Yummy Salad!

It's not on the prettiest plate but still yummers!

Hi everyone. Hope you all are doing great. I know I am happy that school is going to be over soon and I can start to enjoy this beautiful weather we are having here. So gorgeous!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Easter or Passover or had a nice week last week. I spent the Easter with my mom, dad, brother, his wife, and their new baby girl. I love my little niece! Just can't get enough of her! :o)

Anyway, to bring to the festivities, I made a salad that I adapted from a recipe from Eating Well Magazine. Unfortunately they don't have the original recipe on their website, but the website has some recipes for inspiration. The original recipe was not vegan or raw so I adapted it to my tastes and it came out, I will say it, oober! My sister-in-law and mom loved it! The dressing and the spiralized noodles are what made it's ooberness and I will definitely make it again!

Sesame Cucumber Noodle Salad

1/2 - 1 zucchini spiralized*

1/2 cup of tahini (or use your other favorite nut or seed butter; the recipe used peanut butter)
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari or nama shoyu or coconut aminos
2 pinches of cayenne powder
1/2 - 1 tablespoons maple syrup or sweetener of choice
1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons to 1/4 cup water (to get desired dressing consistency)

4-6 cups salad greens of your choice (I used cabbage, kale, and romaine lettuce)
1/2 medium bell pepper chopped
1/2 large cucumber, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1/4 inch slices
Salt and pepper to taste

*If you don't own a spiralizer, you could always shred the zucchini lengthwise or slice them a 1/4 inch thick lengthwise and then lay them on top of each other and slice them into linguine type strands.

Instructions:
Place the spiralized zuchinni into a large bowl along with the salad greens, bell pepper, and cucumber. Set aside.
Whisk the tahini (or nut/seed butter of choice), vinegar, olive oil, soy sauce, cayenne powder, and maple syrup to combine. It will be a little thick. Then whisk in the scallions and cilantro. Then add in the water to create the consistency and taste desired. I wouldn't make it too runny because you want the dressing to adhere to the salad. Add salt or pepper to the dressing if desired.
Plate the greens and add as much dressing as desired and enjoy the oober goodiness! :o)

Note:
The dressing tasted much better the next day because all the flavors got to meld together but it's equally delicious the same day.

I was so ready to chomp down by now!

Collar-ito!

Hi everyone! It has been a really long time since I've blogged but I hope to keep blogging more and more. I have been busy with school and just everyday life, so more will be coming to this blog, I promise!

Anyway, let's go to the weird title of the post. It's a blend of the word collard and burrito! I'm so silly but I love combining names like that. :o)  Today I made a collar-ito with such fresh and yummy ingredients that I thought I would share it with you. Usually I just eat my salads in a bowl and with a fork, but today I decided to spice it up and I'm sure glad I did! It's a salad in a wrap! Not that it's very original but the ingredients in it give it that special kick.

Well, enough with the blabbering. Here goes!

Collar-ito
Ingredients:
2 collard leaves with the thick stems removed (not the whole vein!)

2 tablespoons of onion, chopped fine
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
2 tablespoons red bell pepper, chopped 
1 medium avocado, chopped
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
sea salt and pepper to taste

salad greens, sprouts, and veggies of your choice (I used a mix of spinach, mesclun mix, cabbage, some chopped zucchini, and chopped cauliflower)

1/2 banana sliced into 1/4 inch slices

Dressing of your choice (or tamari, braggs aminos, coconut aminos, or nama shoyu)

Directions:
Once you de-stem the collards, put them aside for folding up for later.

Place the onion, garlic, bell pepper, avocado, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper into a medium bowl to mix and mash with your fork. Leave it a little chunky or smoother if you prefer. I had mine a tad chunky. Put this to the side while you prepare your wrap.

Place the wrap on your plate, with the inside of the collard leaf facing up. Start piling on some of the greens, sprouts, and veggies of your choice, maybe about a cup's worth. Then place half of the avocado mix on top of the greens and spread evenly across the length of the wrap. Then place half of the banana slices on top.

To fold, pull the flaps on the sides of the collard leaf onto the mixture inside the collard. Then start rolling the  wrap starting from the side facing towards you and roll and tuck in the ingredients as you roll, as if rolling a sushi roll, until all the wrap is rolled up. Cut in half cross-wise and dip into your favorite dressing or sauce! Yummers!! Enjoy!

I hope you enjoy the goodness!! :o)

I hope you have an oober day!