Kid-friendly Super Green Salad

I promise you won’t have to fight your toddler to finish this salad. It is aptly named by my four-year-old who not only gave it a perfect ten, he happily finished his portion! Even my 16 month-old enjoyed it down to the last piece. Our Super Green Salad tastes great and is naturally gluten-free, corn-free, Feingold stage 2, and completely casein-free. Best of all, it doesn’t even need to be topped with commercial salad dressing- a spoiler for most small children adventurous enough to at least try greens. This dish takes only 15 minutes to prepare and makes 2 adult-sized portions (Or four child-sized portions).

Ingredients:

1 cup of baby arugula (stems removed)

1/2 cup of spinach (stems removed) * baby spinach is fine, too.

6 green grapes, sliced (or more if you really like grapes) *see below for a Feingold tip

1 really ripe avocado (chopped)

1/2 cucumber (peeled and diced)

1 small fresh squeezed lemon

1 tablespoon of maple syrup

Directions:

Combine arugula and spinach with fresh squeezed lemon juice and maple syrup. Toss. Place ingredients into a mini-prep food processor and pulse until the leaves are finely chopped. Place in salad bowl. Add chopped avocado, sliced grapes, and cucumber pieces. Toss until the ingredients are well coated. Serve and enjoy!
Feingold Tip:

The Feingold Organization classifies grapes as high in salicylates and suggests members limit their intake, avoiding it all together when starting the program, and then slowing increasing the amount allowed in the diet until the tolerance level is reached. Each individual child is different. Some are very sensitive and have to avoid grapes completely, others can tolerate small amounts without suffering from attention problems or hyperactivity. Green grapes naturally contain less salicylates than do red or concord grapes. This salad really requires the grapes for palatability, as they compliment the maple syrup and lemon juice. If you are implementing the Feingold diet and are stage two you may want to try this recipe as written. Others can add more grapes, of course.

Tags: Casein-free, Corn-free, Feingold, Feingold Diet, Gluten-free, Salad

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Meet the Author

Caryn Talty

The editor of this website has a master's degree in English from Northern Illinois University and a bachelor of science degree in special education. She has taught students from early elementary school through college freshman level. Today she enjoys reading and writing about both hot topics and those not so commonly discussed on other websites. Most of her days are spent playing all kinds of make-believe with her three very young and active sons. | All articles by Caryn Talty.

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