Oh me oh my, what a delightful creation I made this week. I love when the weather forces me to stay home. Living in Switzerland where there is an inordinate amount of snow for extended periods of time, snow days actually do not exist. This was of great surprise to me while living there. I have to admit there is something magical about the existence of snow days.
Helene’s Kitchen was full of flavors and textures on Wednesday when it snowed. I made raw granola sweetened with Jerusalem artichoke syrup (yum!), raw brownies (no agave) – which were divine, variations of kale salads and planted seeds for spring crops.
My awareness around the ever increasing food costs is guiding me to explore my next level in food education and that is growing my own food. What better way is there to learn about plants and their healing properties than to grow the plants and see how they resist insects, what conditions they thrive in and how they pair with other plants and what nutrients they need?
My favorite recipe though is this kale salad. All ingredients are intended to be the freshest you can find, organic and raw. Please note the intentional oils used here for medicinal properties. If you do not have these in your repertoire, use olive oil. I will be posting about black seed oil in the very near future. Black seeds are truly a gift from God.
Mediterranean Kale Salad
1 lb. dinosaur kale, de stemmed and chopped
1/3 cup chopped olives
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes, sliced (2)
1/4 cup hemp seeds
1/4 pine nuts
1/8 cup chopped onion (optional)
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, chopped (optional)
1T Black seed oil
2t Hemp seed oil
1T Pumpkin seed oil
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
Nutritional yeast (optional)
Celtic Sea salt
Pepper
Fresh basil, chopped
Massage kale with your hands and the lemon juice, salt and oils. Add remaining ingredients and toss. Enjoy at room temperature.