Massaged Kale & Goat Cheese Salad

For many kale is known as a vegetable eaten mostly because we are told it is good for us. I will admit that I too used to feel this way. At least I did until I was introduced to massaged kale salad. Up to that point if I found that Kale had somehow made its way into my refrigerator, I usually made it into Kale chips. Which are yummy but can’t really be called a full meal, despite the fact that I may have done just that once or twice.

Why massage the Kale? Because the salt and vinegar soften the tough Kale leaves making them the perfect texture for a salad. Add the sweet dressing to take away the bitter flavour of the kale and this super food vegetable becomes as tasty as it is good for you.

There are many health benefits to eating kale, and before I share a few, I want to point out that this salad is so delicious that once you try it you will probably no longer care about the health benefits.

And for those who hate recipes with wordy preamble, feel free to scroll down to the recipe now.

Kale is from the same family as cabbage and brussel sprouts. Studied benefits include management of blood pressure, boosting digestive and bone health, and even protecting against cancer, heart disease and diabetes. These powerful health benefits are the result of Kale being an abundant source of fiber, antioxidants, calcium, vitamin C, K, potassium, iron, and many other nutrients.

Massaged kale makes a great barbeque side salad because of it’s ability to “store sunshine” in the form of chlorophyll. This molecule helps to remove the cancer-causing carcinogens that result when animal products are grilled at high temperature, before they are absorbed by the body. [1] If you are not a meat eater you can easily make this into a full meal size salad to enjoy as you celebrate Summer with any non-vegetarian friends. I would suggest you make a large full bowl of salad for yourself, and another for everyone else, because my experience is that the meat eaters suddenly become Kale fans when this salad is brought out!

Talk to your doctor or dietitian if you have any specific health issues, or if you are concerned about adding Kale to your diet. Those with kidney stones, take certain blood thinners, or for other health related reasons may need to limit Kale in their diet.[2]

Massaged Kale Salad Recipe

Ingredients

¼ cup Olive Oil

1 tbs Apple Cider Vinegar

1 tbs Maple Syrup (or to taste)

1-2 tsps Lemon (or lime) juice

1-2 tsps Dijon Mustard

Fresh ground Salt & Pepper to taste

Kale (10-12 large leaves chopped into salad size pieces)

Goat Cheese (to taste, leave out if vegan)

¼ Thinly Sliced Spanish Onion

Optional Topping Suggestions:

Candied pecans or walnuts

Cranberries

Instructions:

Wash and dry the kale pieces well (pat dry or use a spinner). Whisk the top 6 ingredients in the bottom of a large salad bowl till well mixed. Add Kale and massage the dressing into the leaves. Toss in the goat cheese, apple slices and Spanish onion (along with any of the optional toppings). Serve!

According to ayurveda, India’s ancient system of medicine, the health benefits of a meal are a combination of many different things, one of which is the state of mind of the chef. From this perspective, how could a salad lovingly massaged into life be anything but body and soul nourishing?

Enjoy

[1] Medical News Today, What are the Health Benefits of Kale, Medically reviewed by Katherine Marengo LDN, R.D., Nutrition — By Megan Ware, RDN, L.D. on January 17, 2020

[2] Mayo Clinic Health System.org, Speaking of Health, March 17, 2023

This pumpkin pie recipe does not include any wheat, dairy, or sugar. And before you click your back button I’d like to add that it is also the creamiest pumpkin pie you will ever eat.

The creaminess comes from full fat coconut milk (so yeah, unfortunately you still can’t eat the whole pie), the sweetness is a result of juicy medjool dates, and oats are used as the binder. The perpetual presence of these three ingredients in my cupboard, along with my autumn ritual of keeping a container of muffin cup size baked pumpkin portions frozen in my freezer made this a super easy bake for me. While you could eat this pie filling as pudding (I did this morning), I would switch a few things up if pudding were your goal.

