I’ve been listening to the speakers from the 2018 Food Revolution Summit and two of the speakers–Dr. Michael Greger and Dr. Joel Fuhrman–both mentioned the importance and value of flaxseed and chia seeds.

According to Dr. Greger, a 2011 study concluded that “flaxseed has tremendous potential in disease prevention particularly cardiovascular disease (CVD), osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer (breast, colon, and prostate cancer), and constipation and also affects immunity favorably.” Further, flax seed consumption may play a role in preventing and treating breast cancer by blocking the inflammatory effects of interleukin-1:

Chia is also a whole food superstar, but it shines not quite as brilliantly as flax. According to Dr. Fuhrman, flaxseed contains 85.5 mg of lignan per ounce while chia contains 32 mg per ounce.

Now, I try to watch my seed and nut intake because I’m trying to lose weight, so I balk at adding ground seeds to a salad, especially if I’m already using a nut-based dressing (which I invariably am!).

After listening to Greger and Fuhrman, I decided to replace the nuts in my favourite nut-based dressing with a combo of chia and flaxseeds. The taste is good, but perhaps not QUITE as good as the cashew-based version.

The other advantage to this dressing is that the chia and flaxseeds both have a viscous quality: chia seeds have a hydrophilic outer shell which is able to absorb over ten times its weight in liquid; flaxseeds contain high levels of mucilage gum content, a gel-forming, water-soluble fibre.

Dilly Flax-Chia Salad Dressing

• 1/4 cup flaxseeds
• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 2 cups boiling water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 TBS apple cider vinegar
• 4 garlic cloves
• 2 Medjool dates
• 1 TBS capers with brine
• 1 TBS yellow mustard
• 1 TBS vegetable broth powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 TBS dill (or 1/4 cup fresh dill)

Throw it all in the Vitamix and blend like hell!

It has a bit more of a grassy taste than its nutty counterpart, but that may be a result of my free-handing the dill. The dressing is very rich and creamy, however, so I may continue to experiment with the seasonings.

And, best of all, having the chia and flaxseeds IN the dressing means I don’t have to add them to the top of my salads.

Oh, and if you’re interested in The 2018 Food Revolution Summit, it’s pretty neat: nine days of speakers on all things plant-based organized by John Robbins and his son, Ocean: