Salads for lunch or dinner are my go-to all time favorite meal. I really do love salads, and I love experimenting with so many different combinations of sweet and savory, fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, flavored vinegars and different dressings. I love salads for the truly endless taste combinations, and mostly, I love salads for how I feel after I eat them.
Sitting down to eat a huge salad filled with fresh, organic, tasty ingredients for lunch or dinner really makes me happy. Usually when we have salads for dinner, they are quite large, and it can take us about 45 minutes to eat slowly, chew and finish the meal.
Many people are more accustomed to salad being the side dish or the pre-dinner appetizer, and often it conjures up images of some iceberg lettuce and a few tomatoes. As a result, I often hear people say that they are in a rut with salad, and they find them boring.
But salads can truly be the most amazingly creative and delicious dishes we can serve our families. I love Dr. Fuhrman’s adage to remember that “salad is the main dish”. You just have to think a little bit outside the box.
We do salads for dinner at our house at least twice a week, with one of them being a make-your-own salad bar. That’s a perfect meal for kids, because they can choose from platters of different fruits and vegetables to create something of their own imagination!
This recipe is for one of my favorite salads. I served it at my RawganicVegan Thanksgiving meal this past Thanksgiving, and I also included this recipe in my free RawganicVegan Holiday Menu that was downloaded by several thousand people. If you didn’t get a chance to get that menu, this is for you! I think you are going to love this salad!
Ingredients:
1 large bunch of kale, ribs removed and roughly chopped
½ teaspoon Himalayan salt
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup zucchini, spiralized
½ cup shredded purple cabbage
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 orange, pieces sectioned out
2 TBSP. black sesame seeds
Creamy Cherry Chia Dressing
½ cup dried cherries (can use dried cranberries as substitute)
2 TBSP chia seeds (soak for 5 minutes in ¼ cup water first)
1 cup coconut milk (can use dairy-free milk of choice)
1 medium garlic clove
3 large basil leaves (fresh, or 1 tsp. dried basil)
1 Tbsp. chopped green onion (aka, scallion)
½ teaspoon Himalayan Salt
Put kale in large bowl and massage with salt until leaves become slightly tender. In Vitamix or other high speed blender, add all dressing ingredients and blend until smooth. Add the mixture to the kale and continue to massage the leaves until well combined. Add carrots, zucchini cabbage, bell pepper and orange at the last minute right before serving, so the water content in the vegetables doesn’t make your kale soggy. Pour dressing over the top, mix and top with sesame seeds, and enjoy!
