The Most Awesome Massaged Kale Salad.

A few months after getting on the "I love kale" band-wagon, I discovered just how great massaged kale salads taste. Also, they are incredibly easy to make. The massaging process only takes a few minutes, but is sufficient to break down the cellulose and other fibers in the kale, making the leaves more digestible and less chewy when eating. This version is super simple, and very customizable. I like to add parmesan cheese for a salty kick and an off-set to the slight bitterness of the kale leaf. But if dairy isn't your thing, feel free to leave it out.

The Most Awesome Massaged Kale Salad.
    serves 4-6 depending on your kale-love-level

    2 heads dino kale, stems removed, and cut into 1/4”-1/2” ribbons
    1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
    2 Tbsp tahini
    juice of one lemon
    1 Tbsp olive oil / drizzle of olive oil
    3 dashes nutmeg
    2 dashes cayenne pepper
    1 dash smoked hot paprika
    1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
    salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
  1)  Place kale in large bowl, add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Massage with bare hands for 3-5 minutes, until kale decreases in size by half and is soft and looks dark green.
  2)  Add parmesan, tahini, and spices. Mix thoroughly.
  3)  EAT and enjoy! This is even better the second or third day, but I doubt it will last you that long!

Feel free to add more heads of kale if you want to make a bigger portion, but you may have to adjust the amount of cheese and tahini; however, I've made this with 3 heads of kale and didn't add any more ingredients. It's that forgiving! The photos here are of the salad made with regular green kale, but I much prefer the dino kale, but both work and are equally delicious.

Possibly vegan, gluten-free, nutrient rich and delicious. Share it with all your family and friends. They’ll gobble it up! My family, friends and I surely did.

Xoxo,

Real Food Recents

Here are some snapshot of real food meals I've enjoyed recently. Eating nourishing food at college (or anywhere) doesn't have to be hard, you just have plan ahead and make it a priority.

Bananas, raw milk, chia seeds, raisins, nuts,
freeze dried assorted fruit, and this "trail mix."

A delicious salad - romaine, spinach, red onion, baked chicken,
olive oil, pomegranate balsamic, spicy pineapple pico de gallo
and red peppers and cucumbers.

I am thinking about making "Real Food Recents" a weekly part of this blog. I hope to inspire others to eat healthier food, while also emphasizing that it does not have to be difficult. My ideas can also (hopefully) spark new ideas in your own mind for creating nourishing meals. As readers, if you like this idea I would really appreciate your thoughts.

Adventures in San Diego!

Every semester, or at least every year, my friends and I like to take a trip down to San Diego. One of the best parts about going to college is Southern California is without a doubt the location. My school is located in LA county, but we are really right on the edge of LA county and Orange county. LA is a less than an hour away (with traffic) and beaches like Huntington, Laguna and Newport are just a quick jog down the 5 freeway. Have I mentioned that Disneyland is 15 minutes away from campus too? San Diego is in my opinion one of the best spots SoCal has to offer. If you've never been, you will not really understand until you go. San Diego is just. so. nice!

We got up early and planned to leave at 8 am to make the about two hour drive down. After a quick stop at Starbuck's (my friends wanted breakfast) we were on the road. I enjoyed my breakfast (packed as usual) in the car while talking and enjoying the beautiful scenery of the ocean.

La Jolla coast

Our first stop was La Jolla, one of my most favorite places on the planet. As soon as we got there, there was 3-hour parking spot right in front of us - score! We saw the seals, laughed in the sea breeze, got a little wet from the waves, and walked on top of the La Jolla caves. We also took pictures at each stop -- thank you kind people that snapped them for us!! After seeing the ocean views we walked up to some shops. I normally don't like art galleries, but we walked into one that had nature photography and it was breathtaking! Soon it was time for lunch, so we decided to go to Downtown SD to try and find a spot to eat.

"Bird of Paradise" flower

After a lot of driving around trying to find our bearings and food, we finally just parked and went into the mall. I got a salad at a little place in the food court. I was not happy about the lunch options, but I chose the safest possible thing. It was a CHEAP salad :( It may look delicious, but looks are deceiving. The place only had a olive oil/canola blend, which I was not about to eat and so I had no fat on top of my salad. Yuck! I should have asked from some avocado!

Something DEFINITELY tasted funny here. I couldn't pin point the source!

With the mediocre lunch (for me) behind us, we decided to walk to the famous Ghiradelli Chocolate Factory and Ice cream parlor. My friends enjoyed the chocolate samples. We all wanted something ice creamy but the prices were HIGH. Too much for five college students to handle, so we left.

Boats and beautiful shining water!

Next we walked down to the water and saw the boats, tourists and many restaurants with a shopping area. People were walking around enjoying themselves, getting lunch, watching guys play with fire, or sitting for a caricature drawing. I liked it for the pretty pictures of the marina/boats and water :) I don't really like touristy places, so I was kind of ready to leave. Not to mention one performer doing an act with fire was trying to get me to look at his performance, but I was not buying into that. I'm not a tourist!

