Prep
¼ cup pumpkin seeds
1 tablespoon fresh mint
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch radishes
½ pound jicama
2 carrots
1 cucumber
1 large avocado
8 kalamata olives
½ lemon

Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally.
 
Finely chop mint, parsley and radishes. Peel and finely chop jicama. Seed and dice cucumber. Peel, pit and dice avocado. Pin and mince olives. Juice lemon.

Dressing
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon Himalayan sea salt

In a small bowl, whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice and salt.

Assemble
1 teaspoon cumin
⅓  cup goat cheese crumbles (optional)
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
 
Combine pumpkin seeds, cumin, cheese, veggies, olives and mint in a large bowl, mix well. Toss with dressing. Let sit 15 minutes or more prior to serving.

Serve
Romaine or another lettuce
 
Spoon jicama mixture into lettuce leaves and roll.
 
Preparation: 20 minutes active, plus 15 minutes to set
Serves: 4

Prep
1 large shallot
2 cloves of garlic
1 lime
1 can black beans, or 2 cups cooked beans
1 large sweet potato
1 bunch chard
1 avocado
¼ cup cilantro

Peel and finely chop shallot and garlic. Juice lime. Rinse and drain beans.  Grate sweet potato, leaving skin on.  Cut the chard leaves from the stems, set aside. Finely chop chard stems.  Peel, pit and slice avocado. Roughly chop cilantro.

Filling
1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 teaspoons curry powder
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup water

Sauté garlic and shallot in coconut oil until shallot is soft. Add spices and sauté a few minutes longer, stirring constantly.
 
Add sweet potatoes, chard stems, lime juice and water; cover and simmer until sweet potatoes are nearly done, adding more water if necessary and stirring occasionally. Add in black beans and continue to cook until beans are warm and liquid is gone.

Wraps
Rinse chard leaves, but don’t dry them.
 
Heat a dry skillet, place leaves individually or a few at a time on skillet and cover. They will steam with the water left on the leaves from rinsing. Watch them carefully; it only takes about a minute!

Serve
Wrap a few spoonsful of the filling in each leaf. Garnish with avocado and cilantro.
 
Preparation: 30 minutes
Serves: 4

This lovely, bright salad is a great introduction to the peppery and lovely watercress. Watercress is a humble, cruciferous, aquatic green leafy vegetable eaten since ancient times. Long considered food for the lower classes, it has only recently regained popularity due to hits high nutritional value. Watercress provides numerous health benefits, including cancer prevention, lowering blood pressure and healthy bone support. It is rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, iron, calcium and folate. Among other benefits, an increase in folate consumption has been shown to improve cognition and verbal fluency – good news for prevention of cognitive decline!

Prep
6 cups watercress
1 avocado
¼ cup sweet onion
1 pomegranate
½ cup slivered almonds
 
Prepare watercress by rinsing in cold water, then removing and yellowed or limp leaves. Trim excess stems. Peel slice avocado. Finely slice sweet onion. Seed pomegranate.
 
Toast almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently.

Dressing
¼ cup rice vinegar
4 teaspoons tamari
1 teaspoon honey
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
 
Whisk together vinegar, tamari, and honey until blended, then stir in oil.

Salad
Toss watercress with enough dressing to coat, stir in onion, pomegranate seeds and almonds.

Serve
Divide watercress among plates, garnish with avocado slices.
 
Preparation: 15 minutes
Serves: 4