Power Five Salad – Power Foods For Health & Weight Loss

Have you ever desired a simple, yet flexible meal plan with loads of variety and ease of preparation? Oh, and one that’s loaded chock full of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients. Well, look no further! These power foods for health in the Power Five Salad fits all these qualifications and more.

The Power Five Salad is one of my favorite meal planning secrets. Although, I hope it’s not secret anymore!

Why is this so great? Well, it checks all the boxes:

• Healthy
• Easy to make
• Promotes health
• Feeds the body well
• Quick to fix (with time investment on the front end)
• Delicious
• Nutrition-dense
• Never gets old
• Boosts metabolism
• Fits all healthy meal plans (including the Daniel Fast)

Are you as excited as I am about this versatile resource?

I hope so.

Power Salad Principle – Power Foods For Health

The purpose behind the Power Five Salad is to have meals that are easy to prep, or can be prepped ahead of time, to have on hand. Whenever we make things simpler, we’re more likely to follow through with them. This is true with healthy eating and living as with anything else.

But these aren’t just easy to grab meals, they are power-packed with nutrition.

By gathering all the ingredients and spending time putting them together, you can have several meals ready and on hand. Enough for one day a week for 5-7 days, or 2 a day for 4-5 days.

What’s so amazing about the Power Five Salad is that it:

• Has powerful antioxidants 
• Is fiber-loaded
• Is protein-rich 

Now that’s serious nutrition to make your body dance.

Here are the basic principles to start this power-packed meal:

Power Five Principles

Principle #1: Create a grocery list or hit the grocery store fresh produce section and stock up. Fill your cart (and refrigerator) with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables so you’ll have lots of yummy options on hand. 

Principle #2: Add healthy grains to your grocery list. While we don’t often think of grains as an accompaniment to salads, one like quinoa makes a great addition. 

Principle #3: Fill the cupboard with nuts and seeds. These deliver the bulk of protein and fats. There are so many to choose from! And for an added bonus, the storage time is longer than other fresh foods.

Principle #4: Set aside a block of time to wash and prepare your fresh fruits and vegetables. Once this is done, the majority of the time investment is completed.

Principle #5: Purchase or prepare healthy salad dressing to drizzle. Olive oil and flavored vinegars are wonderful additions to any meal plan.

Check out my video on how to put together this power salad recipe!

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At first it might seem too much work. However, it’s totally worth it because what can be accomplished in an afternoon, in an hour or two, is going to deliver a nutritious and satisfying salad that’ll last all week.

Enjoy this for breakfast, lunch or dinner!

Power Salad Recipe

One of the greatest benefits of the Power Five Salad is you can prep and have a delicious, nutritious salad ready for the entire week.

Ingredient Category #1: Vegetables

Choose 2-3 vegetables for the base of the salad. Any of the following will work:

• Iceberg lettuce 
• Romaine lettuce
• Kale
• Chard
• Cucumbers 
• Bell Peppers 
• Celery 
• Purple and green cabbage 
• Tomatoes (red, orange, yellow; get a variety!)
• Cauliflower
• Broccoli 
• Carrots 
• Onions
• Rutabaga
• Sweet Potatoes 
• Asparagus
• Brussels sprouts
• Butternut Squash

I can’t wait to show you how to put this together! You’re gonna be so amazed.

I fill my cart with a lot of variety, but not so much with the leafy greens, just because they go bad so quickly. I look at those that can be used throughout the week.

Some of these vegetables may cause you to question: Raw? On a salad?

But, yes! Even a sweet potato, asparagus, and rutabaga can be peeled and shredded raw to serve as a great complement to the more traditional salad ingredients.

A combination of chopped and shredded veggies makes the mouth sing.

Every vegetable qualifies for the Power Five Salad!

I use the slicer shredder and a  food processor. Both of these work on top of the Bosch mixer. Bosch is the boss in the kitchen. They have easy tools that help make short work of prepping.

Ingredient Category #2: Fruit

This will add a dash of sweetness, freshness, and even greater variety of nutrients to the salad.

• Apples
• Grapes
• Peach
• Blueberries
• Strawberries
• Pineapple
• Oranges
• Grapefruit
• Plums
• Pears
• Avocado
• Pomegranate seeds
• Raisins
• Dried Cranberries – use sparingly
• Dates

Fresh is always best. There’s really no limit to the types of fruits that can be used. Get creative and try something new like star fruit or ugly fruit. 

If you’re going to make it fresh, a sliced-up banana would be good.

Ingredient Category #3: Nuts and Seeds

Power Up the Salad with these protein additions. A very important ingredient!

• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds 
• Chia seeds 
• Flaxseeds 
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Pine nuts
• Quinoa (this fits the category of a seed and a grain)
• Almonds
• Pistachios
• Pecans
• Cashews
• Chestnuts
• Walnuts
• Hazelnuts
• Brazil nuts
• Macadamia nuts

Ingredient Category #4: Legumes

Another wonderful source of protein, these foods also add healthy fiber and other nutrients to any meal.

