Strawberry Mandarin Orange Salad. This is a great summer salad recipe. Light and refreshing with a hint of tangy sweetness. A healthy 9-ingredient salad to pair well with any summer protein. You could eat this for breakfast or dessert too. Easy to make. (Beginner cook easy). Includes special tips. Recommend pairing with a white wine or soft fruity red wine, such as a young Pinot Noir or Zinfandel. (See also Summertime Fishin’).
Ingredients:
| 2 | qt. | ( | quart | ) | containers fresh strawberries | |
| 2 | 15-oz. | ( | ounce | ) | can mandarin oranges | |
| 1 | lg. | ( | large | ) | avocado (you may wish to add a second avocado) | |
| 1/2 | c. | ( | cup | ) | chopped honey roasted almonds OR candied walnuts | |
| 1 | c. | ( | cup | ) | crumbled feta cheese | |
| 2 | sm. | ( | small | ) | vanilla yogurt cups | |
| 1 | tlb | ( | tablespoon | ) | honey; or to desired consistency and taste | |
| 1 | tlb | ( | tablespoon | ) | brown sugar; or to desired consistency and taste | |
| 1/4 | tsp | ( | teaspoon | ) | cinnamon; or to desired consistency and taste |
What You Will Need:
| 1 | large serving bowl | |||||
| 1 | small mixing bowl | |||||
| 1 | wooden spoon | |||||
| 1 | knife | |||||
| 1 | cutting board | |||||
| 1 | measuring cup | |||||
| 1 | measuring spoon | |||||
| 1 | small rubber spatula | |||||
| 1 | can opener |
Steps to Make Salad:
- Rinse fresh strawberries.
- Open mandarin oranges and drain juice.
- Open yogurt cups and use rubber spatula to empty contents into small bowl.
- Use knife to cut strawberries into quarters (bite-sized).
- Put cut strawberries into serving bowl; then add drained oranges.
- Add feta cheese and chopped nuts to fruit.
- Combine honey, brown sugar and cinnamon to yogurt to desired taste
- Stir yogurt dressing well; Pour over salad mixture in serving bowl
- Keep refrigerated until ready to serve.
- Just before serving, slice avocado in half to remove pit.
- After pit is removed, score avocado 3 times lengthwise and 2 times horizontal.
- Push back side of peel forward to help remove scored avocado from peel.
- Gently fold avocado bits into salad. Serve immediately.
To Serve:
The avocado tends to brown quickly so you may choose to do this salad and plate individually. Use the avocado as a garnish rather than folding into bowl. If you plate individually, suggest presentation of slicing avocado lengthwise (not cubed with horizontal score).
Other options to delay browning of the avocado:
- Add avocado to the salad but keep the pit IN the salad bowl.
- Wash avocado in lime juice prior to adding to salad.
- Add lime juice to yogurt dressing but be careful to not overpower dressing and flavors with acidity of lime juice.
Special Tips:
Remove the leaf stem from the strawberry, insert a straw into the point end of the strawberry, push to remove the stem core out the other end.
Another tip is wait until ingredients are all in bowl before you fold them. The more frequently you fold the fruit, the more likely it will break down more rapidly. Thus, leaving a less desirable appearance and creating more liquid.
Save the almonds or walnuts until just before you are ready to serve. As the salad rests, the fruits create more juice. When the nuts are added too early, they tend to become soggy and lose their crunch factor and novelty in the salad.
Strawberries have varying tastes depending on the stage of ripeness. A berry lighter in color is less ripe and more tart. For a sweeter result, choose a berry darker in color, slightly softer to the touch. But if you love strawberries like I do, use them both. Let each bite surprise you.
Health Benefits
Finding and incorporating healthy foods in our lives is not always easy. Temptations of fried fatty treats are at every corner. But who wants to be on a perpetual diet? My approach is to look for foods I like and learn how they are beneficial for my health. Granted, I seek information on the ones I like. I haven’t focused too much on foods I don’t like. My list is in progress and includes spices and herbs. I have data on vitamins too. Its been a work in progress for a few years and a collaboration of multiple online sources. Unfortunately, I didn’t think to document those and only extracted the essential benefits for my own purpose of reference. But I’ll bet when you look around the internet enough, you will find similar resources, possibly the same.
