SuperPower Kale Salad

KALE: the most amazing green leafy vegetable!

Yesterday, I made the most delicious kale salad ever. Really. You HAVE to try it. Here's how it's done:

SuperPower Kale Salad

1 large bunch of green curly kale (or purple)

1 Hass avocado

juice from 1 1/2 lemons

1/2 cucumber, chopped

1 cup chopped broccoli florets

1/2-3/4 cup shredded carrots (or chopped)

2 TB raw sunflower seeds

2 TB hemp seeds

1 TB Creole seasoning (or salt + cayenne, etc) (optional, but adds a nice kick!)

Put everything in a very large bowl, including the scooped out avocado (minus the pit). Wash your hands well. Now massage the avocado and juices into the salad with your hands for several minutes, wilting the kale. Eat!

Nutrition

   Kale: high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C, and calcium. Blocks growth of cancer cells.

   Avocado: healthy fat, rich in potassium and B vitamins, has been shown to lower cholesterol levels.

   Lemon: high in vitamin C, aids digestion, 

   Cucumber: good source of potassium, high in vitamin K, 

   Broccoli: very high in vitamin C, good source of dietary fiber, full of phyto-nutrients and anti-oxidants.

   Carrot: high in beta carotene and vitamin A.

   Sunflower Seed: contains natural anti-oxidants and vitamin E, helps protect skin & mucous membranes.

   Hemp Seed: High protein, contains all essential amino acids,perfect ration of Omega 3 to 6, good for immune deficiency diseases.

So eat up! It's healthy and delicious :)

Eat smart,

T.

New cookbooks!!

I'm not even going to touch that one! At least not in this post.....that's worthy of its own post.

Have you tried Daiya's new wedge cheeses?? OMG. I keep buying the Jack flavor because it's so good. I finally just picked up a cheddar flavor to try. But nothing will beat the Jack flavor. So good on crackers!

I recently got some new cookbooks:

Practically Raw by Amber Shea Crawley, Ani's 15-Day Fat Blast by Ani Phyo, and Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton.

I'll be working my way through those!

First, I tried a "Pina Colada" smoothie from Ani's book. My first time using coconut oil! I was very scared of it before. And actually, it was all white and everything before I opened it. Now...in the cupboard, it's totally clear. Is that what's supposed to happen or is there something wrong with it??

Anyway, the smoothie was pretty good, but a bit "sandy" due to the brown rice protein powder I used. Very filling though.

I also made "DJ's Hummus Salad Dressing" from Dreena Burton's book. SO GOOD!! I always liked hummus on my salad, so why not make a dressing out of it? I did leave out the extra oil though.

From Eat Vegan on $4 a Day, I made the "Easy Miso Dressing" and it was delicious. So easy and tasty! Again, I left out the extra oil. However, it didn't make very much...enough for my one huge salad :)

And from Hearty Vegan Meals for Monster Appetites, I made the "Sloppy Jo-Nis". I rarely use TVP, but did finally purchase some. They were really tasty! I cut down the amount of ketchup in the recipe (too much sugar) and added pureed/diced tomatoes. I also left out the steak sauce, as I didn't have any. I'll definitely make those again!

(served on top of toasted sprouted grain bread)

And with all the fresh zucchini we've been getting from my CSA plus what my mom has brought me, I made this chocolate zucchini bread (scroll down for this bread) again:

Well, there you have it. I need to make more recipes from all these awesome cookbooks I have! Our standard in this house is salad or steamed/stir-fried vegetables with tomato sauce or an Asian sauce of some sort. We end up eating that most of the week.....is that wrong? Next, I'm going to delve into Amber's book!

What good cookbooks have you gotten recently? 

Do you always make the same thing over and over again?

Eat smart,

T.