Healthy Salads Could Help Prevent Your Next Migraine

Health Benefits of Salad

When you have a migraine, your whole life seems to go down the tubes. You aren’t eating right, sleeping right or doing all the things you want to or need to. If you’re in between migraines right now, it’s time to get you back in the grooves of eating right via healthy salads. Just as there are many foods that cause migraines, there are also many foods that prevent them.

There are many health benefits of salad. Here are a few recipes that can help you feel good again – and stay good for longer periods of time in between your migraines. Strive for 8 servings of vegetables and fruits a day. It’s really not that difficult to do when you simply incorporate two salads into your day. Both salads can be created early in the week and then when all the busy times come during that week, you are comforted because you have food ready to go in the refrigerator; all you have to do is scoop it out onto your plate.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Yield: 4 servings (14 servings vegetables)

Ingredients:

• 1 head red leaf lettuce, chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups baby spinach leaves
• 2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped almonds
• 6 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
• 3 kale leaves, sliced
• 1 bunch radishes, sliced
• 1 lemon cucumber (or regular cucumber), sliced
• 12 grape or cherry tomatoes

Dressing for the salad (or use your own):

• ¼ cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ cup olive oil
• Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, add lettuce, kale and spinach leaves. Toss.
2. In a separate bowl, mix ingredients for dressing. You could do this in a blender.
3. Add radishes, cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries to the salad. Toss again.
4. Drizzle the salad dressing on top, then toss lightly.
5. Add the eggs and almonds on top of the salad as garnish. Serve.

Heirloom Tomato Lentil Salad with an Italian Flair

Yield: 5-6 servings (24 servings vegetables)

Ingredients:

• 8 large heirloom tomatoes, sliced
• 1 green pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 1 red pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 1 yellow pepper, de-seeded and sliced
• 2 bunches watercress, sliced
• 2 heads Bibb lettuce
• 2 cups baby lentils, cooked
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• One 15-ounce can black beans, drained
• One red sweet onion, diced
• 1 bunch green onions, diced
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• Juice from one lemon

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, layer lettuce and watercress, tomatoes, then beans.
2. Next sprinkle half of the seasonings (oregano and basil) over this salad mixture.
3. Add new layers of green pepper, red pepper, and yellow pepper.
4. Add the baby lentils and add the remaining seasonings.
5. Lastly, add the olive oil and lemon, drizzling it over all ingredients. Allow this salad to marinate in the refrigerator for two hours before serving.