In addition to being tasty this recipe is a beautiful ayurvedic example of balancing ingredients for autumn. The pumpkin, and dates are grounding foods. Combined with the warming spices they work to balance the excess of vata energy that can build up at this time of year. Read on for the recipe.

Creamy Pumpkin

Pie Filling Ingredients

Pumpkin puree (14oz can or weigh what you have pre-cooked yourself)

1 can full-fat coconut milk (14oz)

1/4 cup rolled oats (3 tbs oat flour/or your flour of choice.)

8-10 medjool dates (or sweeten to taste with your favourite sugar)

1 tbsp vanilla extract

2 tsp cinnamon

A pinch each of nutmeg, cloves, cardamom, ginger (or a little more of each. Season to taste. Use pumpkin pie spice if you prefer)

1 tsp salt

Crust Ingredients

1 1/2 cups flour (I used oat flour)

1 tsp salt

6 Medjool dates

1/2 cup ghee

Water (add as needed a spoonful at a time)

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375. Crust: Blend dates and ghee into creamy mixture. Add flour and salt mixture until combined. Remove to bowl adding water if needed. Press into pie pan. Filling: Blend all ingredients in a blender/vitamix/food processor until smooth. Pour into pie crust. Bake for 25-30 min. It may look like it isn’t fully done. That is ok. It firms up nicely in the refrigerator. Whipped Topping: If a topping is desired scoop the cream out of a can of coconut milk leaving the watery portion behind. Mix the cream with a tsp of vanilla and desired amount of honey (I keep the watery portion for other recipes). If you keep your can of coconut milk in the refrigerator the milk and cream separate more easily.

Pumpkin Pudding Instructions: Yes, you could save a bowl of your pumpkin pie filling to snack on later but the BEST pudding involves mixing equal amount of pumpkin puree, coconut cream (separated from the milk as above), tsp vanilla, 4-6 dates (to taste), all the pie spices above to taste. Mix all in Vitamix/blender. Cool in refrigerator to set. I have been whipping this up for breakfast ever since the supermarket filled with pumpkins.

*If baking your own pumpkin use a pie pumpkin, or a buttercup squash, or kabocha. The carving pumpkins are wetter and not so tasty.

A Dairy Free Antioxidant Blast!

I honestly wasn’t much of an ice cream lover until I lived in Japan for a few years and discovered the matcha (powdered green tea) version. The bitter and sweet flavour balance completely changed my relationship with this creamy dessert. Once back home though I discovered matcha ice cream to be both difficult to find, and often without the intense matcha flavour that I loved so much. That, and the fact that I eat very little dairy these days, meant I hadn’t enjoyed matcha ice cream for some time. That recently changed when I realized that I could probably make it myself with things I always have in my cupboards, mainly matcha, coconut milk and maple syrup.

My kitchen has been a mess of bowls and green tea powder ever since I began trying to work out a method of making this without an ice cream maker. The recipe below is my current work in progress. Who knew that making ice cream was a bit of a science. This recipe actually doesn’t have that many ingredients and it has turned out to be pretty creamy and tasty.

Matcha is known to be packed with anti-oxidants, and coconut milk is often touted for its MCT oil benefits so I guess you could call this a healthy ice cream. It is so yummy that I didn’t require that designation, but I will admit that it makes me feel less guilty about having a second bowl.

Ingredients:

2 cans of Coconut milk (Just the thick creamy part- not the watery portion)
4-5 tbsp Maple Syrup (or use your favourite sweetener and adjust to taste. I prefer it on the less sweet side so stop at 4tbsp)
2 tbsp Matcha (more or less depending on how much bitter flavour you enjoy)
2 tbsp vodka (this stops the mixture from freezing too hard)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum (I left this out once and it still seemed to work, but it is supposed to decrease ice crystals, so I suspect its value increases the longer your ice cream is in your refrigerator. Mine got eaten way to fast for that to happen! This ingredient is available in most grocery stores it seems. I have also read that egg yolk is also a natural emulsifier so may also do the trick. )
A pinch of salt