• Black beans
• Chickpeas
• Peanuts
• Snowpeas
• Peas
• Kidney beans
• Soybeans
• Great Northern beans
• Lentils (red, green, orange, yellow, brown)

Remember, some of these will need to be cooked ahead of time. I recommend, whenever possible, to get dried beans and to soak and cook them yourself. This can be something done ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer.

Ingredient Category #5: Herbs & Spices

Herbs and spices spark the flavor and intensify the nutrition to all salads 

• Parsley
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Chives
• Dill
• Lemon Balm
• Thyme

These aren’t just great on the Power Five Salad, but fabulous additions to many other meals.

Making a Power Five Salad – Power Foods For Health!

Step 1: Start with a base of 2-3 vegetables (preferably at least one of them being a cruciferous veggie).

Step 2: Add a nut, seeds, beans, and/or legumes for protein. A boiled egg is also a nutrient-dense protein option for those not on a Daniel Fast.

Step 3: Add a fruit and/or herbs and spices.

Step 4: Add a homemade dressing. Just olive oil will work, or also use balsamic, apple cider, or a flavored vinegar. Avocado oil is another good choice. Organic or homemade salsa also makes a great dressing.

Step 5: Enjoy It ~ Personalize It

Notice, there aren’t specific measurements (no 1 cup of this, 2 tablespoons of that) or instructions. That’s because the Power 5 Salad is a concept that is totally versatile and adaptable.

How many servings you make is personal choice.

What combination of ingredients used ~ personalize it!.

How many different ways you make this salad ~ personalize it!.

Hopefully, you’ve gathered why I’ve deemed this a Power Five Salad. Your cells benefit exponentially from these power foods. 

My mission is to help people – to help you – achieve optimal health. I’m want to help you:

• Prevent cancer
• Prevent heart disease preventative 
• Lose weight 
• Increase energy
• Promote a healthy gut microbiome

Let’s all say, “Yes!” together.

(Some people may have trouble digesting this amount of vegetables, especially if they do a Power Five Salad multiple times a day. If so, try this helpful digestive enzyme – use coupon code 34828 for $10 off.)

Fitting the Power Five Salad in Everyday Life

The Power Five Salad is a great option for you and/or the family on a regular basis, but it’ll also work for a crowd. 

Talk about a phenomenal salad bar! By taking 4 or 5 ingredients from each column (more from the veggie category) and laid out as a banquet, there’d be plenty of food and variety for a group of people.

Even the pickiest of eaters should find 5 ingredients to make a fabulous salad.

Keep this in mind for the  holidays and celebrations as the main meal or a side.

Food Storage Ideas

Let’s talk about how to store this amount of food. After all, you stocked up on all these great foods at the store, ready to embrace the Power Five Salad.

This is where your Tupperware or other good quality plastic containers come in handy. Glass storage dishes work wonderfully, too.

Store the food in like groups (cabbage, sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts) in one container to save space.

Then, store everything (that needs to be cold) in the refrigerator. And remember, these aren’t just for a salad. You’ll have veggies and fruits cut up, shredded, and otherwise ready for an addition to any meal, whether it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

You could just either reach into the refrigerator for an item or pull out a bunch of these bowls all ready to go. Grab five different ingredients to make a quick salad, or throw them in a pan to go with a meat and side for dinner.

There’s no limit to the ideas possible with these ingredients.

This is a great health addition for a vibrant life. Whether you’re trying to lose weight, follow the Daniel Fast, or just want to be healthy and maintain health throughout the rest of your life.

If any of these are goals you have, the time investment to put the Power Five Salad on the menu is well worth it.

My challenge is to see how many different foods you can eat throughout the week. Enjoy a different salad every day. See what flavor combinations ignite your taste buds.

Power Foods For Health – Power Salad for Life

Are you ready to decrease depression and disease? What we eat has a great impact on how we think and feel.

We want an attitude of, “I can take on the world” and because the world is a little bit crazy out there.

Let’s equip both our bodies and minds to take on the crazy and come through with vibrant mental and physical health.

Last, but not just least, but most important, is the number one ingredient for healthy living. 

The very first, most important ingredient in God’s recipe for excellent health is His love for you. 

He has loved you from the moment of conception. 

He has loved you every day of your life. No matter what has happened in your life, God loves you.

He has always loved you. He will always love you.

He’ll always be there for you. No matter what happens in life, God is there for you.

There’s no Gandhi out there. No Buddha out there. 

It’s God. He’s the one who loves you. He’s the one who sent his Son to die on the cross to save you.

I want to have a relationship with you. Sharing these foods that bring abundant health is my passion and mission, overflowing with love and desire for you to live abundantly. 

But a relationship with God is where you truly experience life.

If you don’t have that life yet, I’d love to talk to you about that, too!