Magenta Dream Salad

A delicious kale salad, plus an orange segmenting tutorial!

This is one of my all-time favourite salads (although I love all salads with fruit, avocado and nuts). It's sweet, slightly creamy, fresh, crunchy, contains jicama, and is an absolutely gorgeous shade of pink!

This also contains kale, which we should all know by know is a powerhouse of vegetable nutrition, and also tastes great in salads after a good massage.

This is my first dinner in my month-long raw food experiment, and it was delicious! I did have to eat about half of it before I was full, but I didn't mind one bit! I know tahini isn't raw (unless you specifically buy raw tahini), but I'm going to allow myself a few small cheats, as long as they're only condiments and I don't have them too often, or too much of them at once.

First of all, if you don't know how to segment an orange, here's how:

first, slice off the top an bottom

then cut off the rind with a knife, cutting in a bit of a curve to
get all the pith

your orange should know look like this

cut the orange out from between the membrane

 I usually like to cut the orange segments in half so more bites have orange in them, but this is optional.

Magenta Dream Salad

Ingredients

2 bunches kale, thinly sliced
1 fennel bulb, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
2 medium-smallish beets, grated
1/2 small jicama, cut however you want (I can never figure out the best way to cut jicama for salad, so just do whatever you think is best. I cut it into flat squares)

use about this much ginger, or more

3 oranges, 1 zested
1 tsp grated ginger
1 avocado, thinly sliced, slices cut into quarters, the riper it is the creamier the salad will be
2 Tbsp raw apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt
pepper, to taste
1 tsp honey, optional
2 Tbsp tahini
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (toast them if you're not eating raw)

Directions

1. Whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, tahnini, salt, pepper, honey (if using), ginger, and orange zest.

2. Put the kale in a bowl or on a large cutting board. Pour the dressing over it.

3. Cut the segments out of the oranges over the kale, so the juice falls on it. Once all the segments are cut, squeeze the remaining pulpy stuff so the juice falls on the kale, then discard.

4. Using your hands, squeeze the kale and mix it up with dressing; "massage" it.

5. Toss the kale with the fennel, beets, jicama, orange segments, and walnuts.

6. Eat it right away, or allow to marinate for stronger flavours and softer kale. Kale salads keep well without turning limp and soggy like lettuce salads.

7. Enjoy!

before tossing

after tossing

This post has been shared with Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Chinese Beansprout Salad

There are often times, usually a few days before the next grocery shopping trip is planned, were I start running out of fresh vegetables. At these times, beansprouts can be a lifesaver. I sprout my own, so the bag of dried beans is always sitting ready for me in my cupboard. It takes a bit of pre-planning, but beansprouts really help to stretch the last bits of fresh produce in my fridge until more can be bought. Did I mention that beansprouts are really healthy? Yeah, they contain protein, they're low in calories, and they've got tons of enzymes. Raw foodists love them because they're the most "live" food you can eat. (Unless you eat a live bug, but I don't think anyone really wants to do that on a regular basis.)

This is one way I enjoy beansprouts. They're also really good with some leftover roasted winter squash and peas.

Chinese Beansprout Salad

1 cup mung beansprouts

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 carrot, grated

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

1 tsp rice wine vinegar

1 tsp organic tamari, nama shoyu, or coconut aminos

1 tsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp grated fresh ginger (or less, to taste)

pinch of red pepper flakes

optional: a few grinds of pepper (I like to put pepper in everything)

1. Whisk together the tamari, vinegar, oil, ginger, red pepper flakes, and optional pepper.

2. Combine the beansprouts, carrot, bell pepper, and sugar snap peas.

3. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine.

Garden Vegetable Nori Rolls

Nori rolls are great for lunches, snacks, or side dishes! You get all your veggies conveniently wrapped up in a sheet of seaweed, which itself is very healthy. They're also super easy to make, no special sushi equipment required!

Garden Vegetable Nori Rolls

Ingredients

1/2 bell pepper, thinly sliced

1/2 carrot, shredded

3 inch piece of cucumber, julienne

1 avocado, thinly sliced

3 romaine leaves or the equivalent in other lettuce, thinly sliced (or if you're using baby greens, just leave them whole)

1 tomato, thinly sliced

4 nori sheets

optional: anything from your garden! spinach, zucchini, snap peas, even sprouts!

