How to get the most antioxidants from your salad
Another way to use artichokes is to completely break off all of the leaves leaving the bare heart. The leaves are steamed to soften the fleshy base part of each leaf to be used as the basis for any number of side dishes or appetizing dips.
Salads are good, but not all salads are created equal. Here is a list of the common salad vegetables which have the highest
levels of antioxidants (1):
Artichokes
Beetroot
Broccoli
Garlic
Leeks
Onions
Radishes
Spinach
Surprisingly, you can double the salad's antioxidant capacity by adding a fresh-herb olive oil dressing. As the taste improves, so does the antioxidant level (1). Fresh ginger, thyme and cumin give the best antioxidant boost to your salads. But let what's available in the garden and your own preferences guide you. A couple of tablespoons of fresh-chopped herbs, a generous pinch of sea salt, perhaps one or two tablespoons of lemon juice, and a quarter cup of olive oil will make a divine salad
Broccoli is usually boiled or steamed, but may be eaten raw and has become popular as a raw vegetable in hors d'œuvre trays.
Another really important point to remember with your vegetables and fruit is VARIETY. A wide variety of antioxidants and other micro nutrients is essential if you want a long life. Humans evolved whilst eating hundreds of different leaves, flowers, roots and fruits. Even a hundred years ago there were dozens of varieties of each common fruit and vegetable still widely grown. Today, shops offer a very limited variety of local, in season fruits and vegetables. If you only eat a few favourites from them, you are not getting a sufficient spectrum of nutrition
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(1) Antioxidant capacity of vegetables, spices and dressings relevant to nutrition. Ninfali, P. et al., British Journal of Nutrition 2005 Feb;93(2):257-266