Directions: Place all ingredients in the refrigerator overnight. Also put your bowls/pans in the freezer overnight (this helps to decrease crystallization of the mixture). Once ingredients and bowls are cooled scoop the thick creamy portion of the cans of coconut milk into a blender (I use a vitamix). Then add all the other ingredients and blend. Pour into a cold metal bowl. Place in the refrigerator to cool. Pull mixture out every hour or so for a quick mix with a hand mixer etc. That should make it creamier. Serve when it is firm enough to scoop. I found this to be the creamiest and tastiest version when I was serving the day I made it.

Storage: The ice cream seemed to get really hard when kept overnight so I decided to spread extra mixture in the bottom of a frozen bread pan (a shallower spread decreases the ice crystals). Once frozen I tipped it out of the pan, sliced it into ice cream sticks, and wrapped them in parchment paper for easy portions. Then I would take it out and let it soften in a bowl for 10 minutes or so before eating.

Popsicles: This seems to work really well because the mixture freezes kind of hard and this is an easy way to pull out a portion. Yum!

Ice Cream Maker: I don’t have one. This probably makes things easier. I wouldn’t know. Those who have one can follow whatever you usually do for making ice cream I would guess.

Green Tea: I used high quality drinking matcha because that is all I had in my house. I probably could have bought an ice cream maker with the cost of all the top grade matcha utilized in figuring this recipe out. If you are buying matcha you could look for cooking grade matcha since most people use that for baking matcha sweets etc with good results. Matcha should be used when fresh. The flavour changes when kept for long periods and it’s bright green colour fades.

Coconut Milk left Overs: I just couldn’t throw it out. So I made a new batch of ice cream with it. I just followed the same process above and added a bit more stabilizer (guar or xanthan gum). It was a bit icier but worked well for popsicles.

Summer is coming to an end so don’t wait to try these out. Of course you could just turn up the heat and eat this throughout the fall and winter. I probably will.

Enjoy!

Finally! After years of missing the short two week window that fiddleheads remain curled in the lovely (and tasty) shape that they are named for I finally caught them tentatively rising above the earth!

I have loved these deep green coils since I first tasted them in vegetable soba noodle dishes served in the Japanese mountains in springtime. Despite growing up frolicking in fern patches as a child, I had no idea that people ever ate them. My small town ancestors were suspicious of their safety. Which it turns out has some validity since they do need to be a specific kind of fern (the ostrich fern), and even then have to be boiled for 15 minutes, or steamed for 10-12 minutes before they are safe to eat. Having no internet to consult I guess Nana wisely chose to err on the side of caution.

If you plan to go foraging remember that only fiddleheads from the ostrich fern is edible. Do your research or consult an experienced forager before picking your own. Fortunately you can also find them in season in your local supermarket.

According to Health Canada ostrich fern fiddleheads contain vitamin C, omega-3, and omega-6 fatty acids, making them a great way to boost your nutrition in the Spring with a locally sourced ingredient.

Ensure you clean as much of the brown scales off them as you can, and rinse in cool water a number of times before following the cooking guidelines above. Wash your hands after handling them as well. Cool them under running water after boiling/steaming. You can freeze them once they are cooked properly for up to a year.

Once they have been cooked add them to anything that works with veggies. Some compare their flavour to asparagus. I have so far added them to quiche, omlettes, sansai soba noodle soup, and the spicy Korean veggie dish known as bi bim bap (mixed veggies and rice). I have not done so yet but plan to add them to pasta sauce. You can also saute them as you would any other vegetable, and eat as a side dish.

The mid to late Spring opening time of the ostrich fern varies a little depending on your climate. I am writing this at the end of May in far eastern Canada. Keep your eye out at your local supermarket as they may source ostrich fern fiddleheads locally when in season.

Enjoy!