Revitalize the liver with this liver cleanser salad, a blend of pungent, bitter, and sour flavors that kick-starts your natural detox process and promotes optimal digestion!
Liver Cleanser Salad
Serves 3
Total Time 15min
Ingredients
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 organic cucumber, thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes, sliced
6 cups arugula (washed and dried, I usually buy the Brand Organic Girls which is prewashed to save time)
Dressing
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 teaspoon honey
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Prep all the vegetables and put them in an air-tight glass container. Mix well.
In a glass jar, put all dressing ingredients together shake well to emulsify each time before use.
Serve this refreshing and liver-cleansing salad as a side dish or add your choice of protein for a complete and nutritious meal.
Notes
Only dress the portion you eat at a time to keep the salad fresh longer.
Keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.
Featuring Ingredients
Green onions
Meet green onions (or scallions), the hip cousin to yellow onions! A source of sulfur, a key ingredient in the liver detoxification process. Notably, allicin, a sulphur compound, champions cholesterol and LDL lowering properties and tumor inhibiting properties. Drawing on Traditional Chinese Medicine principles, their pungency and warming nature decongest elimination pathways and diminish bodily swelling.
A special note if you tend to feel gassy from onions. I choose green onions for the recipe because the the top part of the green onions are lower in fermentable fibre compare to other allium family vegetables such as onions, shallots and garlic. High levels of fermentable fibre can create gas and bloating for people with digestive imbalances. However, if that doesn't bother you, you can use the entire piece of green onion and substitute with other Allium family vegetables that got punchier flavour such as yellow, purple, white onions or shallots.
Cucumber
Cucumber is 95% water by weight but the magic found the the remaining 5% cannot be underestimated.
Cucurbitacins is a compound found in cucumbers that provide diverse benefits. This group of antioxidants combat inflammation by inhibiting key mediators, potentially offering anti-inflammatory relief. In the antitumor realm, they hinder cancer growth and angiogenesis, holding promise as anticancer agents. Cucurbitacins showcase anti-atherosclerotic effects by curbing lipid oxidation, and in diabetes, they stimulate GLUT4 translocation via the AMPK pathway. Based on TCM energetics, cucumbers aids toxin removal and clears inflammation from the body.
Radish
Radishes are from the Cruciferous family and is also rich in sulphur. Used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to purify blood and liver, radishes can help to reduce inflammation and help with the clearing of bilirubin. Radishes also provide a sulfur compound called sulfouraphane, which has been shown to inhibit tumor stem cells, reducing inflammation and swelling. Radishes are also used traditionally to strengthen digestion because radishes feature RsAFP2, a protein that can act on pathogenic fungus and bacteria in the gut.
Arugula
Arugula is a digestion booster. Rich in bitter compounds, arugula stimulates salivary and digestive secretions, enhancing appetite and digestive function. Similar to other members of the cruciferous family vegetables such as radishes, arugula also provide anti-inflammatory and anticancer benefits.