Simple salads belong after the main course or as a side dish, while more complex salads come first as an appetizer or stand on their own as a main course.  The best time to dress green salads is always at the very last minute.

1. Less is more.  It’s better to underdress than overdress salads. Overdressing weighs lettuces down, making them limp and translucent within seconds. Plus, you won’t taste the greens, only the dressing.

2.  Delicate and heartier greens should be dressed separately.  When dressing a salad that includes both dainty lettuces and heavier items such as artichoke hearts or pieces of fruit, dress and season the heavier items separately from the lettuces. Then arrange them among the dressed lettuce leaves. Otherwise, the heavy items fall to the bottom and the delicate greens get crushed.

3. Dress the bowl instead of the salad.  Place your salad ingredients in a large, wide mixing bowl. Spoon or squirt the dressing around the inside upper portion of the bowl. Then, using salad tongs, grab the dressing from the sides of the bowl a little at a time and fold it into the leaves. Using your hands again, transfer the salad to a large serving bowl or individual plates. If you pour the dressing directly on the leaves, there’s no turning back: You’ve got a soggy salad. By dressing the bowl, you can incorporate a little dressing at a time.

4. Gently toss the salad.  Use salad tongs to toss the salad and plate it.

5. Taste before serving.  You may need to adjust the seasonings after you have tossed the salad.

Source Material from Jill Santopietro of chow.com

While the ingredients in a vinaigrette are few and quite simple, the technique for combining them requires a bit of understanding.

1. Two pieces of equipment and five ingredients.  You will need a whisk and a bowl large enough to hold the whisk. Ingredients you should have on hand are oil, any acidic component (e.g., lemon juice or apple cider vinegar), mustard, salt, and pepper.

2. Ratio of vinegar to oil.  It will change depending on the type of vinegar, oil, and greens used.  Some oils are fruity; some vinegars are less acidic than others; some greens need less acid, some more.  A standard ratio is 2-to-1 to a 3-to-1 ratio of oil to vinegar or somewhere in between.  To test, dip a lettuce leaf in your vinaigrette to taste and adjust the seasoning and consistency as needed.

3. Adding just a touch of mustard helps bind the oil and vinegar.  This is a classic French technique. Dijon or whole-grain mustard is recommended, although any style mustard will work.

4. If you’re using minced red or white onions, shallots, or garlic place it in the vinegar first.  Let onions, shallots, or garlic sit in the vinegar with salt for a few minutes to soften, temper the bite, and combine the flavors. Then whisk in the oil and black pepper.

5. The no-vinegar vinaigrette.  Toss very fresh and tender greens with just oil, salt, and pepper. That way their sweet, nuanced flavors can shine.

6. Make ahead and store it for later.  Mixing a dressing just before serving is ideal. But it’s so convenient to mix a large batch and store it in the refrigerator in a squirt bottle or a glass jar for everyday ease of use. Let it come to room temperature, shake, and serve.

Source Material from Jill Santopietro of chow.com

Every step in creating a salad, from selecting ingredients to serving it, allow for the preparer’s imagination.  Here are the basic components for a good salad:

1. Delicate leafy greens. Delicate greens take best to lighter dressings, like a simple vinaigrette or just oil.

Example:  Arugula, mâche, mesclun, watercress, red leaf lettuces, fresh herbs (like chervil, chives, cilantro, marjoram, tarragon, parsley, dill), pea shoots, edible flowers.

2. Hearty leafy greens. Heartier greens can stand up to thicker dressings or a puréed avocado dressing.

Example:  Young kale, romaine, radicchio, Belgian endive, baby bok choy, curly endive, dandelion, spinach, escarole, Bibb lettuce, little gem lettuce, butter lettuce, young chard.

3. Sliced vegetables or fruits. Thinly slicing raw vegetables or fruits can make a delicious and substantial salad base.

Example:  Celery root, artichoke, beets, turnips, cabbage, fennel, radish, celery, cucumber, carrot, jicama, napa cabbage, mushrooms, zucchini, summer squash, tomato, bell peppers, onion, scallions, shallots, burdock, jicama, apple, pear.

Moisture and grit are a salad’s “no-no”.  While moisture will dilute the dressing, making the salad tasteless and soggy, water will also repel the dressing from the leaves. So wash lettuce well ahead (several hours before serving is ideal) so it has enough time to fully dry.  Here’s how:

1. Fill a big bowl with cold water. Submerge the salad greens in the water and gently swish it around with your hands to release any dirt. Handle your greens gently to avoid wilting and bruising them.
2. Lift the greens out of the water and transfer them to a colander or salad spinner.  If you’re using a colander, give it a few shakes and let the lettuce drain a bit. If you’re using a spinner, fill it only halfway. If you overfill it, the lettuce leaves will get crushed and won’t dry. Empty the water between spins.
3. Place the greens in a single layer on a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. Roll the towel up loosely and place it in a paper bag or a container with a lid.
4. Place the lettuce in the vegetable bin of the refrigerator to keep it crisp and cool. Make sure the fridge temperature is not too cold, or the leaves will freeze and become limp and translucent.

Source Material from Jill Santopietro of chow.com

Although preparing salads takes practice to get it just right, you’ll discover that making a good salad is easy to make if you just follow a few simple guidelines.

