No better way to follow up the cakes in the last post than with a salad, right?! It’s all about balance over here on the blog. Gotta have a little green to go with the sweets. To be honest, I went back and forth about whether or not I wanted to share a salad with you since the word itself tends to make people yawn, but then I said screw it and decided to share it anyways. So, salad for everyone!
My tendency lately has been to steer away from raw salads since my body is in winter mode and craving warm foods. But, I still love my greens (and salads!) so I’ve been lightly steaming them to make them more nourishing and digestible. This salad was one of those recipes that just popped into my head one day. I immediately recorded it in a little notebook where I keep other musings and blog ideas and decided to bring it to life today. I think it came about because I was thinking about how delicious the contrast would be between a bed of herby steamed greens and fresh, juicy slices of citrus fruit. The rest of the recipe came together as I stood in the kitchen making it. Sunflower seeds were added for a bit of crunch, goji berries for their lovely hue and delicious sweet-tartness. To elevate the steamed kale a bit of fruity olive oil and apple cider vinegar were added. And voila! A salad is born.
Citrus is happily abundant down here in Texas right now and I can’t help but smile when I see the sunny-hued orbs hanging in trees around town. It takes all I have not to pull over and jump out of my car to pick as many as possible before someone yells at me. I actually picked the grapefruit I used in the salad from my sister’s neighbor’s tree! That’s as local as it gets for me without planting a darn tree in my backyard. So, in honor of the abundance of sunny citrus, I give you the Winter Sunshine Salad. Make it, eat it, then smile and sit back to bask in the rays of the winter sun 🙂
…
I was really stoked for the lunar eclipse last night. Not only was it supposed to be amazing, it was going to happen during a normal time when I would be able to experience it in person without having to be up in the middle of the night. I eagerly ran outside last night, not even caring that the ground was saturated with rain. And then I saw the clouds covering the sky. Plenty of clouds but no visible moon. No beautiful moon whatsoever.
So let’s get to this sexy sweet potato. I’ve made this dish a few times lately and this version was dictated by what was available at the farmers market. The filling is completely adaptable. Use whatever sounds good or is in season then pile it atop your potato. And, most importantly, make sure to give it a good drizzle of this green tahini sauce. If you take anything away from this post, make it this sauce. It’s really that good.