Welcome to day 21 of 30 Days to a Food Revolution. Today’s guest blogger is Katrina. Katrina, is the blogger behind Gluten Free Gidget. She and her husband live in Florida with their baby, a papillon-corgi mix puppy named Dickens. Katrina has been Gluten Free and Dairy Free for about 3 years, during which, she says, her culinary world has grown beyond anything she could have imagined. Going Gluten-Free has opened an entirely new world of glorious food, friends, and freedom! It is not a culinary end, but a beginning of an exciting new adventure!
Katrina’s Recipe: Spicy Kale Salad
Katrina’s Tip: Eat in season no matter where you live
Living in Florida, we miss out on the change of seasons. Here, there are no trees ablaze with the vibrant reds and oranges of fall, no waking up to discover blankets of pristine, alabaster snow covering the lawn, and no moments of elation as we watch the last remnants of snow melt away to reveal a gloriously green and vibrant spring. Despite our seeming indifference to the joys of the changing seasons, we Floridians embrace these seasons through our foods! It may be 80 degrees outside, but by golly we WILL cook up a steaming pot of soup in November! Food simply tastes better when it is in season. An added bonus is that seasonal eating is a more environmentally conscious way of eating, especially if you focus on buying locally grown produce. You reduce your carbon footprint be eating seasonally and you give yourself the opportunity to try all sorts of new and interesting foods! GF Guy, my husband, and I began our foray into seasonal eating for less noble reasons than helping the environment. It was initially due to our limited food budget. Produce is remarkably less expensive when in season. However, it was not long before we began frequenting the local Saturday Farmer’s Market and getting to know our local farmers. You have not lived until you have eaten fresh, organically grown carrots just pulled from the ground! Our journey into seasonal eating is still a new adventure, but we are learning so much about where our food comes from and gaining a whole knew appreciation for our farmer’s. It is of vital importance for everyone, especially children, to know where there food comes from and how exactly it gets from farm to table. Knowledge is power. We must never stop learning and growing!
The following recipe was made with organic, locally grown Kale and Avocados from my grandmother’s backyard. It celebrates the bounty of Spring and the introduction of Summer. Enjoy!
– 1 bunch of Green Kale
– 1 bunch of Lacinato Kale
– 1 pint of Mungi Beans (Crunchy Mix) (contains adzuki beans, mung beans, green lentils, red lentils, and green peas)
– 2 1/2 cups Lemon Juice
– 1/2 cup Agave Nectar
– 1/2 teaspoon 90,000 mil. of Cayenne Pepper
– 2 Hass Avocados
– 1 pint Cherry Tomatoes
Wash Kale in large bowl of water with 2 tablespoons of vinegar. Rinse well.
Cut or tear Kale in pieces.
Mix lemon juice and agave in a bowl. Add cayenne pepper and stir.
Pour over Kale in small amounts while mixing with your fingers from the bottom up.
Mix/Massage until all liquid has saturated the kale evenly. (Warning… this takes a while)
Cut cherry tomatoes in half. Mix into Kale with fingers from the bottom up.
Mix crunchy mix the same way.
Peel and cut avocados into small square pieces.
Mix slowly in small amounts at a time with your fingers from the bottom up, being careful not to damage the avocados.
Refrigerate overnight (or at least 4 hours) for best flavor.
Stir well and eat.
(I drained the extra dressing the next morning. There was a bit too much for me, personally.)
Seriously, this salad is heaven! The spicy kick of the Cayenne mixed with the acidity of the lemon juice is perfectly mellowed by the Agave Nectar. Enjoy!
Don’t forget:
In order to be entered to win one of 7 cookbooks, here’s what you need to do to gather entries into the drawing. The more you do, the more chances you have to win!
- Leave a comment on this blog on as many of the 30 guest food bloggers as you like. Each comment is an entry.
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- Visit that guest blogger’s site and leave a comment there too.
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When the initial 30 days of guest posts are over on June 4th, we’ll pick the winners.
This recipe looks great! I will be making it soon.
Love the mungi bean mixture idea. That's a new one on me. Hmmm? Anything with kale is good in my book. Add some cayenne and you've got my attention. Looks great!
Melissa
Nice post, Katrina! Isn't it wonderful how so many of us have found a whole new, much more exciting and delicious life after going "free"? 🙂
I must admit I'm always shocked at how many snowmen (inflatable kind LOL) and sweatshirts, and, well, just seasonal stuff, that I see in Florida in the winter. 😉
This salad looks really heavenly. Love the flavor contrasts. I just got a humongous bag of kale at the farmers' market which I could not possibly use all in green smoothies, so this salad is on the menu tomorrow. Thank you!
Shirley
Interesting recipe – I'll give it a try!
I love kale, and this sounds great. I agree about eating seasonally and locally – while Texas is not known for its carrots, I actually have recently enjoyed locally grown carrots from our CSA! They're amazing – kind of like what I remember my grandmother's garden (she lived in Vancouver, BC) carrots being like – and I haven't seen her since I was 9 (she passed away). Anyway, YUM!
looks yummy!
Wow this looks tasty! I do love my seasons, but to have fresh local produce all year is very enviable. And an avocado tree? Heaven! 🙂
~Aubree Cherie
I just started learning about seasonal eating last year. It's still cold here and there's not a lot of that's available yet, but I'm excited to have the whole summer ahead to enjoy produce from some great, local farms. Now, if only I could give up zucchini in the winter. 🙂
I'm about to get a TON of kale from my CSA. Lacinto is my favorite kind. Can't wait to try this!
I first had something like this from the take out counter at Whole Foods – we were traveling away from home. Safe and gluten free. I loved it so much that I brought the container home with the listing of all the ingredients and recreated it at home. Not quite the same as yours, but close. And so delish! Thanks for the reminder!
I planted 4 kale starts, so I'll try this recipe.
Yum, this salad sounds delicious! I can't wait to try it, we get our CSA boxes every Monday, no kale today, but will make a point to get it next week 🙂 Thanks for sharing!
Lovely post! Totally agree with eating in season and reducing my carbon footprint (unless of course we are talking cherries). This salad looks wonderful.
I'm never sure what to do with kale. Thanks for the recipe.