Unfortunately, Americans are not consuming enough fruits and vegetables. As reported in USA Today, children and adults eat an average of slightly more than a cup of vegetables a day and a little more than a half a cup of fruit.

In our continuing recipe series of healthy choices for the workplace, we here at Nudge Workplace Wellness thought we should share a recipe for a flavorful salad that is inspired by the Mediterranean diet. Research has shown that the Mediterranean diet decreases the overall risk of cardiovascular mortality by using healthy oils and lots of fruits and vegetables. This is truly a heart healthy salad that can easily travel to the office or wow your family and/or guests for dinner.

Salads are a great way to get your daily servings of fruits and vegetables and are very refreshing in the heat of summer. By taking fresh vegetables and grilling them, you're adding delicious smoky flavor that satisfies your appetite. It also has a good balance of acidity with lemon, capers, and artichoke hearts.

We all know fruit is one of our healthy choices we need to make every day. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that a diet rich in fruits and vegetables may reduce the risk of cancer and other chronic diseases. They also provide a handy fruit and vegetable calculator that tells you how much you should be eating based on your age, sex, and daily activity.

While most people like to eat fruit, we get alot who tell us that it's hard to eat enough of it. In our last recipe post we mentioned that many offices have land mines of unhealthy snacks laying all around. It can be difficult to have access to fruit if you don't bring it yourself. Even if you bring your own fruit it can be easy to choose something else that might seem more appealing as a snack or lunch accompaniment. What is the solution? A delicious and healthy fruit salad!

I believe in books.  Not a rare sentiment, sure, but I would like to take this opportunity to plug one of the books that has helped us along the way.  Switch, by Chip and Dan Heath is a book about how to achieve behavioral changes; how to affect change in your life, your company and even broader social change.  Specifically, I want discuss just one little concept from the book and how it jives with our way of thinking.  With that said, the book is full of valuable and actionable advice so we recommend you give it a read [or a listen].