Three 10-Minute Summer Salads

When the heat cranks up, we naturally crave foods that are lighter, juicier, and raw. That’s why we pretty much only put fruit in our salads in the summer.

We’ve got three 10-minute, carefully constructed salads for you today that embrace the season while having an internal cooling effect (eating these is like having built-in AC!).

These salads are also built to fill in the antioxidant and trace mineral deficiencies that hot weather can bring.

Here are the recipes and the compelling reasons to enjoy these foods as your medicine.

#1: The Refresher

Ingredients:

2 cups cubed watermelon
½ cup shredded or sliced mint
Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Sea salt to taste

Watermelon is the taste of summer, and for good health reasons too. This is an inflammation-fighting fruit that can help to alkalize pH, shifting acidic poisons to neutral while elevating joint health.

The red color in watermelon comes from the heart-healthy antioxidant lycopene. Lycopene is abundant in tomatoes, but tomatoes are acidic (and a nightshade), so you’ll want to balance the sources of how you consume it.

The number one rule of food combining with melon is “eat it alone or leave it alone” unless you want to get gas, bloating, and improperly digest the rest of your meal. Give it one hour after eating that burger or summer barbecue fare before you tackle the watermelon.

The mint is there to back up the antioxidant capacity since it has one of the highest of any food, not to mention that it’s cooling, refreshing, and soothing to the GI tract while helping to increase bile production and flow.

#2: The Summer Greek

Ingredients:

1 sliced or diced, organic nectarine
¼ cup shredded basil
½ cup goat feta cheese
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 medium cucumber, sliced
Summer greens mix

Optional: ½ cup sliced or diced fennel

Dressing:

½ cup red wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
Sea salt, pepper, and stevia to taste

The Summer Greek boasts nectarines to give it a summery taste. With only 62 calories per nectarine, you are getting a nice dose of potassium, beta-carotene, and fiber.

Raw red onions and cucumbers activate the body’s internal cooling system, and basil is a star for dopamine production and for reducing pathogenic species in the gut like bad bacteria and fungus.

We chose red wine vinegar here of course because it tastes great, but also because of the resveratrol it contains. According to a 2007 article published in Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology, "resveratrol might help reduce the risk of cancer and slow or inhibit the growth of cancerous tumors.” It’s also been known to help enhance endurance during exercise, which we have the opportunity to get more of in the summer months.

#3: The Sweet and Salty

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh spinach
1 cup sliced strawberries
½ cup diced fennel
¼ cup pine nuts (either raw or lightly toasted)
¼ cup cooked, crumbled bacon

Dressing:

¼ cup raw apple cider vinegar
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
Juice from half a lemon or lime
Sea salt, pepper, and stevia to taste

This salad is packed with vitamin C – and the vitamin C in the strawberries will help you absorb more of the iron in the spinach.

Fennel is for your internal cooling system and to calm the fire in your belly.

Pine nuts contain nutrients that help boost energy, including monounsaturated fat, protein and iron – and their oils can help reduce appetite. If you’re trying to lose weight, research shows that fatty acids derived from pine nuts lead to the release of high amounts of cholecystokinin (CCK), an appetite-suppressing hormone.