We found our way to the car much faster than we left it, and we didn't even have to pay for parking - yay validation option! For the next stop we zoomed over the bridge to Coronado. We walked the beach, took pictures and of course, walked through the Hotel del Coronado. This hotel is fancy, and very expensive to stay at. Luckily it's fairly open to the public, and it's nice to walk around. We saw a beautiful couple having their wedding reception. The bride was gorgeous and she gave me some inspiration for what I want my dress to look like some day. It was fun to talk to my friends about dresses, the boys in the group were just smiling and putting up with our girly chatter.

View from Mt. Helix

Our next stop was Mount Helix, the tallest place in San Diego. You can see 360 degrees around on top of the mountain. The view was breath taking. We arrived around 6 o'clock, so the sun was just starting to go down a bit, so the view was not too sunny, it was good picture lighting. It was a little hazy in one direction, which was bummer since we couldn't really see anything. We got to the top and found out that there was a wedding and we could not park and go to the summit. So we settled for stopping on the road up and getting our pictures.

Last stop? DINNER. I told everyone about Sammy's Woodfired Pizza last April when I went for the first  time, so when we planned our trip to SD I decided this is where we are going to dinner. The food is so delicious, made from scratch, has a great gluten and soy free menu and is a good value for the price and amount of food you receive. We found the restaurant, ordered, and then THE FOOD CAME!

Caesar salad w/ chicken - the dressing might be the best part!

Gluten free caprese pizza - that's basil on top!

I ordered the small caesar with half chicken (the full is HUGE) and also a gluten free caprese pizza with extra feta. The chunks of tomatoes didn't even bother me the next day! They were so juicy and tender. This is the third Sammy's location I have been too and I must say that the service here was THE BEST, but the pizza was NOT the best. The crust seemed different that other locations, REALLY thin and not as thick or doughy. I still love Sammy's though and will continue to go back.

And I convinced my friends to split THIS five ways, the Messy Sundae (naturally gluten free!) It was a mess of chocolate sauce, and so fun to eat! The ice cream inside was not my most favorite, but the whole experience was totally fun. Splitting an $8.50 dessert 5 ways? ONLY $1.70, now that's an acceptable price.

Messy Sundae!

With all the food I ordered I only ate half and then had a whole other meal the next day! Perfect! My friends really liked the restaurant, so I think they won't object to going back! Hurah!

Chocolate and friends and a relaxing drive home - what a great way to end a fun day.

Note - I am a little bit behind cataloging all my restaurant experiences - I need to do official reviews on the blog and also on Yelp. It's important that people discover where to find gluten and soy free REAL food when the are eating out. Soon (when I get the time) I will be doing a post talking about eating REAL FOOD while eating out and all the things I have learned in the process. Hopefully it can help others who are like-minded with their food options.

Also, I don't know if you can tell, but on nearly all my pictures from this trip the bottom right hand corner is SO BLURRY! I am so bummed because it's ruined some of my otherwise good shots :( I think my lens needs to be cleaned, but on other pictures the blur is not as present or is not there at all. Weird!

Adventures in North Conway!

This past Thursday Mom and I were able to sneak away after work and go to North Conway! We typically go every summer and there are lots of fun shops, outlets and country stores that we love to visit. Last year when we visited we were thrilled to go to Rafferty's for lunch, this time not so much. Listen to my story.

Our first stop was a store on the way to downtown where we love to look around and where I've found my most favorite earrings, ones I get compliments on all the time! Lat year I bought two pairs, one stud and one drop style, but unfortunately I lost one of my studs! I wanted to go back especially to try and "rebuy" so I could wear the earrings again. One earring out of a pair doesn't do me much good! When we got there as always there are lots of options and Mom and I took several several minutes to decide which ones we wanted to purchase. I wasn't quite sure which one matched my lonely earring, so I bought the pair I thought matched it and another one that I liked as well. I unpacked our goodies this morning and it doesn't match :( but they are still pretty and I will enjoy wearing them. Now NEXT summer I know which one to get!

After this stop we continued down to downtown North Conway. We visited our favorite country stores and walked across the street to a HUGE tent that had winter coats to see if they had any good ones for me, but they were all ski-style and not what I was looking for. Before we knew it we were getting hungry! We drove over to Rafferty's and got a table and expected to have as good an experience as last time. But soon it was obvious we weren't. Rafferty's pub has the largest gluten free menu in New England (I think) or at least New Hampshire. Last year when we asked about my soy allergy, it wasn't a problem, but this year it certainly was. The chef came out and started telling us what he could do. He basically said that soy is in everything. He even said that they don't use real butter? That the rotisserie chicken they serve is not made in house? That they sautee everything in fake soy based butter substitute? Wow. After hearing about all this fake food I quickly lost my desire to eat there and Mom and I left, disgusted! 

For starters, a green crunchy salad.

