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

 

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?