Salads!!

I made 2 different salads this weekend and have been chowing down on them...

The first was a recipe from Whole Foods and its a Wheat Berry Salad.  I changed it up a little bit so here is what I did:

1/2 cup uncooked wheat berries
Salt and pepper to taste
1 orange
1 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoons grape seed oil (use whatever oil you prefer)
2 small raw beets
1 small handful bagged grated carrot
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced

1/2 bag broccoli slaw
2 small bunches green onions, trimmed and thinly sliced

Place wheat berries in a large bowl and cover with several inches of cold water. Let soak 8 hours or overnight. Drain and rinse the berries and place them in a large saucepan. Cover by several inches of salted water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low, cover, and simmer until berries are tender and some break open, about an hour. Drain well and set aside to cool.

Put the beets in a microwave safe container, cover with water and cook for 3 minutes.  When you pull them out they will be easier to cut.  Cut into thin strip. (Note: To avoid staining your hands with beet juice, wear kitchen gloves.  If you have a food processor you can keep the beets raw and use the shredding attachment on a food processor.)

Zest orange then transfer zest to a large bowl. Add juice of half the orange (save remaining for another use), lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper and whisk to make a dressing. Add cooled wheat berries and toss.  Add beets, carrots, raisins and green onions and toss again. 

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

The second salad was also from Whole Foods.  I tried their Superfood Salad and loved it.  If you live near a Whole Foods I would recommend just buying the salad, it's not much cheaper to just make it, but I did change up the recipe a little bit, of course, so here is where I found the original and this is how I changed it up:



Salad
2 cup Kale, thinly sliced
2 cup Nappa cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 bag grated carrots
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 C Blueberries
1/2 cup Grape tomatoes
1/2 cup Edamame, shelled
3 tbsp unsweetened dried coconut flakes

1/4 cup dried cherries and cranberries (from the bulk section at Publix)
A handful Sunflower Seeds, raw
A handful Cashew pieces, raw

3 tbsp black sesame seeds

Dressing
1 cup POM pomegranate and blueberry juice
3 tbs lemon juice
1 clove Garlic, minced
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
Cayenne powder to taste

Put the dressing ingredients in a close-able container and shake.  Pour over all the salad ingredients.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Eat within a few days... it will go bad fast.

Kind-Of Marinated Collard Greens

I went to Whole Foods yesterday and saw that they had Marinated Collard Greens.  That sounded DELICIOUS and so I knew I had to make it. I figured for the price I could make it way cheaper.

And so I did.  I found a recipe here and it is a raw vegan recipe.  I didn't have time to let it marinate as long as they recommended so I changed it up a bit...

1 bag, collard greens (its already chopped up and washed, score!)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 large orange bell pepper, cut into thin strips
6 garlic cloves, minced

5 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

2 Tbs olive oil
4 Tbs soy sauce
salt and black pepper to taste


In a large pan over high heat, spray the pan and cook the onion until just soft.  Chop 1/2 of the garlic and add it to the pan.  Add collards 1 handful at a time until you have added about 1/2 the bag and stir constantly until the collards turn a bright green color (only a few minutes).  Take off the stove and put into another large container.

Add the rest of the garlic and collards from the bag, orange pepper, coconut, and parsley. 

In a small bowl combine lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, and minced garlic. 

Pour over the collard greens and veggies. Using your hands massage the dressing into the veggies well.

Eat right away or refrigerate at least an hour.  Enjoy!!