Calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables like spinach with its delicate texture and jade green color provide more nutrients and vitamins than any other food. Spinach carotenoid combats cancer. Here is a healthy spinach salad good enough for any lunch main course.

Vicki's Spinach Salad with Fruit.
Fresh baby spinach leaves
1 carrot thinly sliced
1 celery stalk thinly sliced
1/2 red onion thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes
1/2 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 cup chopped fresh apple
1/2 cup chopped fresh pear
1/2 cup slivered almonds
2 hard boiled eggs sliced
6 strips crispy cooked bacon crumbled

Vicki's Dijon Mustard Vinaigrette
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon freshly chopped chives

Toss all of the salad ingredients except the eggs in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the ingredients for the salad dressing and drizzle over the salad and lightly toss again. Top with the sliced hard boiled eggs.

My little boys love candy -- and sometimes I think they eat healthy food only to earn sweets. Their constant badgering about candy has led to a recent ban on artificially-sweetened stuff in our house. If it's not in the house, they can't have it. No arguments. That's it. Fortunately, they also love fruit. So what we lack in candy we now make up for with fruit -- apples and bananas and grapes and peaches and strawberries are favorites. And just today at lunch, three-year-old Danny cleared his plate of strawberries and then proclaimed, "I love strawberries!" And I love that Danny loves strawberries -- especially in light of the news that hit papers today.

It seems that candy lovers are more likely than salt lovers to eat fruit. A study published in the journal Appetite found that people who eat candy, cakes, and other sweet snacks eat more fruit than people who prefer salty snacks like chips and nuts. Maybe that's the reason for my boys' equal affection for both candy and fruit -- and their indifference about salty treats. Apparently, the craving for something sweet is satisfied by both candy and fruit -- which is hopeful for kids whose parents might now steer them in the direction of the more healthy option. And for dieters who might incorporate more fruits into their menus in an effort to cut calories. And for anyone really who is concerned that a diet rich in candy, cookies, and cakes might contribute to illness and disease while fruits and vegetables encourage healthful living.

An apple a day.

A Carrot a day keeps the doctor away. Not to take away any notoriety from the apple but research shows that a natural compound that protects the vegetable from fungal diseases, may be the prime reason carrots are so unfriendly to cancers. Research showed that falcarinol in carrots reduced cancer. Epidemiological studies have shown that individuals with the highest carrot consumption can lower their risk of cancer by up to 40 percent.

So when we are watching one of America's beloved cartoon characters chew on his carrot and ask "What's up Doc?", maybe we should be asking what is down, with the healthy vegetable lowering the risk for cancer. Remember to always buy organic products when you can.

Vicki's Carrot Salad
5 large carrots shredded
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup chopped apples
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup apple juice
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon fresh chopped mint
Mix all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and chill for an hour. I like to serve this in individual fruit bowls with a tablespoon of vanilla yogurt and a mint leave on top.

It's summer time, it's hot, and most back yard cookouts have an ice cream maker churning away making that creamy frozen dessert that everyone loves.  Why not put a healthier more nutritional dessert on the table that even children will love? A diet high in fruits is likely to be linked to a decrease in the risk of cancer of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, lung, colon, rectum and possibly other cancers. Eating large amounts of fruits has been clearly linked to a decrease in the risk of cardiovascular disease. Eating fruits may also help improve bone health, diabetes control, and the maintenance of a healthy body weight. The consumption of fruits may strengthen the immune system, which is the body's defense against various diseases including cancer.

Three weeks ago one of my dalmatians developed a lot of bacteria in her stomach and my veterinarian reminded me of the healing powers of the cultures in yogurt.  She loves a couple of spoon fulls in her dry food. Tonight while I was on a fruit binge in the grocery store to fulfill my dedication of going back to my alkaline based diet, I remembered this salad recipe mixing the best of both worlds. I wasn't even tempted to pause at the frozen foods section to gaze longingly at my favorite mint chocolate chip ice cream.  By the way all of these ingredients are on the alkaline side of the food spectrum except for yogurt.  But your best diets contain 70 percent alkaline and 30 percent acid. So this salad is perfect.

Vicki's Mixed Fruit and Vanilla Yogurt Salad (with a minty twist)
1 cup blueberries
1 cup raspberries
1 cup diced strawberries
1 cup green grapes (slice them in half)
1 peach diced
1 pear diced
1 Granny Smith apple diced
1/3 cup sliced raw almonds
3 or 4 fresh mint leaves finely chopped.
1 6 ounce container vanilla yogurt

Mix everything but the mint in a large mixing bowl stirring gently so not to crush the raspberries and strawberries.  Sprinkle a pinch of the freshly chopped mint on the top of the individual servings.  It looks fancy and gives the dessert a little extra zing. This recipe serves 6 to 8 people. But remember if you have left overs to store them in an air tight container and then use them in the morning on your cereal or granola or for an added dessert treat at lunch.