Strawberry Kale Quinoa Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette

One of my suggestions when making a kale salad is to tear the kale into small pieces but rub it together and through your hands while you are ripping it apart. It breaks the kale down and makes it much less rough & bitter, it will make the kale brighter green too. I promise the coconut bacon on this just makes it THAT much better. You want to put it on there. Make some & have left overs! I don't put lots of dressing on the salad when it's in the large bowl, I kind of wait until I'm about to eat it and put it over the top then add the coconut bacon.

Salad
1/2 cup quinoa, cooked in 1 cup water
1 bunch kale, torn into small pieces
6-8 strawberries, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 cucumber, chopped
2 green onions including white part, sliced
1/2 avocado, diced
coconut bacon to taste (for topping)
1/2 red bell pepper, small dice (optional)

Strawberry Vinaigrette Dressing
1 1/2 cups strawberries (fresh)
1/4 cup coconut vinegar (not coconut flavored vinegar) can sub white wine vinegar or lemon juice
2 garlic cloves
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
1/4 cup water
1/3 cup coconut sugar

Salad: In a large bowl, put the torn kale. After the quinoa is cooked and has cooled for at least 5 minutes, add it over the top of the kale and toss with 1/2 cup of the strawberry vinaigrette. Now add the rest of the salad ingredients over the top, except the coconut bacon (save that for when it is plated). Drizzle with a bit of the dressing.

Dressing: Throw it all in the blender and blend for 1 minute.

Kale Salad with Creamy Mango Vinigrette Dessing (GF, Vegan)

I know I am a slacker and never post anything on here lately. I wish I could say it was because I am so busy with work that I just don't have time, but that's not the case. It's basically that I'm lazy and get caught up doing other stuff. At any rate, this mango dressing is soooo amazingly good. I find myself just trying to eat IT! I use it in other salads as well, hopefully I will post another one somewhat soon.

Serves 4 as entree salads

Salad
1.5 cup quinoa, cooked in 3 cups water
4-5 cups kale torn (I also used baby greens mixed in)
1 cup tomato, chopped
1 cup cucumber, quartered and sliced
1 large mango, diced
1 red onion, sliced thin
1 avocado, diced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped (or herb of choice, I've done it with basil & it's great)
1 tbs lemon juice
1/4 cup currants, cranberries or raisins
1/4 cup pepitas (can sub slivered almonds, or cashews)

 Cook quinoa first and allow it to cool down some before putting it with the salad. In a medium-large bowl combine all salad ingredients except quinoa, kale, currants & pepitas.
To serve, place greens on 4 seperate plates (or bowls) top with 1/4 the amount of cooked quinoa. Top with salad ingredients from the med-large bowl, then put desired amout of dressing on top, it is creamy and somewhat thick. Then sprinkle with currants and pepitas. I usually sprinkle on some salt, black pepper & cayenne pepper as well, but it depends who I'm serving it to.

 *If you are making this as a large salad for individuals to dish themselves, put kale in a large serving bowl first, then add the quinoa & ingredients from the bowl, mix. Then add in a little more than half of the dressing and toss, if it seems somewhat dry, add in more, I like mine drenched in the stuff, but some people may not. Sprinkle currants & pepitas on top of the salad.

Creamy Mango Vinigrette 
1 VERY FULL cup mango
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup sweetener of choice (I've used maple syrup, coconut sugar, stevia & agave all in different amounts or individually, just needs to be equal to 1/4 cup)
1/3 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 large clove garlic
1/2 inch knob fresh ginger
pinch cayenne pepper (optional)

Put all the ingredients into the blender and blend until smooth.

Mediterranean Chopped Salad (Alkaline, GF, Vegan)

One of my favorite things to order at True Food Kitchen is the Mediterranean Chopped Salad (the other is their GF Kale & Roasted Garlic Pizza, but that recipe is a major work in progress), but I always put my vegan spin on it as well as my "Amber-spin". I've since been making my own version of the salad, and I thought it was time to share! The salad ingredients and portions are pretty flexible, I don't measure any of the stuff out.

Makes 4 entree salads

Lemon-Oregano Vinaigrette
2 garlic cloves
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons stoneground mustard
3 little scoops of stevia powder (enough to equal 2 tsp)
2 teaspoons fresh oregano, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons hemp oil (or use olive oil if you don't have hemp)
2 tablespoons olive oil

Salad Ingredients
1 cup quinoa, cooked in 2 cups water
2 cups baby kale/spinach/chard/arugla (any combo)
2 cups watercress, chopped
1/2 english cucumber, thinly sliced
1 cup grape tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup marcona almonds
1/4 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1 avocado, cut into small cubes

OPTIONAL:
bee pollen
sprouts
fresh green beans


For the salad dressing, put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, makes it so you can taste the oregano better. You CAN chop up all the ingredients and just whisk them together though, but the blender method tastes better (to me) and makes all of the tastes blend better.

Put all of the salad ingredients together however you see fit, and top with salad dressing as well as some fresh ground black pepper & (sea or Real) salt.

Summer Kale Salad (Alkaline, GF, Raw, Vegan)

I haven't had many truly alkaline dishes posted on here lately, so here is a great one!  There are tons of kale salads around, and basically you can add whatever types of vegetables you want over the top, I think these go well though. The dressing is an awesome pair with kale, so even if you don't love the combo of these veggies, try the dressing over the kale. 

The salad before all of the the ingredients being tossed

The salad tossed

Salad is served!

Serves 4-6

Summer Kale Salad

1 bunch of kale (about 4-6 cups)

1 cup finely chopped sweet onion

2 small carrots, chopped or julienne sliced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 English cucumber (2 cups chopped halves)

1 avocado, chopped or cubed

1 & 1/4 cup chopped tomatoes

¼ cup cranberries or other dried berry (exclude to make 100% alkaline)

¼ cup raw pepitas

fresh or dried herbs, personal preference (basil, cilantro and oregano go great!)

Dressing:

1/4 cup Tahini

3 garlic cloves

1/2 cup lemon juice (about 2 lemons)

1/4 cup liquid aminos

1 tbsp agave nectar (sub with 6 drops of stevia to be 100% alkaline)

2 tbsp water

2 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp real salt + black pepper, or to taste 

2 tbsp flaxseed

Blend all ingredients for dressing in a high powered blender. Dressing will thicken up in a few min, from the flax (intentionally). So after you blend it, if it seems thick already, you may want to add another tbs of water.

Rinse kale and tear into salad sized pieces and put into a large bowl. Marinate the kale in about half of the dressing, and make sure it gets all over the kale. Allow to sit in the fridge for at least 30 min. If you don't have time to let it marinade, before you put the dressing on, drizzle lemon juice over the kale, making sure that it's totally coated, wait for 5 min, then toss with dressing to serve after salad ingredients have been added.

When ready to serve, add salad ingredients over the top. Toss optional.

Rice Noodle Salad with Mango (GF, Vegan)

This is a great salad for the summer, it's a chilled salad that is mostly raw. Great way to use a bunch of herbs from your garden as well! I got this recipe from one that I found in Vegetarian Times Magazine in 2010 in the Farmers' Market Cookbook edition and made it to be my style. They come out with one annually that is in season eating great recipes for the summer. I just got their latest one, it's great!

Makes 6 servings

Dressing:
1/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup lime juice (or lemon)
1/4 cup bragg liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1 TBS rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 2 tsp)
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Salad:
6 oz dry rice-stick noodles
1 large carrot, julienned
1 1/2 cup sliced lettuce mix (or spinach if you prefer)
1/4 cup basil leaves, sliced
1/4 cup mint leaves, sliced
1/4 cup italian parsley leaves, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro leaves, sliced
1 medium cucumber, halved and sliced
1 green onion, thinly sliced
1 large ripe mango, cut into small cubes
1/3 cup raw pepitas (optional)

To make the dressing, combine all dressing ingredients and mix well

To make the salad: Soak the noodles in hot water for 15 min, then drain. Cook the noodles in boiling water for 5 min, then drain into a colander and rinse with cold water. Put into large bowl, and cut noodles with knife so break them up. Add in the rest of the salad ingredients and mix well. Top with 3/4 of the dressing. The rest of the dressing you can drizzle over the top when serving.