Living an Exceptional Life #93

By Rhonda Jones

Awwww, summertime and the living is easy. Days are longer, meals are lighter, and there is more time to get out and enjoy the daylight and the warm days. I love to take a walk around sundown. The air is cooler and not as heavy, and the walk is refreshing.

I also eat more salads and lighter food during the summer. If you are like me, you don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen when you can be out enjoying the evening, so a little batch cooking goes a long way on days like this. I make lots of soup in the cooler months, but in the summer I like to eat more fruit and raw vegetables. The best way to do that is with a refreshing salad.

Salad can be laborious and hard to take with you for a quick meal, but I have a few tips to make it easier. A little prep work can help you stay on track with your plant-exclusive diet and have a great meal.

Of course, what is a salad without a super dressing? I love ranch and have some excellent plant-based ranch recipes that are also tasty and satisfying. The original ranch dressing recipe included buttermilk and mayonnaise. Both are loaded with saturated fat and calories. But a good ranch dressing can also be healthy, free of saturated fat, and far lower in calories, as the base is actually cashews.

By the way, always add some fat to your salads to help your body absorb the nutrients in the greens. Some nuts in the dressing will fill that need perfectly.

Here is my favorite ranch dressing recipe that comes from the kitchens of Vitamix. It is super easy to make in a Vitamix blender, but you can use any blender or even a food processor. Just make sure the cashews are well incorporated to make a smooth, tasty ranch.

Vitamix Cashew Ranch Dressing

1 cup water

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 cup raw cashews (Very important—raw, no salt.)

1½ teaspoons dried dill

1 teaspoon onion powder

1¼ teaspoons garlic powder

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 teaspoon nutritional yeast

Blend until smooth, then store in a jar in the fridge. I love mason jars and use them for everything.

Speaking of mason jars, here is a simple way to make some salads for the week so you can come home from work and have a meal ready to go. I use mason jars to store the salad. When you are ready to eat, just dump it in a bowl.

Start with four or five mason jars and add salad dressing to the bottom of each. Put in a generous portion, since this will be a big salad. Now, add some seeds or nuts, then layer with uncut cherry tomatoes, chopped celery, carrots, and green onions, or any veggies you like. Radishes and peppers will work well. The trick is not to have a watery vegetable. You can add those later if you wish.

Next, add a coleslaw mixture, spring lettuce, romaine or kale, or a mixture of all three. Fill the jar to the top, add the lid, and store in the fridge. When you’re ready to eat, just add the salad to a bowl and any additional toppings, such as nutritional yeast, berries, grilled tofu, or even hummus and crushed baked tortilla chips for crunch. Add your favorite foods and enjoy a quick and healthy meal. Then take a walk and enjoy the lazy days of summer.