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Make This Salad and Forget You Ever Disliked Kale

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Kale Miso Radish Salad

Miso is a long time friend of mine. I mean, c’mon check out this video from over three years ago of me living on a boat in San Diego making the good ‘ol massaged kale miso salad. It was one of the first kinds of salads I really fell in love with because of how delicious you could make the kale taste with something that’s just as beneficial for you!

Miso: so what is it and why would you want to use it?

Miso is a fermented (typically) soybean paste that is used heavily in Japanese and Asian cuisine. You can also find other types of miso like azuki bean, brown rice, barley, golden millet, and chickpea. Because it’s fermented, it’s full of antioxidants and probiotics, which are crucial for keeping you healthy. If you watched the video I shared above, I briefly discuss how miso’s strong flavor is able to stand up to Kale’s bitterness. By massaging the kale with it, not only do you break down the kale and make the texture more desirable,  you’re coating it with something that is quite savory and tasty in the right proportions. You might forget you’re even eating kale!

Kale Miso Radish Salad

Here is a recipe for you to try so you don’t have to take my word for it. This salad recipe is a switch up to my original Massaged Kale Miso salad in the video. I added a bit of maple syrup to bring a sweet component into the dish and different vegetables for a new take. Hemp seeds would still taste really great on this salad as well as any other protein of your choice.

As far as buying miso, a brand I really like is Miso Master Organic, but there are many other good organic brands out there as well. Check the refrigerated section of your health food store for more options. If you’re buying a soybean miso, I would for sure get organic to avoid GMOs. I used Miso Master Organic’s chickpea miso for this recipe.

Kale Miso Radish Salad

Kale Miso Radish Salad
 
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This salad combines many different flavors - sweet, savory, bitter, crisp, creamy - to deliver a delicious, nutrient-dense dish that's perfect as a meal or before one.
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 2-4 servings
Ingredients
  • 2 green onions
  • 6 stalks kale
  • 1 cucumber, thinly sliced and halved
  • 4 small radishes, thinly sliced
  • 1 avocado, cubed
  • 1 tbsp. miso paste
  • 2 tsp. maple syrup
Instructions
  1. Take kale off each stalk and cut it up into strips. Place in a bowl with the miso paste and maple syrup and massage the kale until the miso and maple syrup coat all the pieces of kale and until the kale starts to break down and become softer.
  2. Prepare all the vegetables, mix with the kale and serve. You can either mix in the avocado with the other vegetables or just place it on top.

Enjoy!

With Love,

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Cucumber Marinated Kale Salad

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Incorporating foods like kale into your diet is so important because you receive an array of beneficial nutrients (like Vitamins A, C, and especially K) that will assist with the overall proper functioning of your body. Yes, kale does have a bit of a strong flavor, and I’ve heard people complain about the taste of kale on more than one occasion. If that’s stopping you from incorporating it into your diet more, then I’m hoping I can help out a bit. I’d say my preferred way to eat raw kale, which happens to be really convenient for snacking, would be these kale chips (seriously the best!!). But they do take some time to make, which may be time you do not have on a regular basis. So I’d like to present to you one of my favorite quick and easy ways to eat raw kale:

Marinated Kale Salads.

Marinading is not intimidating in the slightest. My go-to marinade consists of freshly-squeezed lemon juice, olive oil and garlic and is as simple as mixing those ingredients with the kale and letting it sit in the fridge overnight. The next morning you can add any additional ingredients to jazz up your salad, and wah-la! you are on your way to consuming-with gusto I hope-a dish comprised of some of the most nutrient-dense greens out there and other ingredients that promote detoxification (garlic) and cleansing of the body (lemon).

This cucumber marinated kale salad I had with dinner last night and is a variation of this marinated kale salad I made a little while ago. What I really want to show is that there are many different possible combinations of ingredients you can use starting with the marinated kale as a base. I LOVE the avocado-mango combo used in the one above, but since I didn’t have those ingredients at home, I decided to go with some green onion (which I added to the marinade), cucumber, and hemp seeds in addition to the dried cranberries!

