Mindful Eating and Menopause Nutrition

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Easy Chopped Salad for Summer with Bok Choy and Soy Sesame Dressing

Try this Easy Chopped Salad with bok choy, snow peas, carrots, and sunflower seeds
with a soy sesame dressing!


Chopped Salads are Perfect for Summer!

This is a salad you won’t tire of, and it’s so easy to get creative with chopped salads!

Bok choy has a crunch like romaine, with a slightly bitter taste. It’s a versatile green that can be used in stir fry, soups, and of course, chopped salads!

Bok Choy History

Bok choy is a brassica veggie that is native to China. According to this article , bok choy was imported to Korea around the 1300’s, and the now popular dish kimchi was created then too.


Bok choy and nutrition facts

Bok choy has higher Vitamin C (uncooked, cooking decreases the Vitamin C in foods), Vitamin A and K, along with minerals such as phosphorus.

Bok choy part of the brassica family, like cabbage and broccoli.

As we age, digestion can slow down.
Constipation is a big concern of many women in menopause who complain of gas, bloating and alternating constipation and diarrhea.
Slowly adding in fiber, and staying adequately hydrated, helps keep your bowels moving.

Paying attention to stress does as well.

If you struggle with raw veggies, don’t eat a lot of them.

You can take this veggie combo (minus the cranberries and seeds, use as garnish) and lightly steam them. Drizzle the dressing over, and you have a side dish!

These veggies can be chopped ahead of time, in a large batch and kept in the fridge for a quick stir fry or salad!

Ingredients for the salad:

Mix and match your ingredients! Swapping the sunflower seeds for nuts, omitting the cranberries and adding red peppers, to increase Vitamin C and fiber, don’t be afraid to clean out that crisper and experiment with veggie combinations!

  • 4 cups shredded baby bok choy

  • 1 cup shredded snow peas

  • 1 cup shredded carrots

  • 1/2 cup chopped green onion (or less, or omit)

  • 1/2 cup raw, unsalted sunflower seeds

  • 1/4-1/2 cup dried cranberries (replace with red pepper if you are concerned about blood sugar)

Ingredients for the dressing

  • 1/2 cup olive oil (I currently use the Greek Leek from The Olive Oil Company in Brantford Ontario)

  • 1 tbsp coconut aminos (or use soy sauce! I had this on hand, but soy sauce is also an option)

  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1 tsp sesame oil

  • 1/2 tsp coconut sugar (use any sweetener you have)

  • 1./2 tsp finely chopped ginger

  • 1 clove crushed garlic

Easy Prep:

Whisk together or blend in a food processor or blender.

Pour over salad ingredients and toss!

Want more of a meal with this salad? Add a protein source!
Or keep it as a side, raw or steamed.

Really, I think this is a salad for any season, don’t you?

Side note on UNlearning:

I’m currently teaching myself about recipe naming and cultural appropriation of food.

Cultural appropriation is making another cultures food without respect fro its origins. There is also the use of the term “Oriental” in many recipes, which is a term I grew up with. This term implies that all people from a certain culture are the same. They are not.

There are many dishes on the internet like this that have the term in the titles.

I will keep unlearning, but will make mistakes as I do so.
Please reach out through my email if you feel anything on my site needs updating.