A lot of women from our community are asking me for easy to make recipes that not only delicious but healthy too. So, this salad is just that! If you’ve never prepared anything in the kitchen, this Arugula salad will make you look really good – it’s simply easy and delicious.

But before we jump in the recipe, I’d like to mention a few things about arugula.

Arugula is a peppery, distinctive-tasting green that originated in the Mediterranean region. One study cites arugula as being particularly high in cancer-fighting agents. Beside reducing the cancer risk, preventing osteoporosis, diabetes and contributing to heart health, your liver (the master organ in Chinese medicine) loves arugula.

Arugula is low in sugar, calories, carbohydrates, and fat. It’s high in several vital nutrients:

• Calcium, helps the blood to clot normally, important for bone health, muscle function (contraction of the muscle) and nerve function.
• Potassium, a mineral and an electrolyte. Potassium levels often change with sodium levels. When sodium levels go up, potassium levels go down, and when sodium levels go down, potassium levels go up. This mineral is very important for people with high blood pressure.
• Vitamin C, an antioxidant that helps support the immune system.  Vitamin C is important for the absorption of iron from the food.
• Vitamin K, helps with blood coagulation.
• Vitamin A, powerful antioxidant, supports immune system, cell growth, eyes health, helps maintain kidney, lung, and heart function.

Arugula Cheese Salad

Prep Time: 0 hours 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 0 hours 00 minutes

Servings: 4

Allergens: Contains Dairy Product, replace with nutritional yeast for vegan version.

INGREDIENTS

• ½ lemon zest
• ¾ cup of Parmesan cheese flakes
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 tbsps. olive oil
• 1 shallot
• 5 ounces of baby arugula or 7 – 8 cups
• 1 ½ tbsps. lemon juice

METHOD

Step 1:

Preparation

Mix the olive oil, baby arugula, salt, and lemon juice in a bowl. Toss for a few minutes, season to taste then add in the shallot before giving it another toss.

Grate the parmesan cheese.

Step 2:

Serving

Top with the cheese then serve while still fresh.

This recipe came from my childhood, to be exact from my baba Nina. And it still is a perfect fit for my diet in my 50s. It’s not only delicious, which is not good enough for me (if you know me) but healthy too. What I love the most, it’s so easy to put together. And you can use some left over mash potatoes.

Have you ever had a chopped salad before? They are the BEST!

Because everything is chopped up into tiny portions, you get deliciousness in every bite and that makes them a lunch to look forward to.

As an added bonus, because of all that chopped goodness, they require less dressing than most other salads, which is perfect if you have a body transformation goal. And don’t take me wrong, I’m not against good fats in dressings, what I’m against is dressings store bought that have not so good ingredients.

TIP: taking the time to really chop up those ingredients before you put them in the salad bowl is a good idea.

Feel free to customize this salad recipe to suit your own tastes. Try adding chopped grilled chicken, chopped extra-firm tofu, or stirring in 1 cup of cooked quinoa.

Greek Chopped Salad

(makes 4 servings)

Dressing:

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp Dijon mustard

1 tsp chopped fresh oregano

¼ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp fresh black pepper

Salad:

4 oz (112 grams) roasted red peppers, chopped finely (about the same as 1 red pepper)

4 cups (170 grams) romaine lettuce, chopped

2 small cucumbers, chopped

1 cup (150 grams) grape tomatoes, halved

2 Tbsp pitted kalamata olives, chopped

1 (15-oz.) (425 grams) can salt-free cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

¼ cup (30 grams) feta or goat cheese, crumbled

(optional: 8 oz. (225 grams) chopped grilled chicken, 1 cup (215 grams) chopped or shredded tofu, and/or 1 cup (185 grams) cooked quinoa)

In a large salad bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients.

Next, add all of the salad ingredients EXCEPT the feta cheese, and stir to incorporate the dressing. Top with feta and enjoy!

Hope you love it! Let me know if you are going to try to make this salad.

Lilia, Nutritionist & Fitness Coach.

To make this well known recipe more interesting, instead of using chicken eggs, I have used duck eggs. 

Before jumping into the recipe, why don’t we cover the difference in nutrition and benefits of duck eggs vs. chicken eggs.

Eggs are a nutritious and affordable source of protein that humans have been eating for millions of years. In general, duck and chicken eggs are quite similar. Still, there are a few features that set the two apart.

