Crisp apples, nuts and seeds give this salad a nutritious crunch.
Number of servings: 6
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Granny Smith apple, rinsed and sliced thinly (with skin)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 bag mixed lettuce greens (or your favorite lettuce, about 5 cups), rinsed
- ½ cup dried cranberries
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- ¼ cup unsalted sunflower seeds
- ¹⁄3 cup low-fat raspberry vinaigrette dressing
DIRECTIONS
1. Sprinkle lemon juice on the apple slices.
2. Mix the apple, lettuce, cranberries, walnuts and sunflower seeds in a bowl.
3. Toss with raspberry vinaigrette dressing to lightly cover the salad, and serve.
Per serving: 138 calories, 7 g total fat, 1 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 41 mg sodium, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein, 19 g carbohydrates, 230 mg potassium.
Recipe courtesy of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
SPOTLIGHT ON… APPLES
- Apple cider, apple crisp, apple pie … autumn is for apples! Many popular U.S. apple varieties are available starting in September. October is National Apple Month.Pilgrims planted the first U.S. apple trees in the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
- Comparing apples to oranges: Both fruits are a-peel-ing to consumers. In the United States, orange juice is more popular than apple juice. However, fresh apples are consumed more than fresh oranges.
- Why bobbing for apples works: 25 percent of an apple’s volume is air, which allows them to float.
- A fruit grown coast to coast: Apples are grown in every state in the continental United States. Top producing states include Washington, New York, Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Virginia.
- The science of apple growing is called pomology. Honeycrisp apples have a higher education heritage — they were developed by the University of Minnesota.
Sources: U.S. Apple Association, usapple.org; New York Apple Association, nyapplecountry.com; United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, www.ers.usda.gov.