinoa:

• Boil over medium heat 2 cups of water with 1 pinch. of salt.
• Add the quinoa and let it hydrate. Cover and lower the heat until all the liquid evaporates (12 mins).
• Change the container to cool.

The bananas:

• While the quinoa is cooking, heat a pan with the coconut oil.
• When it is hot, add the bananas, fry until browned on each side.
• Drain and let stand until they cool. Cut them into small cubes.

For the salad:

• While the quinoa and bananas cook, cut the arugula and cucumber, grate the carrot and cut the radishes into strips.
• In a bowl mix the vegetables already cut.
• Add quinoa and bananas.
• Serve and season to taste.

I hope you enjoy! Not only is this rainbow salad delicious, it really helps to promote the healthy functions of the body.