How to Dress Up a Salad with Stemilt Fruits

Did you know that May is National Salad Month? I’m all for any reason to celebrate fruits and veggies, and so this week I’ll be sharing ways to dress up (and sweeten up) any salad with Stemilt apples, pears, cherries, and peaches. When it comes to choosing greens for your salad, the options are endless and the nutrition is plentiful. Though technically not a green (it’s part of the cabbage family), the oh-so-trendy kale is loaded with Vitamins A, C, and K. In fact, one cup of kale serves up all you need of these essential vitamins in a day. Adding chopped apples to a bed of dressed kale is a great way to add fiber and natural sweetness to a salad. Serve it with a side of protein, and you have a complete meal on your hands.

Radicchio is not only fun to say, but it’s also full of color and nutrition. It’s very low in calories, rich in antioxidants thanks to that red/purple color, and has many essential minerals like magnesium and potassium. Pair it with a grilled pear (yum), goat cheese, and homemade dressing and you have a divine salad to serve up with dinner. Like apples, pears are fat free, low in calories, and a great source of dietary fiber (there are 6 grams of fiber in a medium sized pear).

You can’t have a post on salad without talking about spinach! Arguably the most versatile salad green, spinach is loaded with fiber, vitamins A and C, folate, iron, and magnesium. Toss cherries – another nutritional superfood – onto a bed of spinach, add English cucumbers for crunch, and dress with your favorite vinaigrette for a simple salad to take for lunch. Cherries are loaded with health benefits! From aiding in a good night’s sleep to helping alleviate pains associated with arthritis and much more, you can’t go wrong with sweet cherries!

Though it’s not the most nutritionally dense of the salad greens, iceberg lettuce is low in calories, contains vitamins A and K, and has high water content which may aid in hydration. The crispness of iceberg makes it a great choice to enjoy on occasion during the summer months with Stemilt’s sweet cherries in this Cherry Fennel Salad.

Of course, you can always opt for mixed salad greens to reap all the nutrition leafy greens have to offer. Lorie’s Grilled Peach and Mixed Green Salad from last summer is a great dish to enjoy during the hot months, while also getting a dose of vitamin C and potassium from delicious Stemilt Artisan Organics peaches. It’s definitely the season for salads, and I hope that this post gives you inspiration to include a serving of Stemilt fruit on a bed of your favorite greens now and throughout the year.

I’d love to hear what your favorite salad-fruit combination is! Please share in the comments below. Happy Salad Month!