A Protein-enriched Salad

The temptation on chilly days is to cook everything and serve it piping hot. There’s satisfaction, though, in contrasts in a meal. Hot soups and stews, cool salads, warm colors of diced oranges and green leaf lettuce, of white apple or pear chunks on dark green lettuce or baby spinach, tart-sweet apples and crunchy celery and walnuts. And all these flavors and textures set off by the salad dressing.

Try this healthy salad with a surprising dressing featuring peanut butter. The peanuts in the salad and the dressing together give you nearly 6 grams of protein per serving. Of all the nuts they are the highest in protein. Walnuts provide a little Omega 3 fat, but only 3 grams of protein per serving .

 Apple & Nut Salad
2 servings
1 organic apple, washed and diced, peeling on
1 Tablespoons diced celery
1 Tablespoons raisins or dried sour cherries or cranberries
3 Tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts or walnuts
Dark green lettuce leaves, washed and dried between tea towels

 Dressing:
2 Tablespoons peanut butter
2 Tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
1 Tablespoon almond milk
1 Tablespoon shredded coconut

Combine the first four ingredients. In a cup or small bowl, thoroughly mix the dressing, reserving the coconut.  Now mix the dressing into the apple combo. Line a flat soup plate with torn lettuce leaves. Top with the salad. Sprinkle the coconut shreds over all.

Pan-roasted peanuts: Spread peanuts on a pie pan on baking sheet. (I roast a cupful at a time for a few minutes in a 300 degree oven, and when they change color and don’t taste raw anymore, I let them cool and then store them in a glass jar, cap it, and stow it in the refrigerator.  

Chopped toasted peanuts will find may uses: Topping for ice cream, in granola, on cereal, or—roasted but not chopped—as snack food. If using walnuts instead of peanuts, try this Tahini dressing. Tahini yields 3.14 grams of protein per serving.

Tahini Dressing

Makes ¾ cup
¼ cup tahini
¼ cup fresh lemon juice
About ¼ cup water
Salt to taste

Mix tahini and lemon juice in a small bowl. When well blended, add water by the tablespoon, blending well after each addition, until the mixture has the desired creaminess. Stir in the salt. Good on either a fruit salad or a vegetable salad.