- This summary of collected tidbits from internet resources is not intended as a medical guide. Only available beneficial information is shown, negative side effects and other warnings have not been included. The effectiveness and accuracy of any health benefit are subject to opinion and varying outcomes from different studies and reports. Refer to your medical provider or nutritionist when considering any changes.
The Diet Plan
By educating myself on the nutrition value, I am motivated to make healthier choices. Obviously, all choices are meant to be in moderation and any diet changes should be approved by your medical provider. However, I enjoy a nice lobster tail and glass of wine. Here is why I am I will keep lobster on my menu:
Lobster – speeds healing, boosts cognitive brain function, helps strengthen bones, decreases inflammation, helps vaginal lubrication, increases energy, helps heart health (but has high sodium and cholesterol so avoid if existing heart issues), helps nervous system
Not too shabby, eh? As long as I keep eating lobster, I will have a sharp mind, strong bones and avoid afternoon naps. Now you know my method for creating a nutritional diet plan. Let’s discover health benefits for ingredients used to make the above salad.
Health Benefits of Strawberry Mandarin Orange Salad Ingredients
Strawberries
Strawberries – excellent source of vitamin C and folate, folate helps maintain cognitive brain function, helps prevent birth defects, fights signs of aging, supports bone health and hair health, helps prevent dandruff and can reduce hair loss, helps with weight loss, constipation, inflammation, arthritis and gout, boosts immunity and helps prevent some cancers and tumor growth, improves heart function and eye health
Mandarin Oranges
Mandarin Oranges – a source of vitamin C, reduces risk of liver cancer, lowers bad cholesterol, source of fiber so helps with weight loss, improves immunity system, helps prevent cramps, helps prevent some bacterial infections (viral and fungal), improves skin tone, heals wounds and prevents wrinkling,
Avocado
Avocado – helps reduce belly fat, reduces risk for prostate, oral and breast cancers, protects against macular degeneration and cataracts in eye health, lowers cholesterol, contains vitamin E (best fruit source for this vitamin) and folate for promoting heart health, lower risk of strokes, assists in better absorption of nutrients, reduces evidence of aging, contains vitamin B, fiber and potassium, helps prevent high blood pressure, can assist with weight loss as a substitute for butter, mayo, cheese and creams in recipes, promotes healthy skin and provides some natural sunscreen protection in the layers of the skin, can cause adverse allergic reaction for latex sensitive individuals
Honey
Honey – helps prevent some cancers, boosts immunity, acts as cough suppressant, soothes acid reflux, helps with sinus issues, allergies, improves energy and sex drive, helps clear yeast infections, external use for scrapes and burns, dandruff control, acne and herpes, ingested honey helps act as a sleep aid and memory booster, and reduces duration of a hangover
Cinnamon
Cinnamon – helps stabilize glucose levels, lowers bad cholesterol, antioxidant, aids to boost brain function, helps to prevent insulin resistance, anti-clotting and anti-inflammatory properties, stops growth of the Asian flu virus, kills bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella, regulates menstrual cycle and prevents flooding in menopause, reduce anxiety and stress, decrease high cholesterol, combat yeast infections, helps to get rid of lice and ulcers, combats common cold, helps fight cancer, nausea, mixed with honey in a paste to treat insect bites
Almonds
Almonds – constipation relief, anemia, diabetes, impotency, hair care, skin care, dental care, respiratory disorders, cough, best eaten on an empty stomach to better absorb nutrients, regulates cholesterol, good for brain and heart, source of folic acid, regulates blood pressure, weight loss, satisfies appetite, aid in colon health, boosts energy, helps deter Alzheimer’s, avoid if you have gallbladder or kidney problems
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