Raw Kale Salad

\ Leave a Comment \ by

Kale Salad

Having raw salad can be a little challenging for your digestion. I don’t go 100% raw diet, but when I cook my veggies I always cook them al dente with very little water to preserve all good nutrition. I made sautéed kale salad with garlic and mushrooms before. Today it is massaged kale salad with cottage cheese, walnuts and pomegranates. It is super easy to make. And wilted kale has soft texture although it is raw.

5 heads of kale
1 table spoon of coconut oil
a table spoon of coconut vinegar (white wine vinegar if you don’t have it)
a teaspoon of celery salt (sea salt or any kind you have at home)
100g cottage cheese
handful of walnuts (any nuts of your choice)
1 pomegranate
pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper

Wash and drain 5 heads of kale. Get rid of tough stems and tear leaves into small pieces. I then added kale leaves, coconut oil, coconut vinegar and celery salt in a big mixing bowl. Make sure your hands are clean. Start massaging and wilting down kale (it should take only a few minutes). Mix cottage cheese, walnuts and pomegranates to the kale salad. Serve with pomegranate dressing – pomegranate molasses (you can use pomegranate juice + honey instead), coconut vinegar, e.v.o.o, salt and pepper. It can easily serve 4-6 people. Just add your preferred protein on the side.

Food blog26

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Pomegranate Pumpkin Quinoa Salad

\ 2 Comments \ by

pomegranate

Another antioxidant rich food – Pomegranate! It’s loaded with vitamins and potassium. Researches show this power fruit buffers the effects of free radical damage, increase oxygen levels to your heart and reduce the redness of arthritis. It also reduces risk of cancers, especially prostate and breast cancer.

These juicy little guys are a great snack as it is – so yummy popping in your mouth. You can also make juice. Pomegranates are one of the few fruits where juice is as beneficial as the fruit or seeds. I recommend using on salads like me, which not only gives a lovely presentation but also provides a beautiful sweet and acidic flavour. I warn you, though, when you cut open pomegranates and take all these seeds out it will stain your fingers, clothes and kitchen bench. I was so excited about cutting and squeezing the fruit, and next thing I realised was it’s a little late to wear my apron. Oh well.. it’s fun cleaning all up after cooking too, isn’t it? >.<  To prevent all this mess, you can soak pomegranates in the bowl of water and work in the bowl, removing seeds from the flesh. All seeds will sink to the bottom of the bowl, so you need to drain well afterwards.

pomegranate salad

I used butternut pumpkin, quinoa, shredded green and purple cabbage, red onions and green salad today. It looks so vibrant and colourful!

Examples of other salads that go well with pomegranates? Think about 3 things – colours, flavour and texture.

I think it goes well with…
– roasted sweet potato, pine nuts and green salad
– prosciutto, caramelised pear, blue cheese, roasted pecan
– Mediterranean cous cous salad
– shaved fennel and orange salad
– wild rice, feta cheese and green salad
– apple, walnut and kale salad

Need protein? Try with…
– duck
– chicken
– prawns
– cheese, especially pan-fried halloumi cheese

There you are.. there is plenty to try if you didn’t know how to use pomegranates in your food. Personally I don’t think you need salad dressing here. Just season and drizzle a good quality of e.v.o.o. I’m going to add Moroccan spiced chicken breast to that salad for dinner tonight. What is your choice? x

 

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Purple Carrot Salad

\ Leave a Comment \ by

IMG_0091

I felt like something sweet and spicy salad today and came up with this little sexy salad made of beautiful dark purple carrots. I just love the colour of purple carrots. We already know carrots are high in vitamins, especially vitamin A for your eyes, plus a good source of dietary fibre. Purple carrots have extra antioxidant power because of unique anthocyanins, which combat free radicals in our body. It tastes earthy when eaten raw but cooking them creates amazingly sweet flavour. Well steaming and quick stir-frying minimises losing all the goodness in them, but if you choose to boil, make sure cooking the whole carrots without slicing them. As I mentioned before, try different colours of foods on your plate. Why not trying purple carrots instead of their orange cousins today for extra antioxidant boost:)

