My husband Andru has come to the realization that a lot of the food we eat on a daily basis contains a lot of sodium. Not because I have chosen to dash everything we consume with a bit of salt here and there, but because some foods come into our home with so much added salt through processing. He was fuming about how he had chosen to purchase some soup simply because the label said “Organic” because in our mind set “organic” is supposed to mean good for you, but that is not necessarily true so he went off in a tirade after reading the label and seeing that in a one cup serving of this “good” soup there was 980 mg. of sodium, 41% of the sodium we need for the day in one cup of delicious death. He was very concerned that this percentage was in relation to an adult’s body mass, not a 3 year-olds tiny frame. How much sodium can a toddler take before a salt-induced coma? Anyway, to alleviate his worries, he is on a mission to eat more foods that are “living”, meaning less meat and processed foods and more fruits and vegetables.

In order to support his new found revelation, I decided one night to come up with a raw fruit and vegetable salad that is delicious despite not being smothered in dressing—and I aptly named it Rainbow Fruit & Veggie salad because after all was said and done, I threw in so many different colors of fruits and veggies, it became a taste sensation for the eyes. I was very tempted to add a touch of sugar to the natural dressing mixed in, but then thought, well that defeats the whole purpose, so instead added some strawberries for that touch of sweetness. Voila…a new recipe was born, and Andru loved it and the kids seemed to like it also, thank you strawberries. It is a great side dish and the recipe can be varied in so many ways, I added raw zucchini when I made it a second time and it was a hit at our Fellowship meal after church. I hope it pleases your taste buds also!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized English cucumber—quartered and diced
• 1 medium to large sized tomato—diced
• 1 clove shallot—sliced
• 1/2 cup cilantro—minced (optional)
• 1/4 cup small yellow onion—diced
• 1/4 cup green onion—diced
• 1 medium sized zucchini—diced
• 1 Danjou pear—peeled,quartered and diced
• 8-10 strawberries—stemmed and sliced
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• half large lemon—juiced
Optional:Dash of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste Directions: Mix all of the ingredients in a medium to large bowl and enjoy! Add more lemon to your liking and play around with a variety of fruits and veggies, come up with something unique…it’s all about being able to see and taste the natural foods in the way that they were intended.