Almost Spring Salad with Crimini Mushrooms, Avocado and Cilantro

March is staying true to form this year, coming in like a proud lioness. I'd say this first week of consistently-below-freezing temperatures has succeeded in keeping most of us well-chilled! But despite the lack of heat outside, our bodies still crave freshness. As much as I don't want to put anything cold into my body, I can feel my cells crying out for raw and living food. After all, raw food is their natural, high vibration preferred fuel. Fortunately, not all raw food has to be cold, and that goes for salads, too. This simple winter salad provides the salty meatiness of shoyu-kissed crimini mushrooms, the creamy comfort of spiked avocado, the sweet zip of cilantro and the hearty scrub factor of strong-leafed lettuce. Prepare with room temperature ingredients to keep your fingers nimble.

Almost Spring Salad

Green Leaf Lettuce - several leaves
Cilantro - 1/4 bunch or to taste
Crimini Mushrooms - 1/2 package
Avocado - 1/2 to one whole
Nama Shoyu (or equivalent), Balsamic Vinegar (or equivalent), Olive Oil, Spike or Sea Salt

Wash and tear as many green lettuce leaves as you want to eat, and add them to your favorite salad bowl.
Roughly chop about half a package of crimini mushrooms, put them on top of the lettuce and sprinkle with nama shoyu, tamari or Bragg's liquid aminos.
Halve an avocado and slice one half into cubes (use the whole thing if you are really hungry or it is a small avo). Put avocado cubes on top of the mushrooms and sprinkle with Spike (surprisingly great on avocado!) or your favorite sea salt.
Mince a good sized handful of cilantro stalks (stem and leaves) and put on top.
Shake some balsamic vinegar over the whole thing (or if you prefer, use apple cider vinegar, lemon or lime juice) and drizzle with high quality olive oil. (I used an incredible Italian Novella oil that I just discovered. It's made from the first pressing of this season's coming harvest and is out of this world–so alive, it continues to decant and ripen in the bottle! Note: Local readers can find Novella olive oil at Cooks Shop Here in Northampton.)

Finally, toss, admire and EAT! Your body will love you for it. Promise.

In joyful anticipation of the Equinox,
Diana