Roasted Asparagus & Arugula Salad

This roasted asparagus salad with arugula is super easy, and is vegan and paleo-friendly. The toasted hazelnuts add crunch and lemon adds a zesty punch.

This roasted asparagus salad is from The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution by holistic nutritionists Jill Hillhouse and Lisa Cantkier. This new book contains 125 simply healthy recipes plus a 30-day meal plan to help you regulate your blood sugar for better health. A paleo diet isn’t a magic bullet for reversing type-2 diabetes, but a health diet can help you effectively manage your blood sugar and lower your risk for diabetes.

I am vegan so I don’t eat meat, but aside from the meat I live by paleo principles. There is a popular misconception that a paleo diet is full of big hunks of meat and not much else. Yes, the foundation of the paleo diet includes unprocessed grass-fed meats, but the diet also includes fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and oils. Rather than being a diet that simply reproduces “cave-man” eating, the paleo diet acts more like a framework for better health. It’s a nutrient-dense, low-carb, fiber‑rich diet high in vitamins and minerals. And, you don’t need to eat meat on a paleo diet. I eat grains very rarely, and am gluten-free. So, most of the time I live a paleo vegan diet.

Food, along with exercise is the foundation for optimal health. Food is the information that tells the body what to do and how to function. While exercise contributes greatly to better health, food is the most important element for blood sugar control. Elevated blood sugar levels can cause all kinds of health issues from eye problems to anxiety, digestive disorders, hormonal imbalances, heart disease, and cancer.

In this book, Jill and Lisa use paleo principles to help readers control their blood sugar levels with their 30-day meal plan. They open the book with an explanation for diabetes, how normal blood sugar works, the state of imbalance that is insulin resistance, the importance for testing blood sugar and insulin levels, and how exercise, stress, sleep, poor diet, toxins, and gut health all affect our blood sugar.

Then, there is a complete guide for a paleo diet, the importance of nutrient diversity, studies for how paleo principles can support healthy blood sugar levels, and then delicious low-carb, grain-free recipes to use during the 30-day program and beyond.

The recipes in the book are very simple and accessible with most of them only containing a handful of ingredients. It’s asparagus season, so I chose this super easy roasted asparagus salad. The zesty lemon, peppery arugula, and roasted asparagus and hazelnuts create a simple low-carb nutrient-dense salad that is dressed to impress.

Get your copy of The Paleo Diabetes Diet Solution, and learn more about Jill Hillhouse and Lisa Cantkier.