Carrot and Broccoli Salad With Orange-Ginger Dressing

Follow up the sizzling shrimp with a colorful, healthful salad of the most potent and delicious disease-fighters in your supermarket. No one wants to approach assembling a menu like designing a medical regimen, but you just can’t help feeling good about serving a rich mix of yellow and green veggies in a snappy, oil-free dressing. Add the dressing to the carrots and broccoli while the are still warm to help the dressing penetrate the vegetables. You can add or substitute cauliflower, squash, mushrooms, or beans, if you like. This dressing is terrific on warm beets and winter squashes as well, so keep it in your recipe file.

1 pound carrots
1 pound broccoli florets
1 large red pepper, trimmed, seeded, and cut in 1-inch squares
1/2 sweet, red onion, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons red raspberry vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
6 tablespoons fresh orange juice
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Kitchen Tip

The key to this salad is to have the vegetables just lightly steamed. Mushy vegetables are never appealing, but particularly disappoint a palate expecting the crunch of a salad.

Peel and trim the carrots, cut in thick, lengthwise slices and steam 4–7 minutes until tender but still crisp.

Trim the broccoli into individual florets and steam 4–6 minutes until barely tender.

While hot, place the carrots and broccoli in a serving bowl. Add the red pepper and onion and toss well, seasoning very lightly with the salt and pepper.

Blend the remaining ingredients and pour over the vegetables, tossing thoroughly. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

(Serves 4)

Health Notes

Use summer salads to increase your vegetable intake. Whether you have your own backyard garden patch or live close to a farmer’s market or well-stocked supermarket, the summer harvest makes a welcome change from a bowl of greens with dinner (though you don’t have to leave spinach and lettuce out). Lightly steam a variety of seasonal carrots, peppers, summer squash and beans, all at their sweetest during the hot months. Though you can chop them raw, the latest word is that vegetables release more nutrients if lightly cooked. However you prepare them, toss everything with a low-calorie dressing.

Healthy Pantry

Mustard is usually a safe bet, calorie and fatwise, and a wonderful way to spice up many foods. But check the labels on your jars of mustards. Many prepared mustards use lots of oil in their recipes. While the oil is most often a healthy, unsaturated variety, if you are attempting to lose weight, you don’t want this condiment sneaking unwanted fat calories into your diet. If ballpark is the only kind of mustard you know, check out http://www.mustardstore.com, the mustard store for an astonishing array of mustards available on line.