Super Greens & Mint Salad (Recipe)

By Shauna Martin (Found of Daily Greens)

At the age of 33, Shauna Martin was diagnosed with breast cancer. With a young family to care for, she struggled to recover from the trauma of multiple surgeries and the toxic effects of chemotherapy.

Eight years clear, Shauna attributes her complete recovery from breast cancer in part, to her current healthy lifestyle, which includes a regimen of drinking a green juice every day. She decided that she wanted to share this life-enriching habit and spread the good word about drinking your vegetables, which is how Daily Greens was born.

The Inspiration For My Recipe

My dear chef friend, Mike Newhouse, also godfather to my son, inspired this salad while we were visiting in Bozeman Montana this Spring. While it was beautiful and sunny in most of the US by then, there was still 2 feet of snow on the ground in Montana. Mike determined to provide us with healthy options prepared this beautiful spread of chopped up fennel, apple, cucumbers, and torn mint drizzled with some wonderful balsamic reduction he and his wife Meta had lovingly brought back from their travels in Italy.

The aromatic properties of the mint and fennel combined with the crispness of the apples and cucumbers made me immediately forget it was 18 degrees outside with snow on the ground. When I got back to Austin, I immediately created a hearty salad out of these ingredients combining them with super greens. Super greens are a mix of salad greens made up of greens that are 100 percent of the nutrient index and are among the most nutritious foods on the planet.

Fennel is naturally sweet and packed with a high amounts of manganese, as well as vitamins A, B1, B2 and B6. While apples are packed with iron, potassium, and calcium, and high in antioxidants such as vitamins A & C.

Super Greens & Mint Salad

Ingredients (use organic where possible)

2 green apples
2 small fennel bulbs
1/2 cup mint
2-3 cups of mixed greens (spinach, kale, watercress, swiss chard etc.)

Dressing

3.4 fl oz (100mls) olive oil
2.7 fl oz (80mls) balsamic vinaigrette

Method

Thinly slice apples, fennel, and cucumbers and toss with chopped mint. Add mixture to a large bowl of baby super greens such as spinach, kale, arugula, watercress, swiss chard, mache, and tai soi.

Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and extra-virgin olive oil, then gently toss. Add sea salt and pepper to taste. Notice how the touch of mint really wakes up your taste buds.