Can't Believe It's Allergy Free!

Salads and sides add variety to our meals.  they add color, texture and freshness to balance meats, pastas, rice and other entrees.

Salads stimulate the appetite and intensify the activities of salivary glands and gastric juices.  They are high in fiber and sweep the colon clean of post digestive debris.

For maximizing on nutrition choose–

• Loose leaf lettuce such as Romaine and endive, which have more nutrition than the iceberg lettuce.
• Buy dark green broccoli and deep orange carrots.
• Buy veggies which are in season, or produce grown locally.  Vegetables and fruits which have travelled long distances and stored for more days tend to diminish in nutritional value.
• Fresh, frozen veggies are also nutritionally good to use.
• Avoid leaving cut fruit or vegetables outside or uncovered in the fridge for a long time, as this will destroy vitamins—a slice of cucumber can lose 1/3 of its Vitamin C in just one hour.
• Wash salads and veggies thoroughly before cutting. A good portion of the water soluble vitamins, namely the B group vitamins and Vitamin C will get washed away along with some other nutrients if cut and then washed. 
• Raw salads eaten just before a meal do not generally create flatulence as food contains some salt.  In the presence of salt, saliva breaks down the carbs in salads more effectively.

USDA dietary guidelines recommend 5-9 servings of fruits and vegetables for children over two.  Barely 15% have this quantity, while half the kids below twelve do not eat any fruit at all on a given day.

What to Avoid

Since we are dealing with multiple allergies, there are certain questionable ingredients that I stay away from–  aged cheeses and mushrooms are high in MSG , honey contains pollens of different kinds and could create a problem, and also sesame seeds which have been identified by the Ministry of Health, Govt. of Canada as a main allergenic food.

In any case, use utmost caution before using any new ingredient.