Mango Avocado Salad With Lime Chia Seed Dressing

Transition Goal For Week Two: Eat One Raw Meal And All Raw Snacks
In week one, we replaced one meal a day with an all raw meal. This week, I’d like to add making all of our snacks raw. Substitute candy bars and potato chips with raw nuts, fruits, vegetable crudités with raw nut butters and raw smoothies. After a one month transition, we’ll do a 30 day ALL RAW cleanse.

Make this salad one of your raw meals of the day. This makes a great lunch and you can serve it with raw crackers (I’ll show you how to make those soon).

The most exciting thing about this recipe is the dressing. I love chia seeds. You will see them in a lot of my recipes. They are one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Yes, they are the same seeds that made those silly chia pets. But did you know that this high protein, high fiber food not only is an amazing source for our omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids, they also have more than 5 times the calcium as milk!

I’ve always struggled with making healthy salad dressings but I’ve finally discovered a way to thicken the dressing without oil or, god forbid, corn starch. Chia seeds absorb about 10 times its weight in water. If you mix it with water or any liquid, it will form a gel. So if you just put a tiny amount in the salad dressing (I only use one teaspoon in this recipe), it thickens it and makes a beautiful dressing with delicate little seeds. I also use these seeds in crackers, puddings and anything else I can think of. You can find them in health food stores or buy them online. Check out more of my chia seed recipes.

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Mango Avocado Salad With Lime Chia Seed Dressing [serves 2]
1 medium head organic butter lettuce, torn in bite size pieces
1/2 medium avocado, sliced
1/2 medium mango, sliced
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup raw, organic cashews
1 teaspoon raw, chia seeds
2 tablespoons water
1 packed tablespoon of fresh, chopped, cilantro
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
A few shakes of black pepper

Early in the day, put 1 teaspoon of chia seeds into 2 tablespoons of water. Let sit for several hours until it forms a gel. Then combine this chia gel with the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. In a large bowl, combine the butter lettuce, mango, avocado and red onion. Dress the salad with the lime chia seed dressing. Serve on two large salad plates and garnish with cashews.

Per serving: 240.7 calories, 18.9 g fat, 2.9 g saturated fat, zero g cholesterol, 4.9 g protein, 19.1 g carbohydrates, and 5.6 g fiber.