My 1st Vlog & Recipes for Kale Salad & Bean Salad

Got kale? Kale is so good for you for many reasons. Well today, I shot my first video on how to make a simple raw kale salad. It was so good that I had to do a 2nd take and still forgot two key ingredients: the garlic and onions. Whoops...  It still tasted good, and I got the point across: That raw kale can be made palatable and yummy with a few simple ingredients: 

• 2 heads kale - Rip the leaves from the main stem into small pieces. This is the most tedious part.
• olive oil - about 2 Tbsp. Massage the oil into the kale with your hands. Yes get down and dirty.
• balsamic vinegar - a few drops to taste, maybe 2 Tbsp.
• lemon - 1/4 - 1/2 of a 1 lemon (The amount of balsamic vinegar to lemon should close to 1:1.)
• avocado - I use 1/2 of 1 mashed up. If you want the salad to be creamier, use a whole avocado. It's loaded with good fat!
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 garlic clove or more if you're a garlic fiend like me. I like to soak the crushed garlic in the balsamic.
• onion - about a handful chopped
• orange (optional) - I like to use the juice of half an orange to sweeten it. Some people feel adding the orange causes gas,  so you decide.

This is the base. You can throw in some spices and colorful additions for nutrient variety such as:

• any kind of crushed nuts, like almonds or walnuts. I like to use those or hemp hearts.
• cayenne pepper or chili powder to give it heat
• jalapeno peppers - My Uncle Leo would totally dig that.
• quinoa to get an extra carb and protein hit
• sliced apples
• sliced red peppers
• dried cranberry or raisins
• IT'S UP TO YOU! Use whatever you have in your pantry and your imagination to combine flavors you love.

A big thank you goes out my cousin, Arnold Alina & crew for shooting and to the encouraging studio audience who took time out of their day to support me and learn about kale - how exciting! Arnold will be out with the video in a few weeks, and I'll post it here.

In the meantime, I had a few other guests express interest in the ingredients of the bean salad I brought to complement the kale salad. I should have taken a picture of the bowl because it was pretty and colorful but it got downed so quickly, and I didn't think of it. I did take a photo of the ingredients however. Below is the list:

• A bag of black beans which I boiled in water for 1 1/2 hrs. after soaking them in water for 24 hrs. Then I rinsed them and went to town with the rest of the ingredients.
• can of black-eyed peas
• can of organic corn 
• can of pitted black olives - You can get better, fresher ones from the Stop & Shop salad bar
• a small handful of jalapeno peppers - from a jar or fresh.
• lots of olive oil, maybe 1/2 cup judging from how much I kept pouring
• lots of apple cider vinegar, ditto
• To sweeten it, instead of sugar, I used a few drops of liquid stevia
• Now for the spices: a little oregano, dab of of chili powder, salt & pepper to taste
• And finally, the living things: red pepper (or any color pepper), celery, red onion, cilantro, garlic, and ginger. Put as much or as little of each of these things. 

I know the olive oil part seems like a lot but this batch was huge and could feed 6 people with 2 bowls each - seriously. Beans are loaded with fiber that help you eliminate nicely, and they are a great protein substitute for meat. Incidentally, high daily fiber intake helps regulate and remove excess hormones that could potentially wreak future havoc. Just sayin'. OK, so that's my foodie blog for the month. Cheers, and thanks for reading.

Liz

(I don't think I signed my first 2 blogs...)