What are you wearing today?

Heart Healthy Spinach Salad
Tahitian Lime  Vanilla Vinaigrette
Honey Mandarin, Avocado, Roasted Almond

What are you wearing on Feb. 4?
We, the Ladies of Alpha Phi, suggest something red!
Feb. 4 is National Wear Red Day

Please join us along with the Alpha Phi Foundation, the American Heart Association, and other fine organizations in supporting women’s heart health.

Beginning on National Wear Red Day—Friday, February 4, 2011—millions will help spread the critical message that “Heart Disease Doesn’t Care What You Wear—It’s the #1 Killer of Women.” The Red Dress, the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness, was created by The Heart Truth in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup call to American women. Everyone can participate in the national movement by wearing their favorite red dress, shirt, tie, Red Dress Pin, or another red accessory.

Heart Healthy Spinach Salad Recipe

My Citrus Salad Tree – 5 different fruits on one tree:

honey mandarin
tahitian lime
minneola tangelo
valencia orange
late lane navel orange

Tahitian Lime Vanilla Vinaigrette

1/3 c. olive oil
3 T. lime juice
1 t. lime zest
1/2 vanilla bean
1/2 t. sugar
salt & pepper to taste

Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean pod. Whisk all the ingredients together. Add the pod to the vinaigrette. Let stand at least one hour so the flavors blend. Remove the pod before serving. For best results use a mild tasting olive oil so as not to overpower the fragrant vanilla. If a vanilla bean is not available, substitute 1 t. vanilla extract.

Both the tahitian lime and honey mandarin are from my citrus salad tree.

Marinate the honey mandarin segments in the vinaigrette.

Toss fresh spinach with lime vanilla vinaigrette.
Compose the salad with honey mandarin segments, diced avocado, and roasted almonds.

To Our Healthy Hearts!

The Red Dress was introduced as the national symbol for women and heart disease awareness in 2002.
It reminds women of the need to protect our heart health and inspires us to take action.

17 thoughts on “What are you wearing today?”

    1. Hi Merisi – thank you so much for introducing me to Betty. Her heart brooch is awesome!
      So glad to hear that they do not expect her to have any more heart issues.
      Wishing you both a happy heart. Go Red!
      LL

  1. Dear Lori,
    I cannot thank you enough for visiting me on this special day and leaving such a nice note! Of course any friend of Merisi’s is automatically a friend of mine!

    My husband and I love spinach salad. Thank you for the recipe. We will have to try it soon to drive away the winter blues.

    Your tree is amazing and it must smell really incredible when it is in blossom!

    Wishing you a most beautiful day!

    Betty

  2. OOhh!!! I love your tree!! We don’t have anything like that, but I have seen them. Your’s has a nice combo of fruits to make it the perfect provider. I’m dreaming of the tropics lately and this Thaitian Lime, vanilla vinaigrette is looking like it might easy my tropical fever.
    The girls look lovely in their red dresses! An excellent cause.

      1. Cool, thanks for the info. I asked my mom about it this morning, she said our neighbor growing up grafted her own combo tree (plums and apricots). Do you find that the flavors of the produce are changed at all? Or if you stick to grafting multiple citrus fruits then its okay.

  3. The salad sounds so refreshing. Unfortunately we don’t have all kinds of citrus fruit in Greece. We have several citrus treas in a plot we have bought and when we shall build a house I shall have them grafted to produce different kinds.

  4. I love this! My first job out of college was fundraising with the American Heart Association. While fundraising was ridiculously difficult, I still think it’s such a fantastic cause and am glad to see it spotlighted here with a delicious recipe! 🙂

  5. what an amazing tree, growing all those kinds of fruits! Now your salad looks so fresh and delicious, that dressing must have really brought all those great flavors together!
    Thanks for sharing such a wonderful salad with us
    Cheers
    Dennis

  6. I had already decided on a spinach salad laden with fruits and here you are giving. I cannot recreate it as I do not have your “giving tree” but I can play. Thanks for being red and pointing to the cause.

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