Almost Vegan Salad

Posted by Melissa Fann on
I call this my Almost Vegan Salad because it is almost all non-animal except that I had to add in mussels, which vegans can opt not to have. Haha...this is a very simple salad that is rich in iron, omega 3 and fibre. Very suitable for those who are on a low gluten, low carb diet like I am currently on. The only cooking involved is to sautee the mushrooms and mussels. Those on a raw food diet may choose not to cook the button mushrooms but I must warn that mushrooms naturally have toxins such as hydrazines, which are carcinogenic, but these are usually effectively removed when the mushrooms are heated.

So...the ingredients in my salad are:
1 avocado, sliced
2 cups baby spinach
1 cup button mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup mussels, shelled
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup brandy
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp truffle oil/ extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Method:
  1. Heat some oil up in a frying pan and then fry the garlic till golden brown.
  2. Add the mussels and mushrooms and stir until the oil has been absorbed by the mushrooms. Add the brandy, followed by the salt and pepper to taste. Cook the mushrooms till it is soft and totally cooked. There should be some liquid in the pan. Turn off the flame and leave it to cool slightly.
  3. Build the base with baby spinach and then toss the sauteed mushrooms and mussels on top.
  4. Place the sliced avocado on top of the mushrooms and then sprinkle the chia seeds.
  5. For the dressing, you can either pour the vinegar and oil over the salad (lazy and effective way) or shake it up in a small container before drizzling it over the salad (hardworking way which will still taste the same).
This salad contains about 450 calories and it's mostly due to the avocado (1 avocado has 360 calories!) so you can opt to only have half a avocado and load up on protein by adding an egg or tofu. If you've got endometriosis or poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, my advice is to eat the egg and not the tofu because phyto-estrogen should be eaten in very small quantities.

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