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I first learned about “blended salad” from Dr. Joel Fuhrman. If you don’t know who Dr. Fuhrman is, be sure to click the link! In my opinion, his book “Eat to Live” is one of the best books on nutrition. I love his “nutritarian” approach to health. It’s all about nutrient density.
A blended salad is basically another type of green smoothie. My morning green smoothie contains a lot of fruit. My evening blended salad contains mostly vegetables.
Here’s what I put in my blended salad last night (serves 2):
Parsley, spinach, zucchini, carrot, cucumber, apple, red pepper and lemon juice (frozen).
PREPARATION
These are tips for preparing lots of vegetables ahead of time. This cuts down on the amount of work involved. If it’s too much work, then you probably won’t make blended salads regularly. Not good!
1. Buy several bunches of parsley. Discard the thickest stems. (I don’t need that much fiber!) Rinse, spin dry, and freeze on parchment paper. Store in a freezer container.
2. Have dark leafy greens in your fridge at ALL times. Rotate through kale, spinach, chard, collards, etc. Rinse the leaves and remove the tough stem. Most of the time I throw the stem away, but sometimes I mince it up for soup.
3. Buy a large variety of vegetables and apples. Wash, chop (2″ pieces) and freeze most of it. Always save some of everything for the fridge. Don’t forget about tomatoes, celery, and avocado. Keep the tomatoes and avocado fresh.
4. Use a citrus reamer to juice a whole bunch of lemons at once. Freeze the juice in ice cube trays.
5. If you have a juicer, you can also juice some of the vegetables and freeze the juice in ice cube trays. Using some vegetable juice instead of all whole veggies will cut down on some of the fiber (if getting too much fiber is an issue.) Save your carrot pulp for other uses (like these muffins).
5. Blend everything in a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Add at least a cup of water per serving.
It’s interesting to read nutrition charts showing the percentage of protein, carbohydrate, and fat found in fruits and vegetables. People are surprised to learn that fruits contain protein and vegetables contain fat.
Please repeat after me:
ALL PLANTS CONTAIN PROTEIN.
PARSLEY: 27% protein, 57% carb, 16% fat
SPINACH: 39% protein, 49% carb, 12% fat
ZUCCHINI: 25% protein, 67% carb, 8% fat
CARROT: 8% protein, 87% carb, 5% fat
CUCUMBER: 19% protein, 69% carb, 12% fat
APPLE: 2% protein, 95% carb, 3% fat
RED PEPPER: 13% protein, 78% carb, 9% fat
LEMON: 7% protein, 90% carb, 3% fat
(Protein, carb, and fat percentages are from the book, “Becoming Raw: The Essential Guide to Raw Vegan Diets,” by Brenda Davis and Vesanto Melina. This is another excellent book on nutrition. You don’t need to be “raw” to read it.)
Happy blending!
I flipped open another new chart today at work in the skilled nursing facility. Bladder cancer – status post cystectomy & ileostomy. Ovarian cancer – status post oophorectomy. Metastatic to lymph nodes. History of breast cancer with mastectomy. All in one patient. A very nice lady, by the way.
She had TPN (Total Parenteral Nutrition) in the hospital, but that was removed and now she’s taking food orally. But has no appetite. She’s barely over 100 pounds.
The physician’s written plan for this woman with 2 “high” grade cancers that are metastatic to lymph nodes reads:
“High protein, high calorie drinks. Push at least 6 cans of Boost a day.”
6 cans of Boost a day? WHAT?! Are you serious?
The medical community has really lost their way if recommending 6 cans of Boost per day is the best that can be done for unfortunate patients such as this woman riddled with cancer.
As the saying goes… “If I had a dollar” for every time that these hideous protein drinks are recommended in hospitals & nursing homes & assisted living facilities all over the country, then I’d be…well…a big-wig at Nestle (maker of Boost) or Abbott (maker of Ensure.)
Dear Average Doctor in the USA:
Do you know that continually recommending Boost or similar “protein drinks” (like Ensure) will only sicken and kill your patients quicker?
Let’s take a look at the ingredient lists…
Boost (Chocolate Flavor):
Water
Sugar
Corn Syrup
Milk Protein Concentrate
Vegetable Oil (Canola, High Oleic Sunflower, Corn)
Cocoa
Soy Protein Isolate
Less than 0.5% of: Soy Lecithin/Carrageenan/Flavors/Cellulose gel/Vitamins/Minerals
Ensure (Chocolate) Nutrition Shake: 
Water
Corn Maltodextrin
Sugar (Sucrose)
Corn Syrup
Milk Protein Concentrate
Cocoa Powder
Soy oil
Soy Protein Isolate
Canola oil
Less than 0.5% of: Corn oil/Flavors/Colors/Soy Lecithin/Carrageenan/Multivitamin/Minerals
My questions:
Where is the NUTRITION in these drinks? All I see is a “sugar oil milk multivitamin & mineral” drink. (No wonder patients don’t do much better choking these things down than they do consuming the standard, devoid-of-nutrition institutional food!)
What about the strong link between milk protein (casein) and cancer promotion? Who in their right mind would suggest a cancer patient consume ANY dairy products?
What about the effect that sugar has on cancer promotion?
Has anyone considered the effect of GMOs in these low quality drinks? Canola, Soy, Corn: GMO crops. (I don’t see the “Organic” label on Boost or Ensure.)
Can’t we do a whole lot better? How about recommending REAL food that is actually nutrient dense? How about recommending simple to make smoothies that are delicious and easy to digest? Take a separate multivitamin & mineral supplement if you like.
Pick some of these ingredients and blend them together:
Banana, coconut milk, almond butter, flax meal, dark leafy greens, chia seeds, walnuts, avocado, hemp seed, organic soy milk, fresh fruit, silken tofu, wheat germ, coconut based yogurt and more…
Now, that would give cancer patients (and other sick people) a fighting chance.
- Nature’s Cancer Fighting Foods (by Verne Varona)
- The China Study (by T. Colin Campbell)
- Eat to Live (by Joel Fuhrman, M.D.)
- Whitewash (by Joseph Keon)
Freeheel Vegan 