About the Food
Salad Therapy is a happy place filled with recipes for fast, easy, whole-foods plant-based yumminess. The recipes don’t contain animal products, sweeteners, oil, or highly refined/processed ingredients. They do contain tons of flavor, abundant nutrition, and the very real potential to change everything you thought you knew about food.
So many people want to make healthy changes, but it seems too overwhelming, or they worry about missing out. Others are convinced they don’t have the time, or that it’s too complicated to learn a new way of cooking. Let me just tell you that I do not have tons of time on my hands. As a working mother and wife, every recipe on this site is developed to be as simple as possible. If I can make it faster, with fewer ingredients, fewer utensils, and fewer techniques to learn, you better believe I am on it. I believe in being able to live my life without spending every ounce of energy in the kitchen.
I love food, and I believe strongly in the science-backed health benefits of a plant-based diet. I aim to show the world that you absolutely do not have to sacrifice taste or time for health.
About the Name
I named this blog Salad Therapy for multiple reasons.
Reason 1: A truly nutritious salad (or other WFPB meal) that you actually enjoy is enormously therapeutic for the body and mind. The healing, sustaining power of plants is remarkable and cannot be overstated. When that nutritious meal tastes good, it’s therapy for your taste buds, as well. Not just figuratively, but literally: the more you accustom your taste buds to naturally delicious foods without chemicals, additives, and unnatural and unhealthy flavors, the more you will find yourself craving healthier things and not even wanting the other stuff.
Reason 2: Going vegan is therapeutic for our entire planet. Choosing plant foods over animal products helps heal our environment in a major way, and it’s so much friendlier to the animals who share our world.
Reason 3: I see these recipes as a cure for the common salad. Meaning, most salads come up lacking in flavor, nutritional benefit, or both. It doesn’t have to be that way. I’m here to tell you that you can have it all. It just takes a little therapy, if you will, in the form of creativity and an open mind.
Does that mean Salad Therapy is only about salads? No way, José. You can find just about anything here—from smoothies to side dishes to sweets, and so much more. Even a decadent dessert can be insanely healthy. It is my hope and joy that you be able to cook all the foods you love while feeling healthy, nourished, and vibrant. Let’s do it!
About Shana
Hey, y’all! I’m Shana, the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind Salad Therapy. I started blogging via Facebook and Instagram in 2016 as a way to share recipes with friends and family members who asked for healthy plant-based food inspo. While it was originally all about the food, I picked up an interest in food styling and photography along the way. I’m the proudest mom ever of three delicious little people, wife to a hilarious and utterly brilliant dude, and a professional writer, editor, and consultant.
Aside from my love of colorful, delicious food and holistic health, I have a passion for compassionate parenting, the outdoors, and beautifully functional living spaces. I can dig pretty much any kind of creative expression, and I aim to live life with as much fun and meaning as possible.
Want to see what I’m up to? Definitely follow me on Facebook and Instagram for even more edible ideas, to be kept in the loop, for behind-the-scenes happenings in my very real (and usually very messy) kitchen, and for the occasional deep thought on living this life. That said, make sure you sign up for my free newsletter so that you never miss a new recipe – unfortunately, social media only shows my content to a fraction of my followers!
Even more than food, my absolute favorite thing in the universe is to connect deeply with fellow human beings, so please do connect with me!
And in case you were wondering, it’s pronounced SHAY-nuh.