I may be a vegan, healthy food 'freak' but, I have a secret... I don't like salads! That is, unless they are epic like this one! ;)

Let me show you how we can make a quick salad that's not only good for you, filled with nutritional ingredients but also tastes good! I promise, it's possible!

I want to be honest with you, I am not and have never been the girl going to the salad section of the menu. Before I was vegan, the only salad I would ever even accept was an extra saucy, creamy, Caesar that had crunchy chicken on top of it. Cringe oh boy! You guys have no idea what my diet used to be like... let me tell you, it couldn't have been further than where I'm at now. Basically North and South pole opposite.

So, being the vegan, health food addict I am now, I figured I needed to figure out what to do with this salad situation at hand.

Do you know what is in the pre-made, store-bought dressings? Take a gander at the ingredient list next time you're shopping or if you have some in your fridge, go see! It's horrifying! I knew I needed to start making my own!

Two years ago I was visiting my mom in Canada and she said "Honey, I don't know what to feed you anymore with all of your rules. There's kale in the garden, just fix yourself a salad."

I stood there looking blankly at her. "Excuse me, a what?"

"It's good, I've got loads of yummy dressings in the fridge!"

Ya, I don't think so...

Like a spoiled brat, but too hungry to turn down the food being offered, I meandered over to the fridge and started looking at the options on the door.

"Mom, have you SEEN what they put in these? You can't eat this stuff!"

She came over to the fridge and grabbed one of the bottles out of my hand, looked at it for a minute, looked back at me and flung it back on the shelf.

I'll never forget that day because that day, I taught my momma how to make her own dressings and now, it's your turn!

Tempe Supreme Kale Salad With Avocado Dressing:

Salad:

• 1 Beet (if you cut small enough, they won't even be tasted but you get their nutrients)
• 1 Cucumber
• Kale (massaged)
• 3 Shallots (cut into small pieces)
• 3 Tomato
• 1 Avocado
• 1 Package Tempe (meat replacement, protein!)
• 1/2 cup Sunflower Seeds
  

Dressing:

• 1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar
• 3 tbs Olive Oil
• 1 Lemon (juiced)
• 1 tbs Palm Nectar (or choice sweetener)
• 3 Cloves of Black Garlic (I just love the taste but you can omit without a problem, I would add more garlic in that case because I love garlic ;))
• 1 Avocado (this is going to make the dressing creamy!)
• 1/3 Cloves Garlic (coming from my love of caeser dressing, I use a lot of garlic)
• 1 tbs Dried Mushroom Powder (use real mushrooms if you don't have powder)
• Himalayan Sea Salt
  

How To Make It:

• Start by chopping all the veggies up into small, bite sized pieces (you can use a food processor!) (Make sure the shallots are extra small!)

• Massage the kale into salt water until it starts to soften (making it more digestible)

• Stirfry the tempe (I used liquid aminos and coconut oil)

• Add kale, veggies and tempe into a big bowl, sprinkle with sunflower seeds, put aside
  

• Place all dressing ingredients into a blender (go by taste, don't worry about measurement!) and pour over the salad bowl
  

• Mix and serve!
  

Voila, your healthy, delicious salad is served!

I'm going to tell you, even when I was making this salad, I was thinking about how I didn't want the beets, didn't want this, didn't want that. It turned out it was all in my head because this huge bowl was gone in no time! It ended up being super delicious and guess what? I felt AMAZING energy after eating it so, I had to share it with you!

Hope you like it!

Sending you love through (plant-based/vegan) food, as always! If you are new here, it's great to have you here! I was gone for a couple of months off traveling the world but one of my main goals here is to promote/support/encourage and inspire healthy food choices and the healing it provides :)
I am obsessed with food, and I am a strong believer in the power it has within it, and the ability it has to heal us! I aim to inspire through my recipes and posts and hope to connect with you here, through your heart. Some say the way to the heart is through the stomach, I 100% agree with that theory ;)
I believe in sharing what makes the heart happy, if you'd like to see more, come on by 😘
XO,