This fall salad recipe is full of bitter compounds from radicchio and arugula that can help upregulate our detox pathways and promote good gut health by nourishing our gut microbiome
Autumnal Radicchio and Arugula Detox Salad
If you’ve been looking to incorporate more bitter greens into your diet, this salad recipe is for you.
Crisper greens such as romaine, iceberg and butter lettuces are trusty, neutral greens and are a great place to start if you’re wanting to increase your intake of green leafies. But I also love aiming to incorporate more bitter foods throughout my week, too. Arugula and radicchio are both great bitter leafy vegetables that provide so many health benefits, which include detox and gut health support.
That said, some of the more bitter greens can be challenging to incorporate if you haven’t trained your palate to appreciate them yet. Do you remember being younger and hating certain foods that you love now as an adult? The good news is, we as adults can still mold our taste buds through repeated exposure.
The key to starting out with bitter foods is knowing how to balance out their flavor. I love this salad because we’re mellowing out the bitter flavors in the arugula with lots of natural sweetness from butternut squash, cherries, pomegranate, apple and maple syrup. We also get a good amount of creaminess and tang from the goats cheese to round things out.
This salad would make the perfect healthy Thanksgiving salad to add to your table or a great fall salad to make for lunch. Give it a try and let me know your thoughts!
Arugula benefits
Not only is arugula a bitter green, but its also a member of the cruciferous vegetable family. Crucifers are incredible for our health because they contain a powerful bioactive compound call sulforaphane. We love sulforaphane because it is a powerful antioxidant that can help neutralize free radicals in our body, which can cause cellular damage.
Arugula is also one of my favorite foods for gut health. Because of its sulforaphane content, it can help optimize our gut microbiota by promoting the proliferation of our good gut microbes, while its antimicrobial properties can help keep bad bacteria like h. pylori from dominating.
The sulforaphane in arugula also supports the production of enzymes necessary in the second phase of detoxification, which allows our liver to clear toxins and waste from our body.
What is radicchio
You’ve likely seen shredded radicchio in bagged salad mixes at the store. Radicchio is a dark purple, bitter leafy vegetable that provides many phytonutrients that can support our health.
Radicchio is rich in vitamin K, vitamin C, lutein and zeaxanthin. It provides antioxidant benefits just like our friend arugula, so the two work well together in this salad to support liver detox.
Why bitter greens are good foods for gut health and detoxification
Bitter foods complement many of the systems that support our hormone and digestive health.
Bitter foods optimize digestive enzyme output, bile flow, hunger hormones, and parasympathetic nervous system activity while eating.
Your digestive and detox health, intimately influence how we metabolize and eliminate our hormones. By intentionally incorporating more bitter foods we are supporting a positive domino effect on these systems.
More Salad Recipes to Try
- Holiday Brussels Sprout Slaw
- Kale and Fennel Salad with Creamy Pistachio Dressing
- Spring Pea Slaw
- Rainbow Tahini Slaw
Autumnal Radicchio and Arugula Detox Salad
Ingredients
Salad
- 4 cups arugula washed
- 1 head radicchio washed and chopped
- 1 medium butternut squash (about 4 cups) peeled and chopped
- 2 tbsp avocado oil for roasting
- 2 large apples honeycrisp or fuji
- 1/2 cup dried tart cherries organic and unsweetened, if possible
- 1/2 cup walnuts toasted
- 4 oz goat cheese organic
- 1/3 cup pomegranate seeds or arils
Dressing
- 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar I like Braggs
- 1 tbsp maple syrup organic
- 2 tbsp stone ground mustard
- 5 tbsp cold pressed olive oil organic
- 1 tsp salt celtic or pink Himalayan
- 1/2 tsp black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F
- Spread walnuts evenly on a parchment lined sheet tray and roast in the oven for 8-12 minutes until fragrant and golden.
- While the walnuts are roasting, peel, de-seed and chop butternut squash into bite-sized cubes
- Add chopped butternut squash to a parchment-lined sheet tray and drizzle with 2 tbsp avocado oil, salt and pepper
- Once walnuts are finished toasting, increase the oven temperature to 400°F
- Roast butternut squash for 30-35 minutes, or until starting to brown
- While squash is roasting, peel radichio leaves and chop into bite-sized leaves
- To a large salad bowl, add all dressing incredients and whisk until emulsified
- Add chopped radicchio and arugula to the salad bowl with your dressing and mix until well-coated
- Once squash is finished roasting, remove from the oven and allow to cool
- Once cool, add squash to the salad bowl along with the apples, cherries, walnuts, goat cheese and pomegranate seeds and toss