The oven!

That says it all!

Real meat!

My pizza!

Look at those delicious caramelized onions!

Luckily there are lots of gluten free restaurant options in North Conway so we went over to Flatbreads to check it out. We've heard they have gluten free pizza for a while, and they have a great perspective on food, so we've been meaning to try it but never have! Upon walking in we knew instantly it would be good. The atmosphere was so fun, our waitress very helpful, and it wasn't cold in the restaurant (which we always hate). To answer our soy questions, she brought out the label of the gluten free pizza crust which actually was quite nutritious, made with wholesome gluten free grains and yeast, NOT the typical white rice flour, potato starch. We were starving, since it was like 7:15 pm, by the time we left Rafferty's and waited for a table, etc, etc, so we ordered their basic salad right away. It had seaweed on top and it was delicious! The waitress totally understood about soy being in the salad dressings and she happily offered us olive oil and balsamic vinegar which we happily accepted! I am so glad we got a salad since the pizza was a long, unfortunately, wait. Their gluten free pizza is only available in a small size, but it's more than enough for one person. I got their Coevolution pizza with steak and red sauce, and Mom got the Community pizza with chicken. BOTH were delicious. My pizza was underdone and the steak still pink, but I was so hungry that we weren't about to send it back to cook it more. Mom's pizza had mushrooms (gasp) that she forgot to tell them to leave off, but they were surprisingly very good, and I (we) HATE mushrooms! Mom and I shared slices and both ate about half of the pizzas! I would go back to Flatbreads in heart beat. My new NH destination (which I never had before) for gluten free pizza! I am so happy that it was made with real food ingredients.

Insert my face here!

After it was getting late and the outlets were closing soon, but it was 8:30 and we wanted ice cream. Off to Ben and Jerry's we went! I got a Chocowlate Chip and Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl in a cup and Mom got the New York Super Fudge Chunk. It was DELICIOUS. 

It was such an incredibly relaxing day together with good company, shopping and real food. I love days like that.

Basic Dressing

A good salad dressing can sometimes be the one thing between you and a good salad. While I don't mind eating my salads "dry" (most dressings have soy oil), I've found that I tend to enjoy and be more satisfied with my salad if I really enjoy the dressing.

[Photo credit: Amazon.com]

I recently pulled out one of my favorite books, the Versatile Vegetable, a Body Ecology book, which I received for Christmas two years ago. I love Donna Gates and the principles behind BED are very important for good digestion. If you haven't heard of her I urge you to pick of one of her books, lectures or browse the website. There is so much good information there!

Inside the book there are several GREAT vegetable recipes for every kind of vegetable you can think of! There are also several sauces and dressing recipes too. My search for a good basic salad dressing with no yucky ingredients has ended. I found it here!

Basic Dressing

adapted from the Versatile Vegetable

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

2 Tbsp flaxseed oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

other spices as desired - I like kelp flakes, garlic and onion powder, cayenne pepper

To make the dressing:

1. In a glass measure, add ingredients one by one.

2. Whisk well until ingredients are fully incorporated.

3. Pour into a salad dressing jar and refrigerate.

4. Pour liberally over every type of vegetable salad! Enjoy.

Unfortunately, the picture isn't the greatest. In my house we try to reuse things, especially glass bottles. Here is an old salad dressing bottle which we kept (but threw away the industrial oil laden dressing) and now it holds our real salad dressings. As you can see it still has the label gunk on it. Separation is natural. Be sure to shake well before serving!!

Organic French Dressing

Recently I've been dying to try several french dressing recipes that I've been eyeing. Today I was finally in the mood to break out and make some, but I couldn't bring myself to use any of the recipes I found (making your own is much more fun), so I just used them for inspiration in the back of my mind instead. I am really happy with the end result so far. It is currently sitting out on the counter for a few hours to let the lacto-fermented juice from the pickle jar do it's work before I place it into the refrigerator.

This recipe is super creamy and has a nice spice to it. Give it a try and tell me what you think.

French Dressing

4 Tbsp organic tomato paste -  I used Muir Glen
3 Tbsp mayonnaise - Wilderness Family naturals, or make your own homemade
2 Tbsp organic maple syrup
3 Tbsp juice from the pickle jar - I used Bubbies brand
3 oz organic and raw apple cider vinegar - Bragg's
7 oz organic olive oil
1/4 tsp organic garlic powder
1/2 tsp organic onion powder
3/4 tsp sea salt - I use Celtic sea salt
1/8 tsp kelp flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper

To make your dressing:
1. Place all the ingredients in a small glass bowl.
2. Mix together with a whisk until spices are well distributed and the mixture is opaque.
3. Pour into your favorite salad dressing jar and let sit out on the counter for a few hours.
4. Refrigerate and use on luciously delicious green salads!

Here are some other good recipes which helped inspire mine:

Lexie's french dressing

Mark's french dressing

Wardeh's ketchup

Enjoy your delicious salad!