I sliced 3 carrots and caramelised in a pan with a table spoon of coconut oil. Then cooked further with a knob of  grated ginger, a teaspoon of cumin, fresh thyme, sage leaves, maple syrup and a little bit of cayenne pepper for a kick. It’s so delish with tahini dressing. When you make tahini dressing, keep checking until you have a right consistency and a balance of sweet and sour flavour. I used tahini paste, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup here. It goes quite well with carrot salad.

tahini and carrots

 

Posted in: Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

A Bowl of Goodness

\ Leave a Comment \ by

It’s January. Everyone is talking about New Year’s resolutions, which of course include words like “diet”, “cleansing”, “getting into size6”. As a salad person, it is a shame to see people associate it with “skinny” food. Well I think it deserves more culinary attention than that. Vegetables are satisfying super healthy food that offers us a variety of nutrition, texture and flavour. Of course, just eating veggies without sufficient protein and fat will cause an imbalance in nutrition and make you feel hungry later. You don’t have to starve yourself and chew on celery to lose weight. It’s all about making little changes without killing the enjoyment. The key to health is home cooking, moderation and regular physical activities/ exercise. Enjoy your life and don’t be too harsh on yourselves:)

You need to make your food interesting for our every day enjoyment of eating. Nourish your senses! Think about flavour when savouring a mouthful (sweet, sour, salty), texture (crunchy, creamy, crisp, juicy), and nutrition (a balance of carbs, protein and fat). Add nuts and seeds to your salad for crunchiness. Need protein? Add any kind of meat, fish or tofu to your bowl. Sweet tooth? No problem. Add candied nuts, chopped dried fruits or roasted root vegetables, which has natural sweetness in them. See they can satisfy you as well as give you the requisite health benefits. Still not sure? Do your research or even ask me:) I get so excited just talking about it.

_MG_0577

My lunch is usually in a bowl. It is easy to prepare for a single person and means no dishes 🙂

To make this quinoa and veggie salad, I just take out whatever leftover I have in the fridge – butternut pumpkin, eggplant, sage, basil and quinoa. Simply cook them up and put in a bowl. A trick is to cook quinoa in a pot and add veggies towards the end. Then they get beautifully steamed and again no additional dishes. I add a miso dressing for extra flavour and healthy fat.

_MG_0057

Another example of salad bowl is Salad Niçoise with tuna. I think it is a great emergency meal when you don’t have time to go down to the shops or have no time to cook. There is not much cooking process involved in this dish except boiling egg and potato. Put together semi boiled egg, fresh or canned tuna, boiled potato, olives, anchovies and green beans on a bed of green salad. Dress with mustard vinaigrette.

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian

Grilled Eggplant

\ Leave a Comment \ by

IMG_0602

Eggplants are very popular ingredients in Korean food. Mum used to make this little side dish – cooked strips of eggplants in soy garlic sauce. It is so simple but delicious!

Following the previous post on having colourful foods, eggplant is obviously PURPLE – powerful antioxidants. Essential phyto nutrients in eggplants improve your blood circulation and nourish your brain. On top of that, it is low in calories and high in dietary fibre. It fills you up for long and is great for your digestive tract. Ah remember, all these goodness is concentrated in the skin, so do not peel and throw it away! I never really peel my vegetables unless I absolutely have to. You can use any sorts of cooking methods with eggplants – grill, bake, roast, stew, steam.

I sliced the middle section of eggplant about 1 cm thick. I made a crisscross pattern cut on one side, smeared a teaspoon of miso paste and grilled until it’s golden brown. Then garnished with cottage cheese, pink pepper corns and fresh thyme leaves. You will fall in love with this robust grilled eggplant flavour:)

IMG_0604

Posted in: Dinner, Gluten Free, Lunch, My recipes, salads, Vegetarian