Have you ever craved a refreshing and healthy salad, reminiscent of the offerings at Whole Foods Market? The Detox Salad is a popular choice, and the good news is, you can easily recreate it at home for a fraction of the cost and with control over the ingredients. This article provides a comprehensive guide to making your own version of this nutritious and flavorful salad.
Why This Salad is a Detox Powerhouse
The Whole Foods Detox Salad is packed with ingredients known for their health benefits. It's a great way to incorporate more raw vegetables into your diet and support your body's natural detoxification processes.
- Cruciferous Vegetables (Broccoli & Cauliflower): These vegetables contain sulforaphane, a phytochemical that stimulates enzymes in the body to detoxify carcinogens, preventing damage to tissues. The sulfa components also enhance liver detoxification pathways. World’s Healthiest Foods reports that cruciferous vegetables (such as broccoli, kale, cauliflower, cabbage, watercress, and mustard greens) are said to be detoxifying because they provide support for the immune system, inflammatory system, hormonal system, detoxification system, and antioxidant system. These vegetables contain a wide variety of vitamins and minerals as well as phytonutrients. For example, one such group of phytonutrients found in cruciferous vegetables are called glucosinolates. Glucosinolates are thought to have anti-cancer properties in a variety of research studies.
- Carrots: Raw carrots bind to toxins and waste material, removing them from the colon. Their high fiber content increases stool size, reducing toxin exposure to colon walls and promoting peristalsis for regular bowel movements. Regularity helps the body eliminate toxins effectively.
- Currants: These fruits contain unique phenols that prevent oxygen-based damage to cells, reducing oxidative stress. Currants have been the object of phytonutrient research primarily for their unique phenol content, which helps prevent oxygen-based damage to cells in the body. Thus, they reduce oxidatively.
- Sunflower Seeds: High in selenium, they regulate the heavy metal mercury by binding to it and removing it from the body. They also contain Vitamin E, a potent antioxidant that protects against oxidative damage and aids the liver's detoxification ability. They are high in selenium which is an important regulator of the heavy metal mercury. Selenium binds to mercury and removes it from the body. They are also high in Vitamin E, which is a potent antioxidant. Vitamin E protects against oxidative damage. Sunflower seeds also aid the liver’s ability to detoxify.
- Kelp: Kelp promoted detoxification in the body. Kelp is also said to be detoxifying.
Ingredients for Your Homemade Detox Salad
Here's what you'll need to create your own Whole Foods-inspired Detox Salad:
Salad Ingredients:
- 1 head of cauliflower, broken into florets
- 2 heads (or 1 bunch) of broccoli, broken into florets (no stems)
- 2.5 cups shredded carrots (about 3-4 medium carrots)
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds (soaked for 7 hours in filtered water with 1 tsp sea salt, then drained well, optional)
- 1/4 cup currants
- 1/4 cup raisins (golden or Thompson seedless)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- Kelp granules or Herbamare seasoning (to taste)
- Pumpkin seeds (Optional)
Simple Vinaigrette Dressing:
- Juice of 1-2 lemons (to taste)
- Pure maple syrup (to taste, optional)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Other herbs and spices (optional)
Step-by-Step Instructions
Follow these instructions to assemble your Detox Salad.
1. Prepare the Vegetables
- Wash and rinse all vegetables thoroughly.
- Trim the cauliflower and broccoli into smaller florets. Peel and roughly chop the carrots. Pick off the larger stalks from the parsley, but you can leave most of them in as we blitz it all anyway.
- Either chop the ingredients using a good sharp knife, or toss them individually in a food processor and pulse a few times so they are finely chopped.
2. Finely Chop the Vegetables
- Using a Food Processor: This is the quickest and easiest method.
- Place the broccoli florets into a food processor and pulse until chopped very fine. Empty out into a large bowl.
- Do the same with the cauliflower florets. Depending on the size of your food processor you may have to work in batches.
- Next add the carrots and pulse until finely chopped and add to the bowl along with the broccoli and cauliflower. Give it a good stir to mix everything together.
- Blitz the cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, and parsley in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Chopping by Hand: If you don't have a food processor, you can finely chop the vegetables with a sharp knife. This will take longer, but the results will be similar.
- Chop vegetables using a good sharp knife, or give them a rough chop and then toss them in batches in a food processor and quickly pulse until the veggies are finely chopped.
3. Combine the Salad Ingredients
- Add the drained sunflower seeds, currants, kelp granules, and salt to the bowl.
- Stir in the parsley, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, raisins and currants.
- Add all of the finely chopped ingredients, almonds and raisins to a large bowl.
4. Make the Dressing
- Slice the lemons in half and squeeze in the fresh juice (catch the seeds!).
- Add lemon juice and seasonings to taste.
- For the vinaigrette - place the ingredients in a mason jar and seal the lid and shake well.
5. Toss and Dress
- Add all of the salad ingredients to a large bowl and toss with the vinaigrette.
- Mix well to combine before serving.
6. Chill and Serve
- Salad is best if its chilled before serving.
- The key to the simple vinaigrette is to let it sit in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour (longer if you have the time) before tossing the salad with it. Oh my goodness….the flavor of this vinaigrette after it’s been in the fridge for a bit is so good you’ll want to drink it!
- I loved it drizzled with a touch of maple syrup just before serving. Feel free to use any herbs and spices you wish. I also love it with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.
- Enjoyed with Sencha green tea.
Tips and Variations
- Make Ahead: This is a great salad to make ahead of time. To do so, finely chop the ingredients and whisk together the salad dressing then store them separately in air-tight containers until you're ready to toss and serve.
- Storage: Leftovers of this detox salad can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. I like to keep it in a big sealed glass container because I find that the glass keeps the salad fresher than plastic.
- Nutritional Information: theharvestkitchen.com attempts to provide accurate information, however, this nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is an estimate only.
- Variations:
- Toss in chopped curly kale
- Use Marcona almonds instead of regular almonds
- Toss in pistachios instead of almonds
- Use golden raisins instead of Thompsons seedless raisins
- Toss in fresh blueberries instead of raisins
Addressing Digestive Sensitivity
If you have a sensitive digestive system, this salad might cause some gas or bloating. If that’s the case, try gently steaming the broccoli and cauliflower first, letting them cool completely, and then pulsing them lightly in a food processor.
Read also: Satisfy Your Cravings with Whole Foods
Read also: Whole Foods Breakfast Options
Read also: Plant-Based Diet Guide