Edible Flower Salad with Mache and Blackberries
Edible Flower Salad with Mache and Blackberries
Highlights:
- You want me to eat….flowers?
- What the heck is mache?
- Nutritional benefits of raw foods
- Raw foods for weight loss
- Why you should be eating fresh berries
Edible Flowers, Huh?
Eat flowers? What are we, rabbits? Ever since I went vegan at age 14, I have heard every phrase in the book, including vegan food being called “rabbit food.” I’m not insulted by that at all. Rabbits eat a healthy diet! And have you ever seen them run and hop? I want that energy! Besides, bunny food is also particularly delicious, including flowers!
Before adopting a raw vegan diet, if you’d have offered me flowers to eat I would have made some kind of unpleasant face and declined. But since going on raw foods, I have explored every kind of plant available to me. So when I started seeing edible flowers in my local market, I decided to give them a try. Not only are edible flowers beautiful, but they also pack a nutritional punch, which is important to me. I like to get the most nutrients-per-dollar in this crazy economy. Edible flowers are loaded with antioxidants, which may help protect against heart disease and cancer. This comes from their bright pigments. Their healthy properties lie in their beauty! Don’t you love that?
Delicious Mache Lettuce Health benefits
So now I’ve sold you on eating flowers, but what in the heck is mache, you might ask. Mache is hands-down my favorite leafy green. There is nothing more delicious in my opinion. Butter lettuce is in second place, but it doesn’t come close to mache. Mache, or “lamb’s lettuce,” is a delicate little plant and its leaves have the most exquisite flavor. They’re savory with slightly nutty undertones. I can eat it by the handful with nothing on it – it’s that good. The Organic Girl company produces outstanding mache, which I have located in stores like Whole Foods Market. You might try calling around to various markets to locate it, or maybe reach out to Organic Girl to see if they can get some to you, or find it using their locator guide.
Just two cups of mache contain 140% of your daily Vitamin C. On a raw food diet you will notice that you naturally obtain high levels of valuable plant-based nutrients. Mache is just one more delicious way to do that. You don’t have to limit yourself to iceberg lettuce with sliced tomato every night! There’s a whole world of yummy plants out there, and my job is to introduce you to them and show you fun and tasty ways to prepare them on your raw vegan journey. Mache also contains protein, vitamin A, and iron. What an incredible plant!
Losing Weight and Feeling Satisfied on a Raw Food Diet
On a raw food diet, you’ll find yourself becoming truly satisfied in terms of appetite and nutrition. Fresh raw plants provide ample nutrients while physically filling your stomach with high water and fiber content. This combination effortlessly creates satiety (a feeling of fullness) because:
- Your nutritional needs are met AND,
- Stretch receptors in your stomach are triggered by the physical volume of plant foods being consumed.
If you’re like me, you’ll discover that on a raw food diet you’ve finally found your appetite’s “off switch.” A miracle in the form of simple, wholesome food!
Incredible Berries
Now let’s talk about blackberries. Like the beautifully pigmented flowers discussed above, berries are similarly loaded with antioxidants. Here is a brief excerpt from plant-based M.D. and vegan luminary, Dr. Greger of NutritionFacts.org:
“Berries have the greatest antioxidant content per serving compared to any other food except spices. Blackberries, Indian gooseberries, and goji berries rank among the highest in terms of antioxidant levels and offer one of the best nutrition bangs for our buck. Antioxidant-rich foods can affect nitric oxide activity, which helps our arteries relax and dilate normally, and can increase stool weight. Berry antioxidants appear to survive processing, but eating berries in the presence of dairy products may suppress their antioxidant effects. Antioxidant intake may also be associated with lower lymphoma and gastric cancer risks.”
You can read Dr. Greger’s full article here. And if you want to pick up an excellent book on plant-based health, try his recent bestselling publication, “How Not to Die,” available here. (The book link goes through my affiliate Amazon store, so I earn a small commission if you purchase through my links, which in turn helps me fund the running of this website. There is no increased cost for you in any way. Thank you for helping me do this important work! I appreciate you.)
Reach out, connect, get support with your raw food diet!
I hope you’ll love this simple, easy raw vegan salad as much as I did. Make sure you subscribe to my newsletter, too, so that you won’t miss more raw vegan recipes, support, and lifestyle inspiration. Sign up today and then drop me a line to let me know how your edible flower salad turned out! I love hearing from you. It’s my favorite part of the day! Reach out, connect, and always remember that you are fully supported and never alone. You’ve got me, plus so many of my community members and fans cheering you on as they progress on their own journeys to plant-based living, too.
Yours in delicious heath,
Mache Salad with Blackberries
Ingredients:
Salad:
4-5 cups mache lettuce
2 carrots, peeled and cubed or grated
4 stalks of celery, julienned or sliced however you like
1 avocado, sliced
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
1 cup of blackberries
1/3 cup edible flowers
Dressing:
Juice from 1/4 orange
Tiny bit of black pepper (optional)
Directions:
Toss & enjoy!
