garden herb salad

i beg you, grow your own tomatoes. they're pretty easy as long as you don't over water them... and they taste HEAVENLY. really... they should be golden with holiness, not red. i've been eating them like candy. some of ours are cherry tomatoes and some are larger. either way - ridiculous.

today i made a salad with rainbow chard, oregano, basil, and tomatoes from the garden. i also added some bell pepper, dried figs, avocado, and leftover gardein. the dressing is sooo good. it has mustard, miso, walnuts, garlic and fresh basil in it. sweet basil is probably my favourite herb. i left whole leaves of oregano and basil with the rainbow chard greens too, i think it's lovely when you get a bite and suddenly it's a herb-filled explosion of flavour!

garden herb salad with tomatoes: serves one

salad:

4-5 cups rainbow chard (or your fave greens)

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes

1 bell pepper

1/4 avocado

handful basil leaves

handful oregano leaves

2-3 dried figs/dates

dressing:

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon miso 

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 dates

2 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon nutritional yeast 

handful of walnuts (around 1/4 cup)

handful basil leaves

water, as needed

chop up the greens, tomatoes, pepper, avocado and figs. set aside. to make the dressing, blend all the ingredients together, adding as much water as needed. pour the dressing onto the greens and mix in. top it off with the remaining goodies and enjoy!

garden kale salad

we have so much kale in our garden.

this is not a problem though, i could eat it all day... and i do. i use it in smoothies, wraps, kale chips, soups, and salads! mainly in smoothies though. so yesterday i figured i make it into a salad instead of the usual green smoothie. oh wait - i had a green smoothie for breakfast.

but still.

dino kale is a bit bitter and tough for regular salad greens so what you do to make it all nice, soft and flavourful is massage your dressing in and let it sit for a few minutes. i did that while i cut up my other salad ingredients. they included: THE BEST TOMATOES EVER, grown on our deck. i also added some bell pepper, beans, and gardein because well... i like the taste. my dad thought i had put real chicken in the salad for a second. hah.

garlic kale salad: serves one

salad:

1 large organic tomato

4-5 cups organic dino kale

1 organic bell pepper

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas (or throw in some nuts to keep it raw)

1 serving of tempeh or gardein (optional) 

handful of raisins

dressing:

1 tablespoon miso

1 tablespoon mustard

2 dates

handful of walnuts

3 peeled garlic cloves

1 tablespoon tamari

water, as needed 

chop the veggies and kale, set aside. to make the dressing blend all ingredients until smooth. i hope you like it! then massage the dressing into the kale and let it rest for a 5-10 minutes, getting soft. put the tomato, pepper, raisins, chickpeas/nuts and protein on top and enjoy!

garden life

i adore our yard. it consistently provides us with such a bounty of sun-grown nutrition, colour and love. if everyone had their own garden, the world would probably be a more peaceful and understanding environment! good vibrations, maaaaaaan.

my dad got a new barbeque this summer (it's huge) and we've been taking full advantage of it. the weather has also been great so at least once a week we harvest a bunch of veggies from the garden and grill them with herbs. the rest of the produce we get from the farmer's market.

and for dessert? fruit. we've got goji berries, strawberries, blueberries, and figs - all that satisfy my sweet tooth as naturally as you possibly can. i seriously implore you to grow some of your own food; even just a few basil plants or some kale will do to get you into the mindset of having harmony and a symbiotic relationship with mother nature.

that's all for today! keeping it short and sweet. here's some calming sounds to help you relax this afternoon.

don't worry, i'll be back with delectable recipes real soon. BUT FIRST - i'm going on a cross-country motorcycle trip with my dad. i know, i know. i am so grateful for this life!

namaste.

.

green day

don't have too much to say today... except that i'm seriously excited about the hastiness with which my gojis are growing. the plant wasn't supposed to produce anything for at least a year - and yet look at those lovely little berries! hopefully the weather will stay hot enough, LONG enough this year for them to ripen; so i can eventually devour them like the mad beast i proudly am.

in other news: i made a delicious green smoothie today (of course, they're amazingly out-of-this-world luscious every day). i thought i'd share the recipe with you. STAY SEXY, PEOPLE!

green life magic smoothie: serves one

2-3 cups dinosaur kale

1 mango

1 banana

1 handful frozen strawberries

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

1/2 to 1 cup water, as needed

blend all the ingredients together until smooth, you can add stevia or protein powder if you like. 

then soak it up in the sun with the bees.