Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Kale Rocks the Raw House!

Hey peeps! I am having a love affair with Kale lately. Good thing it's not french fries anymore. lol - This salad is a MUST have in your raw food arsenal. KALE ROCKS in so many ways – nutrients, taste, sturdiness (it holds up really well compared to other lettuce like iceberg – bleh) My feelings towards iceberg lettuce is that it is worthless but that is just me!

Okay a few little facts about kale you probably already knew:

  • Kale is a form of cabbage
  • Kale has powerful antioxidant properties and is considered to be an anti-inflammatory (well  my RA still sucks, but I'll keep eating it)
  • Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C and calcium
  • Kale has sulfur-containing phytonutrients that help fight cancer

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, who is renowned for his Eat to Live Diet books, rates Kale on his nutrient density scale at a score of 1000 out of 1000. Hands down Kale is one of the most nutritious plants on the Earth. It is also high in magnesium which helps the absorption of calcium

Dinosaur kale is my favorite type of kale and has very curly leaves so  you have to make sure you soak and wash the leaves. There are other types of kale, so you can be creative. You can always find kale at most farmers markets since it is so hardy to grow.

So onto my favorite way to eat kale (so far – as someday I am going to cook it in olive oil and garlic)

Massaged Kale Salad

001

 

1 head of curly kale soaked and rinsed

1-2 TBSP olive oil (start with 1 tbsp and then add more if you need to)

1 tsp Himalayan sea salt

*1-2 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar or lemon juice (this is optional)

1 cup or more of baby carrots

1 Avocado

1 cup Grape tomatoes

2 TBSP Hemp Seeds

Dressing of your choice

Now simply destem the kale and chop it up into bite size pieces and put it into a bowl (I use a large glass Pyrex dish with a lid). Now add the olive oil, the salt, and the vinegar or lemon juice option if you want it. (I have made it both ways, right now I prefer to skip this option because I use alot of cider vinegar in my salad dressing.)

Now massage away! Get your hands in there and massage the oil and salt into all the leaves. You are done! Just put a lid on the bowl and place in the refrig and in a few hours the kale will have softened a bit. This keeps ALL WEEK LONG…and that is so convenient on the raw diet! I just grab some massaged kale and toss it in a salad bowl with veggies and dressing and I have instant lunch.

This recipe is adapted from Gena at www.choosingraw.com and Kristen's Raw at www.kristensraw.com and of course both these awesome girls have created the most yummy raw recipes on the planet.

This weekend we are headed off to the Valley of Fire in Nevada for a camping trip. My boy will be flying in from Berkeley to join us. I can't wait for a fun, family getaway! We used to take alot of vacations when the kids were younger, but as they get older, they don't like hanging out with their old parents! And you have to pry their fingers off the XBOX! I am going to take some pics all the raw food I have packed for the trip. I plan on staying raw except for one dinner which will be a cooked vegan backpacking meal and some organic muesli (maybe muesli is raw? idk).

Do you find that kids today are not as interested in old-fashioned activities like camping because of all the high-tech toys they have to play with?

13 comments:

bitt said...

Yummy looking kale salad! I put tons of hemp seeds on mine too. I love the way that kale salad keeps for awhile.

The kids that I worked with were SO interested in camping. Well, at least when it involved going with their friends. I suppose a family trip might not be every kids' cup of tea. My parents hated camping so I always associated it with friends and camp too.

Lori said...

I really want to try the kale recipe! My only experience with kale was a disastrous one (apparently my old school Vita-Mix can't handle those tough greens for smoothies) so I haven't bought any since. I totally adore the taste of greens with salt (and pepper) so I can't imagine your recipe would let me down. Thanks for this post! :)

Vegan Valerie said...

Hi Judy!

I love dino kale, too! I even posted on my blog about it a few weeks ago! But your salad looks like it might even be yummier than mine! Kale does make a great salad, doesn't it! I need to go to Whole Foods this weekend and get some. They have a better organic selection than my local supermarket.

Thanks for reminding me of how much I love kale, Judy, especially dino kale! :)

Vegan Valerie said...

Judy!

Thanks for following my blog! That always means a lot to me! Now I'm trying to figure out how to follow yours! I usually use the blogger bar at the very top of most blogs. But I can't find it on yours. I'll keep trying to figure it out!

Oh and I like your cute little signature at the end of your posts! I should also figure out how to do that-- and do it! :)

I'm glad to have found another vegan friend in you, Judy! I hope we blog a lot to each other in the future! :)

Rawkstar said...

That kale salad looks soooo good. I too am totally crushing on kale right now and have not eaten any other type of greens lately. Plus it's in season and super cheap! Thanks for the recipe I will give this version a try.

Unknown said...

I LOVE kale! I eat it almost daily with other lightly sauteed mixed veggies. Even the kids are like it if I sprinkle a little Herbamare on it.

Anonymous said...

I like how kale comes in all kinds of cool rainbow-esque colours. Ingesting purple is always fun for me.

bitt said...

saw this article and thought of you
http://www.johnshopkinshealthalerts.com/alerts/arthritis/JohnsHopkinsArthritisHealthAlert_3353-1.html?ET=johnshopkins_blog:e36177:415220a:&st=email&st=email&s=EAH_100201_013

RA is Wild said...

Thanks everyone- I am chopping up kale right now for a weekend camping trip!

Vegan Valerie! I am happy to follow your blog! I am new to the whole vegan/raw thing and love reading other vegan adventures!

I disabled that bar at the top of my blog (it just bugged me) but on the left side of my page scroll down and you will find the follow me button

Bitt - Love the article - I have been staying away from gluten (except for sprouting my own bread) - i guess when you are Raw you naturally do not have much gluten, but if I converted to just Vegan (cooked) I could eat a whole lot of gluten right? haha...donuts, vegan desserts here I come! haha...not just yet

Lori - so the old vitamix models cannot process kale? maybe its the stems...I do love kale smoothies too!

Rawkstar - hey girl! Kale wasw $1.49 for a huge bunch at the farmers market today. It is so affordable!

Tammie Lee said...

hello, I have take a peak at a few pages of your blog. How fun to see you exploring raw foods. It is my sense that they will help you. I am not eating a raw diet now, but I have leaned that way since I was a teenager. I have experienced 3 times after a month long cleanse and then eating raw that all aches and pains leave my joints and my body moves like a young child. Amazing. I wish you the best with this life style!

Anonymous said...

I'm going to have to try that- I like kale too and am *trying* to learn how to cook more healthily! By the way, I love the "crappy RA meds" tab, so well put! How's the turmeric treating you? I just started taking that too.

TheFitnessFreak said...

That looks SO yummy Judy! I'll try it for sure.

Thanks for stopping by my blog! Yes, there are 3 phases to CXT and each lasts 4 weeks. She doesn't have a rest week in between phases but I always added one. It is one of my favorite Beachbody programs : )

Unknown said...

I love Kale salad too, and I love the blog!