Marinated Kale

Cucumber Marinated Kale Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
  • 1 bunch kale, cut into small pieces
  • 1.5 tbsp. olive oil
  • juice from ½ lemon
  • 1 glove garlic, pressed
  • 2 green onions, diced
  • 1 cucumber, chopped
  • 1-2 tbsp. hemp seeds
  • 2 small handfuls of dried cranberries (apple juice sweetened if you can find them)
Instructions
  1. Mix kale, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and the green onions and place in a sealed container.
  2. Place in the fridge, and let marinade overnight.
  3. Add and mix in the cucumber, hemp seeds and dried cranberries before serving.

What fruits/veggies/protein would you add to your marinated kale salad?

Polenta Tomato Salad (and a note on aging)

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I decided to move off Mackinac Island for a variety of reasons, but there is one that I would love to share because it has to do with food and nutrition:

Normally, I eat very clean on my own and am very selective about the food I purchase at home to eat. My diet usually consists of an abundant amount of fresh produce, raw vegetables, greens, low gluten and dairy, healthy fats, and all mostly organic ingredients when I can afford them. I usually feel great, don’t really get sick, maintain the same weight and have a lot of energy.

I had a birthday shortly after moving to the island.

I kept thinking to myself, ‘HOLY COW! 22 sucks! My joints ache, my back hurts in the morning, I’ve gained a little weight, I don’t feel that great and I have little energy..this must be part of the aging process!’ It was kind of a joke because I knew I wouldn’t notice such a stark difference right after having a birthday, but really, I felt a significant difference in how I felt after turning 22.

But then I reminded myself that it had nothing to do with my age or birthday at all.

The amount I paid for room and board weekly included meals in the employee dining room at work. The food was definitely not close to what I typically ate, and there were a lot of unhealthy options: tons of refined sugar-laden desserts, processed foods, lots of gluten and white bread, and non-organic meat and dairy. And I can openly admit that when there is junk food in front of me, I have a hard time saying no and usually give in, which is why I rarely buy groceries that I know aren’t good for me. I didn’t have a choice in paying for this ‘meal plan’, otherwise I would have opted out of it. And since I was paying for it and would usually be at work during meal times, I felt obligated to eat there. I definitely tried to eat away from work when I could and keep produce stocked in my fridge, but we had a silly excuse for a kitchen, very little free time, and I always seemed to be full from eating the food at work.

Overall, it just wasn’t a good fit for me. However, I really learned from it. Since my diet changed dramatically, I was able to see firsthand how much food affects the way you feel. Which makes me even more passionate to inspire people to make small diet changes that add up over time. It matters. And is oh, so worthwhile.

DAAAAARK Leafy Greeeeeeeens (picture me singing that in a luscious, low, vibrato voice). Eat them, drink them, inhale them. These are your friends, and your body wants them like it wants air.

Okay, I’m totally being dramatic. But find a way to add them to your diet. They are loaded with good vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. I’ll do a post later going into more detail and how to incorporate them into your diet, but I feel as though I have been wordy enough in this post (and I’m getting reaaally tired, hehe).

This was one of the last salads I made before moving off the island. I had some organic pasta sauce in the fridge and some organic polenta in my food bin, and I knew I wanted to put the two together to make a nice meal. So I added greens. And other vegetables. And made me a salad.

Polenta Tomato Salad

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Polenta Tomato Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 large handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1-2 tbsp. coconut oil
  • ½ tube organic* polenta
  • 2 large handfuls of greens of your choice (I used spinach and kale)
  • hemp seeds, to taste
  • pasta sauce, to taste
  • *Because the majority of non-organic corn is genetically modified, I always buy organic corn/corn products.
Instructions
  1. Saute the onion in coconut oil for about five minutes over medium heat stirring regularly.
  2. Add the garlic, and cook for a couple more minutes until onions become translucent. At the same time, slice ½ inch thick slices of polenta and cook in a frying pan with coconut oil until the edges are golden (I cooked the onions, garlic and polenta in the same pan).
  3. Cut the polenta into cubes before adding it to the salad.
  4. Add the onions, avocado, and cherry tomatoes on top of the greens.
  5. Add the pasta sauce, and sprinkle hemp seeds on top.

 

Enjoy!

Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raw Broccoli Mango Salad

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Last spring I did a 21-day raw food cleanse from Young and Raw, and one of the salads for it was raw broccoli, mango and avocado with lime juice. I instantly loved it and have used mango and avocado together countless times since. It is one of my favorite combinations, and those two would definitely win cutest couple award if it were up to me.

I make many variations of this salad, and I love that it’s so versatile depending on what vegetables I have on hand! I haven’t made one that I haven’t liked yet.

This is the one I made for myself on my birthday. And I enjoyed every bite of it.

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Raw Broccoli Mango Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 1 mango, diced
  • 1 avocado, diced
  • ½ cucumber, quartered
  • 10 sugar snap peas, cup up
  • 5-10 florets broccoli, cut up
  • small handful of dried cranberries
  • hemp seeds (for sprinkling)
  • juice from ½ lime, freshly squeezed
Instructions
  1. Place all ingredients together and mix thoroughly.

 

 

Marinated Kale Salad

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Wow, have I been busy! I’ve been working six days a week and therefore haven’t had much time for posting. That and the sparse internet connection here make for some solid food blogger obstacles. My food pictures are piling up on my camera and computer so it’s about time I share some of these yummy creations!

This marinated kale salad was inspired by the kale salad we sell at the restaurant I work at. I asked them how they marinated the kale in our mixed berry kale salad and figured out that I had the ingredients to do it myself! It is very easy and a tasty way to consume some nutritious dark leafy greens. Score.

Marinated Kale Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • ½ lemon, freshly squeezed
  • 1 small clove garlic, minced
  • ½ bunch kale, broken up (I used organic lacinto and curly leaf kale)
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • small handful of dried cranberries
  • 1 mango, diced
Instructions
  1. Mix the marinade (first 3 ingredients) and drizzle over the kale.
  2. Place in a covered bowl and shake to ensure marinade covers the kale.
  3. Put in fridge, and marinade overnight.
  4. Add the mango, avocado, and dried cranberries the next day before serving.

 

Enjoy!

Summer Citrus Salad

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I make it a daily goal to get my greens somehow, some way. Whether from a salad, juicing, smoothies, green superfood powder, spirulina tablets, whatever. As long as it’s green, and as long as it’s in. my. body.

The other week my mom was in the area and we met up on the mainland. Because produce can be so pricey here on the island, I had her pick up some organic vegetables for me at Trader Joe’s. The vegetables that I love to have and keep stocked are carrots, broccoli, celery, greens (kale, romaine, mixed greens, arugula, etc.), tomatoes and avocados. You really can’t go wrong with these. They are so incredibly easy to add to any dish and usually last long enough to consume before going bad.

I was able to spend a really refreshing day with my mother, which was a total added bonus. We visited her father’s gravesite, found a steal on some cute moccasins, enjoyed some local Mexican food, and took a ride over the Mackinac Bridge with the top down. Yeah, straight cruisin’.

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After lugging a suitcase full of dried and fresh fruits, vegetables, and other miscellaneous groceries up the hill, I decided that a celebration was in order and made a bodacious salad. This was my first time really photographing food with my new 50mm portrait lens, and I was so excited about finally having a good camera and lens to capture the food creations I’m very passionate about.

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Summer Citrus Salad Ingredients

This salad (and any slight variation of it) is also one of my go-to meals here just like my Warrior Chia Porridge. I love adding a chopped orange to salads because it is so juicy and complements the lime juice so there is really no need for a dressing. The avocado also adds the perfect smoothness to make this salad really come together in a nice way.

Summer Citrus Salad
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • handful of greens of choice (I used a mixed greens mix and arugula)
  • 1 stalk celery, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 5 florets of broccoli, chopped
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 orange, sliced
  • dried cranberries
  • juice from ½ lime, freshly squeezed
  • orange muscat champagne vinegar (optional, found at Trader Joe’s)
Instructions
  1. Place chopped celery, carrot, broccoli and dried cranberries on bed of greens.
  2. Add sliced avocado on top and squeeze lime juice over salad.
  3. Add champagne vinegar and toss salad so the juice and vinegar cover everything.

 

Summer Citrus Salad and Champagne Vinegar

Enjoy!

Sarah