We’ve been having a lot of cooked recipes lately, so I thought I’d change it up and share this hearty, delicious salad with you.
You might look at this and think - kale and chard? No thanks. But trust me! When you’ve finished massaging these leaves with heart-healthy avocado oil, tangy lime, and balancing Himalayan salt, no bitter taste will be left! These leafy dark greens are chock full of health benefits, vitamins, and minerals, are high in antioxidants and will help your digestion.
A colorful salad will give you the best array of vitamins and minerals - in fact, the more colorful the better. Seeds are packed with their own essential vitamins and minerals and are one of the only sources of chromium, a mineral that actually helps your body burn fat. Another bonus is that this salad is naturally low in carbs and has a moderate amount of the healthiest fats found in avocado, seeds, and cashews. Cashews are naturally low in sugar and will help regulate your blood sugar.
So all in all, this salad packs the nutritional punch that you need with an incredibly delicious balance. Perfect for long summer days or winter evenings paired with some roasted cauliflower or bean burgers.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch of red kale, destemmed and chopped
- 1 bunch swiss chard, destemmed and chopped
- Himalayan sea salt
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/8 cup avocado oil
- 10 radishes, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup goji berries
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- ¼ cup sunflower seeds
- 1 red pepper, diced
- 1 orange pepper, diced
- 1 avocado, carefully diced
Dressing Ingredients
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 10 minutes
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/8 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup + 1/8 cup avocado oil
- Half a handful fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt
- 1 tsp agave syrup
- 1/2 cup water
Method
- Wash the kale and Swiss chard and spin or dry well. Put this in a large mixing bowl with the Himalayan sea salt, lime juice, and avocado oil and mix well. Kale always tastes best when it’s been massaged, so get your hands right in there and rub your dressing gently into all the individual leaves. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, make your creamy cashew dressing. Put your soaked cashews into a blender with the rest of the ingredients, except the water. Blend on high and slowly pour in the water until your dressing is smooth the desired consistency. You might find you’ll use less or more than ½ cup water.
- Chop and combine the rest of your salad ingredients. This salad is enough for 4 big portions.
- To serve, you could even put your portion on top of a bed of romaine or iceberg lettuce to give it a bit more crunch. Otherwise, a portion out your chopped veggies, mix with a portion of the kale/chard and drizzle on some creamy cashew dressing. You could add any other toppings you’d like here - carrots, chia, pumpkin, or more hemp seeds, pomegranate, raspberries -- the possibilities are endless!
- Dig in and enjoy!