Heart Healthy- Strawberry, Melon & Avocado Salad

Strawberry, Melon & Avocado Salad

From EatingWell:
Eating more vitamin C-rich foods, such as strawberries, may help to ward off wrinkles and age-related dryness, suggests research from 2007 in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Vitamin C’s skin-smoothing effects may be due to its ability to mop up free radicals produced from ultraviolet rays and also its role in collagen synthesis. Collagen is fibrous protein that keeps skin firm and vitamin C is essential for collagen production.

Nutty and slightly sweet sherry vinegar is a natural partner for strawberries. This lucious  salad makes a cool kickoff for dinner.  Pair it with wild-caught salmon for a nutrition-packed lunch or dinner.

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar, or red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 1 small avocado, (4-5 ounces), peeled, pitted and cut into 16 slices
• 16 thin slices cantaloupe, (about 1/2 small cantaloupe), rind removed
• 1 1/2 cups hulled strawberries, sliced
• 2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted (see Tip)

Preparation

1. Whisk honey, vinegar, mint, pepper and salt in a small bowl.
2. Divide spinach among 4 salad plates. Arrange alternating slices of avocado and cantaloupe in a fan on top of the spinach. Top each salad with strawberries, drizzle with dressing and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Tips & Notes

• Make Ahead Tip: The dressing will keep, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 1 day.

• Tip: To toast sesame seeds, heat a small dry skillet over low heat. Add sesame seeds and stir constantly until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl and let cool.

Nutrition

Per serving: 202 calories; 8 g fat ( 1 g sat , 1 g mono ); 0 mg cholesterol; 24 g carbohydrates; 3 g protein; 7 g fiber; 90 mg sodium; 503 mg potassium.

Nutrition Bonus: Vitamin C (100% daily value), Vitamin A (60% dv), Folate (18% dv).

Carbohydrate Servings: 2

Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 2 fruit, 1 1/2 fat (mono)
 

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South Denver Cardiology

Randy Cupps Graduated from Western Colorado University in Gunnison, Colorado, in 1983 with a degree in Physical Education with an emphasis in Exercise Physiology. Randy started his medical career in 1980 as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) working on an ambulance and in an emergency room. He then joined South Denver Cardiology in 1986 when it was South Denver Cardiac Rehabilitation as an Exercise Physiologist conducting a wide variety of Graded Exercise Testing on a diverse patient population. Randy continues to keep his EMT current, and he is certified by the American College of Sports Medicine as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist. In 2012 Randy acquired the role of business development, marketing, and physician relations manager at SDCA.

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