A duck egg can be larger than an average-sized chicken egg. Thus, eating one duck egg is like eating one and a half or even two chicken eggs. Duck egg yolks are larger in size because duck eggs are generally larger than chicken eggs.

In general, duck eggs and chicken eggs taste similar. However, the flavor of duck eggs may be more intense than that of chicken eggs.

The yolk of a duck egg not only looks bold, but I think it gives the egg a richer flavor and creamier taste than chicken egg yolks.

Duck eggs and chicken eggs both have impressive nutritional profiles.

Duck eggs and chicken eggs are both packed with protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and bioactive peptides that contribute in numerous ways to optimal human health.

Whether duck eggs or chicken eggs are better comes down to personal choice. There’s no right answer for everyone.

I’ve never tried duck eggs before but decided to give it a try and was pretty impressed with the outcome.

Cook Time

Prep time: 15 min

Cook time: 20 min

Ready in: 35 min

Yields: 3 serving

Ingredients

• 3 duck eggs
• 3 tbsp of soft cheese, shredded (I used laughing cow cheese)
• 2 tbsp of mayo
• ¼ tbsp of mustard
• Dill and green onions 
• 4-6 small pieces of chopped Herring 
• S&P

Instructions

1. Cook duck eggs for 7 minutes. Chill in cold water.
2. Peel eggs and cut in half.
3. Add the mayo, mustard to the cooked, separated  and mashed egg yolks. Stir well to combine.
4. Cut Herring into small pieces and add to the yolk mixture.
5. Spoon the filling evenly into the egg white halves. 
6. Sprinkle with paprika, dill, green onions and arrange on a plate

If you need more recipes for healthy snacks and appetizers, I have a perfect book for you, HEALTHY SNACKS AND APPETIZERS with a lot of not only healthy but easy and delicious recipes.  

A single bowl of beetroot soup, served with smetana (sour cream) and black bread, bring up images of Red Square almost as much as a glass of vodka or red/black caviar.

Some claim that borscht is not Russian at all. But does it really matter?

Among the many soups of traditional Russian cuisine, borscht is undoubtedly the king of all soups. The borscht recipes are really numerous, every Russian family has their own version of borscht recipe. The traditional borscht can take up to 5 hours to make.

My borscht recipe takes only 5 minutes to cook. This recipe is gluten free, vegan and a perfect fit to detox the body!.

Borscht is eaten hot or cold. Many recipes counterbalance the sweetness of the beets with the addition of acidity like Vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid can be added to achieve a similar effect.

There is no need to measure any of the veggies, it always turns out wonderful. So eyeball it! (Your food processor will come in mighty handy for shredding all these veggies!). I love to chop by hands, it’s the Russian thing.

Here are ingredient list for those of you who needs to follow the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups shredded peeled beets
3 potatoes/1 cup of white beans (optional)
1 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 gloves of garlic
1 cup of tomato sauce
2 tbls of tomato paste
2-3 liters of vegetable broth (water works just fine too)
I use 2 liters because I love it thick.
2.5 cups coarsely chopped green cabbage
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice or ACV
Bay leaf, caraway, paprika, S&P
dill fresh or dried
sour cream/Greek Yogurt for serving

DIRECTIONS:

* Saute shredded beets, carrots, onion and garlic in the 2 tbsps of olive oil for 5-8 mins.
* Add spices and tomato paste and cook for additional 5 mins.
* Add vegetarian broth or water.
* Add cabbage, potatoes and cook for 5 mins in Instant Pot or 20-30 mins on the stove .
* When turning the heat off, stir in lemon juice or ACV (Russian secret ingredient). Add fresh dill.

It’s ready to eat. Borscht is better the next day!

You can keep borscht for a week in the fridge. When not detoxing add cubes of beef at the beginning, saute and then add beets, carrots, onion, and garlic.

If figuring out what to make for dinner is a constant struggle, then I have got you COVERED!  It’s my ebook: Easy One-Dish Recipes Guide!

It contains a dozen of my favorite ONE-DISH recipes that Taste DELICIOUS:

• Take minimal prep work
• Are all made in a single dish!
• Make a complete balanced meal
• Are easy to clean up

I handpicked these recipes to fit almost every type of diet, including vegan, gluten-free and dairy-free … all you have to do is choose the ingredients based on your tastes and preferences!