Directions

1. Have a nori sheet in front of you, shiny side down, with the lines running horizontally.

2. Place 1/4 of the sliced avocado near the bottom of one of the nori sheets. (you could also mash the avocado and spread it on. Leftover guacamole works great for this!)

3. Pile on 1/4 of each of the remaining toppings.

4. Starting at the bottom, roll everything in the nori tightly to create a firm roll. Dab a little water on the last centimeter from the end to help the nori stick.

5. Repeat for the other 3 rolls.

6. Starting with the first roll you made, slice crosswise with a very sharp knife. (I don't have a sharp enough chef's knife, so I usually use a sharp serrated knife.)

 

Avocado Sauerkraut Nori Rolls

This is one of my favourite nori rolls! Avocado and sauerkraut taste great together, and it's an easy way to consume more lactofermented foods. If you have some on hand, try adding some cucumber matchsticks, it's delicious!

Avocado Sauerkraut Nori Rolls

Ingredients

1/2 avocado, thinly sliced

1/4 cup sauerkraut

2 cups of mixed lettuce, or more (however much you can pack into the roll!)

2 nori sheets
optional: some cucumber, cut into matchsticks

Directions

1. Have a nori sheet in front of you, shiny side down, with the lines running horizontally.

2. Place 1/2 of the sliced avocado near the bottom of one of the nori sheets. (you could also mash the avocado and spread it on. Leftover guacamole works great for this!)

3. Pile on 1/2 of the sauerkraut and greens, and cucumber if using.

4. Starting at the bottom, roll everything in the nori tightly to create a firm roll. Dab a little water on the last centimeter from the end to help the nori stick.

5. Repeat for the other roll.

6. Starting with the first roll you made, slice crosswise with a very sharp knife. (I don't have a sharp enough chef's knife, so I usually use a sharp serrated knife.)

If it's really difficult to cut, wait a few minutes for the
avocado to soften the nori

Super easy and delicious! 

Fennel-Tomato Ceviche Salad

Most raw foodists are vegan. If you buy industrialized meat, I can understand that. Personally, I think that if you get meat from a good source, it's fine to eat raw. Well, unless it's pork or poultry. If you're not vegan, things like ceviche and steak tartar are a great way to enjoy the benefits of raw foods. Raw meat is actually really good for you. This is a delicious way of consuming healthy raw fish! If you are vegan, or a raw vegan, you could probably just substitute some sliced mushrooms for the fish. This can be a light lunch or an appetizer.

Fennel-Tomato Ceviche Salad

Ingredients

1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

1 tomato, cut into 16 wedges

1/2 radish, very thinly sliced

1 cup fresh raw fish, thinly sliced (I used salmon)

1 ancovy, minced

1/2 tsp green peppercorns, minced

1 tsp capers, minced

juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 scallion, thinly sliced

1 garlic clove, minced

1/8 cup olives, chopped (I used kalamata)

pinch of salt

fennel fronds, chopped

balsamic vinegar 

olive oil

Directions

1. Combine the fish, anchovy, peppercorns, capers, lemon, scallion, garlic, olives, and salt in a bowl. Marinate in the fridge for about 30 minutes.

2. Arrange the fennel, tomato and radish on plates. It looks really pretty if you alternate the slices in a pinwheel formation.

3. Top the vegetables with the marinated fish.

4. Drizzle with a bit of balsamic vinegar and olive oil. 

5. Top with fennel fronds. Enjoy!

Rainbow Kale Salad

Not only is this salad yummy and amazingly healthy, but it's beautiful too! We all know that we're supposed to "eat the rainbow", and now you can eat the whole rainbow in one salad! This salad is fresh and vibrant and full of lots of healthy things.

Rainbow Kale Salad

Ingredients

1 bunch kale, thinly sliced

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced, slices cut in half (or use a mix of yellow and red pepper for even more colour!)

1 carrot, shredded

1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped

1/2 cup or more lactofermented rutabaga

1 avocado, thinly sliced, slices cut into quarters crosswise

2 Tbsp sunflower seeds, sprouted or soaked about 8 hours

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp lime juice (or half a lime)

salt and pepper

optional: cherry tomatoes, fresh herbs, radishes

Directions

1. Pour the olive oil and lime juice on the kale. Add a pinch of salt and a few gratings of freshly ground pepper. Message the dressing into the kale.

2. Combine the kale with the rest of the ingredients. This salad is best if you leave it to sit for a while, so the kale has a chance to soften.

This is a great salad to take for lunch because you can put
the dressing on ahead of time and the greens won't wilt!