How to Shop for Salad Ingredients

1. Fresh!!!
Great salads begin with high-quality ingredients.  Of course, organically grown, too!  Avoid limp, browning lettuces and select perky, crisp greens.  All components should be as fresh as possible. Most prepackaged salad mixes are not fresh.  To revive limp greens (provided they’re not overlimp), just place them in a large bowl with ice water (but no more than five minutes or they will become waterlogged).  Then transfer the greens into a salad spinner to spin dry them.

2. Younger greens are better
Mesclun mixes often contain tough, older lettuce leaves. Whenever possible, buy younger, smaller lettuce leaves.

3. How much to buy?
A minimum of 2 cups of loosely packed greens per person, or slightly less if other ingredients are to be added is ideal.

Source Material from Jill Santopietro of chow.com

Reprinted from www.forksoverknives.com

What has happened to us? Despite the most advanced medical technology in the world, we are sicker than ever by nearly every measure.

Two out of every three of us are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially amongst our younger population. About half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. Major medical operations have become routine, helping to drive health care costs to astronomical levels. Heart disease, cancer and stroke are the country’s three leading causes of death, even though billions are spent each year to “battle” these very conditions. Millions suffer from a host of other degenerative diseases.

Could it be there’s a single solution to all of these problems? A solution so comprehensive yet so straightforward, that it’s mind-boggling that more of us haven’t taken it seriously?

Forks Over Knives examines the profound claim that most, if not all, of the so-called “diseases of affluence” that afflict us can be controlled, or even reversed, by rejecting our present menu of animal-based and processed foods. The major storyline in the film traces the personal journeys of a pair of pioneering yet under-appreciated researchers, Dr. T. Colin Campbell and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.

Dr. Campbell, a nutritional scientist at Cornell University, was concerned in the late 1960’s with producing “high quality” animal protein to bring to the poor and malnourished areas of the third world. While in the Philippines, he made a life-changing discovery: the country’s wealthier children, who were consuming relatively high amounts of animal-based foods, were much more likely to get liver cancer. Dr. Esselstyn, a top surgeon and head of the Breast Cancer Task Force at the world-renowned Cleveland Clinic, found that many of the diseases he routinely treated were virtually unknown in parts of the world where animal-based foods were rarely consumed.

These discoveries inspired Campbell and Esselstyn, who didn’t know each other yet, to conduct several groundbreaking studies. One of them took place in China and is still among the most comprehensive health-related investigations ever undertaken. Their research led them to a startling conclusion: degenerative diseases like heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and even several forms of cancer, could almost always be prevented—and in many cases reversed—by adopting a whole foods, plant-based diet. Despite the profound implications of their findings, their work has remained relatively unknown to the public.

The filmmakers travel with Drs. Campbell and Esselstyn on their separate but similar paths, from their childhood farms where they both produced “nature’s perfect food”; to China and Cleveland, where they explored ideas that challenged the established thinking and shook their own core beliefs.

The idea of food as medicine is put to the test. Throughout the film, cameras follow “reality patients” who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes. Doctors teach these patients how to adopt a whole foods plant-based diet as the primary approach to treat their ailments—while the challenges and triumphs of their journeys are revealed.

Forks Over Knives utilizes state of the art 3-D graphics and rare archival footage. The film features leading experts on health, examines the question “why we don’t know”, and tackles the issue of diet and disease in a way that will have people talking for years.

Forks Over Knives was filmed all over the United States, and in Canada and China.

This raw vegan version is one condiment you’ll always want to have ready in the kitchen.  For variations of sauces and dressings from this base recipe, here’s a handy chart.

Cashew Mayonnaise

Yield:  3 cups

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raw cashews, soaked 4 hours, rinsed then drained

¾ cup filtered water

¼ cup olive oil

¼ cup flax oil

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

2 pitted Medjool dates

2 teaspoons onion powder

1½  teaspoons Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Pinch of white pepper

PREPARATION METHOD

1. In a high-speed blender, puree all of the ingredients, stopping the blender to scrape down the sides with a spatula.  Resume blending until the mayonnaise is smooth and creamy.
2. Store in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. 

Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days is an independent documentary film that chronicles six Americans with diabetes who switch to a diet consisting entirely of vegan, organic, uncooked food in order to reverse disease without pharmaceutical medication.

The six are challenged to give up meat, dairy, sugar, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, soda, junk food, fast food, processed food, packaged food, and even cooked food for 30 days. Simply Raw: Reversing Diabetes in 30 Days follows each participant’s remarkable journey and captures the medical, physical, and emotional transformations brought on by this radical diet and lifestyle change. We witness moments of struggle, support, and hope as what is revealed, with startling clarity, is that diet can reverse disease and change lives.

100 pounds overweight, loaded up on steroids and suffering from a debilitating autoimmune disease, Joe Cross is at the end of his rope and the end of his hope. In the mirror he saw a 310-lb. man whose gut was bigger than a beach ball and a path laid out before him that wouldn’t end well—with one foot already in the grave, the other wasn’t far behind. Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe’s personal mission to regain his health.

Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead is an inspiring film that chronicles Joe's personal mission to regain his health. With doctors and conventional medicines unable to help long-term, Joe turns to the only option left, the body's ability to heal itself. He trades in the junk food and hits the road with juicer and generator in tow, vowing only to drink fresh fruit and vegetable juice for the next 60 days. Across 3,000 miles Joe has one goal in mind: To get off his pills and achieve a balanced lifestyle.

Part road trip, part self-help manifesto, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead defies the traditional documentary format to present an unconventional and uplifting story of two men from different worlds who each realize that the only person who can save them is themselves.