Eat Dance Live

I had a sudden urge for pesto when I saw some at the Wild Oat Bakery  yesterday. I've made vegan pesto a few times before, but the way I make it, it never tastes as good nor is ever worth the hassle so I usually just buy it. Immediately after I did, I figured out that I could concoct the best thing to do with kale since I discovered the joys of my  kelp noodle kale salad ! Creaminess, oh yeah... Pesto Kale Salad Yield: Serves 1 or 2. 1 head of massaged kale 1/2 to 3/4 C pesto veggies of choice (I used peppers, celery, carrots, and tomatoes) Directions:  1. Once you've massaged your kale (click here for a how-to), stir in pesto. 2. Add in chopped veggies. 3. Eat!  Yep, it's that simple! Have a great weekend!

So, remember back in November when I got so obsessed with the deliciousness of collard wraps that I ate them for a month straight? Yep, well, I've found my March food obsession: massaged kale salad with kelp noodles. OMG. Aside from the fact that I'm now eating kale salads for dinner about 4 times a week, the addition of the kelp noodles just sent me over the moon. This dish pretty much has every nutrient under the sun. Kelp noodles are high in all sorts of minerals, while kale is one of the healthiest of the cruciferous greens. Including all the fixings, I can't think of anything it doesn't have! Of course, I don't have a full recipe for this, but just a mix of the things I always make it with. Here's to experimentation and kitchen intuition: Kelp Noodle Kale Salad Yield: 1 serving 1/2 to 3/4 head of kale 1/2 bag of kelp noodles 1/2 avocado 1/2 to 1 lemon salt and black pepper, to taste nutritional yeast onion powder tahini honey...

How to have an epic birthday, tip #1: Have awesome friends. There are little things in life that you just don't realize how much you appreciate 'til you take a step back and realize how awesome everything you have is. That was how yesterday went for me, which also happened to be my birthday. It was everything I wanted nothing fancy, nothing crazy, and yet nothing boring or simple. After a year of crazy and self-inflicted ups and major downs, it was, in all respects, perfect. Friends, food, spontaneous music, laughter, happiness, all coming together under our roof. What more could you want, really? I also can't say how grateful I am that everyone went out of their way to make beautiful and tasty dishes that fit within my vegan ethic. It was even an added bonus and awesome coincidence that everyone unknowingly ended up bringing a dish that completely randomly either had a) one of my favourite ingredients of all time b) something I've been jonesing for recently ...

The avocado that has been sitting on my counter since Sunday must think I'm a total creeper, and he's probably right. Since last week, I've been watching him, waiting... waiting for him to ripen, thinking of all the things I'll be able to do to him. Haha, okay, now I'm even creeping myself out... Sorry. Really though, I've been dreaming of creamy kale salad every day since Sunday, with today as my avocado's ETR (Estimated Time of Ripening). A while ago, I wrote a really cut and dried post about how to actually massage kale , and why you should do it too. In short, kale is from the brassica family. As a hardier cruciferous green, it not only has some indigestible fibers, but as a brassica, it also contains potentially thyroid-problematic goitrogens when eaten straight up. Since that later post, I've recognized that you don't necessarily need to cook your brassicas to make them digestible because massaging them actually plays a similar function. In ma...

... they're for veggies too! You may or may not have come across references to massaged kale, but there is a totally legitimate reason to do so! I know a lot of people are often put off by the idea of eating raw kale, and I'm not super into using it in green smoothies, but massaging it gives it the yummiest texture ever. In fact, I could probably eat massaged kale every day it's that good. My preferences aside, the whole point of massaging your kale is that because it's a tougher cruciferous green, it's more difficult to digest than something like lettuce so working salt, an acid (like lemon or ACV), and a little healthy oil into it can help prematurely break it down, making its nutritional benefits more absorbable by your body. There are tons of reasons to eat kale. It's high in beta carotene (more so than carrots!), vitamin K, C, and A, lutein, and is pretty high in calcium, manganese, iron, fiber, a bunch of B vitamins, and vitamin E. Also if you care...