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As the owner of Superfood Bar—which serves fresh, organic smoothies, salads, soups, bowls, and wraps in LoHi—Joseph Stone knows a thing or two about tapping into the heroic powers of so-called “superfoods.” So, we asked Denver’s Professor X to take us inside Superfood Bar’s Pumpkin Patty Salad to reveal how its ingredients team up to defeat the forces of disease.
Mixed Greens
Baby spinach, romaine, and Tuscan kale bring the roughage—and a range of vitamins and minerals (like spinach’s lutein and zeaxanthin, which may help ward off age-related macular degeneration and cataracts). Stone recommends chopping up greens and letting them sit for eight to 10 hours before serving. The cuts trigger a natural reaction that significantly boosts the antioxidant count in the veggies.
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Avocado
Research by the American Heart Association has shown that one avocado a day can lower your LDL (aka “bad”) cholesterol. Its monounsaturated fats also aid in the ability to absorb soluble vitamins from the rest of the meal.
Pumpkin Patty
The salad’s namesake consists of plenty of good stuff: red lentils, carrots, onion, celery, oats. But pumpkin seeds—boasting significant amounts of copper, magnesium, manganese, and phosphorus—are the alpha here, not only benefiting your brain, but also potentially improving symptoms associated with enlarged prostate glands.
Dressing
To ensure the concentration of antioxidants in the dressing (made of apple cider vinegar, tumeric, dates, and mustard) doesn’t plummet over time, Stone transfers his dressings to smaller and smaller containers; the less oxygen, the less likely antioxidants are to escape.