Salad Season Begins

You might want to think of this as the beginning of barbeque season, but I like to think of it as "salad season" and the World Cancer Research Fund agrees. They have come out this week with their strongest recommendation ever to reduce red meat consumption in order to prevent cancer. They have actually said flat out that people shouldn't eat ANY processed meats such as ham, salami and pepperoni AT ALL due to highly increased risk of bowel cancer.

But there is also some good news. From the Guardian article linked above: "WCRF's review has also firmed up from "probable" to "convincing" its view of the protection against bowel cancer afforded by eating foods containing fibre, such as wholegrains, pulses [beans], fruit and vegetables." Hurray! So, in addition to the reduction in the bad stuff and the increase in the good stuff that we get by observing Meatless Mondays, it wouldn't hurt to train ourselves to think of this summer as the season for salads, not barbeques. 

For this reason, and also sheer deliciousness, I am including a salad recipe this week which should be quick and easy to prepare. Not even slightly coincidentally--in fact through sheer force of will and excellent planning--this recipe includes fibre from a whole grain (brown rice), a bean (chick pea), a fruit (red pepper) and a vegetable (broccoli). It could be considered a "Bowel Cancer Buster," but do not think this during the preparation phase, as this is a slightly off-putting name for something you are about to eat. Enjoy!