kale salad with sweet tahini dressing

Hard to believe but, I never understood the temptation of raw kale salads.  Every time I made one I was dissappointed!  They were too hard to chew and even harder to digest!

Until now!  

I finally figured out the secret to making a palatable raw kale salad!

It’s sea salt!  

Before I would always massage the kale with olive oil but it never broke down the leaves enough.  By adding sea salt the kale becomes very tender, less bitter and easier to eat :)

kale salad with sweet tahini dressing ~vegan, gluten free~

Now, i’m hooked!

 I made it for dinner last night and i’ve been craving more all day!  Kale salads are great to prepare ahead of time as they do not wilt easily.  Make this for dinner tonight and save some for lunch tomorrow!

Kale Salad with Sweet Tahini Dressing

 1 small bunch kale, de-stemmed and broken into bite-sized pieces

½ cup dried cranberries

¼ cup sunflower seeds

1 carrot, shredded

1 tablespoon olive oil

sea salt

Dressing:

¼ cup tahini

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons miso paste

1 tablespoon maple syrup

¼ cup water

salt and pepper to taste

-In a large bowl, drizzle kale with olive oil and sea salt.  Massage and squeeze kale leaves to make more tender, set aside and let kale “marinate” for a few minutes.

-Blend together all salad dressing ingredients.  Add more water if a thinner consistency is desired.

 -Add dressing to kale and toss to coat.  Top with carrots, dried cranberries and sunflower seeds.

~Enjoy!

kale salad with sweet tahini dressing ~vegan, gluten-free~

I found that using half the amount of salad dressing was plenty!  

www.beginwithinnutrition.com

probiotics for weight loss

13-400-species-probiotics

Probiotics or the “healthy” bugs found in our stomachs are well known for being the main players in keeping our digestive and immune systems running strong.  However, new research is showing that these little buggas are responsible for whole-body health including our ability to lose weight.  They are even responsible for keeping the weight off of our mid-sections, which is one of the most dangerous places for holding excess weight.

All this from teeny tiny bugs?  

How do they do it?  

By keeping our hormones in check.  

The hormones ghrelin and leptin send signals to our mind when we feel hungry and full.  When these hormones are out of line, we tend to overeat leading to weight gain.  When our gut has a healthy “microflora” or when the healthy bacteria are doing their job our hormones function properly.  Unfortunately, many people do not have a healthy microflora due to eating processed foods, taking antibiotics, eating dairy and meat products raised on hormones and antibiotics, and drinking carbonated beverages.  To sum it all up, the Standard American Diet is detrimental to our microflora!  

The probiotics lactobacillus fermentum and lactobacillus amylovorus have been found to interfere with the absorption of calories meaning less calories are being stored as abdominal fat.

Hello bikini season, bring on the bugs!  

Not only do probiotics boost our immunity, fuel our digestive health, aid in weight reglulation, they also give us energy!  When we have a healthy microflora, our digestion is running at top speed leaving more energy for us to burn doing the things we love!  Sounds to good to be true, right?  It’s not!  It’s a beautiful symbiotic system that was designed to keep us healthy, happy and radiantly energized!

Where do I find these healthy bugs?

You can build up a healthy microflora by taking a probiotic supplement or consuming fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, tempeh, miso and kombucha.

~Add kefir to your morning smoothies, make overnight oats with yogurt, add tempeh to salads, enjoy a tall glass of kombucha or eat miso soup daily~

yogurt

www.beginwithinnutrition.com

not your traditional tater tots

tatertots1

Remember those little nuggets from your childhood???  I recreated them using only the healthiest ingredients!  I left out the white starchy potatoes and substituted chickpeas and flax meal making for a super nutritious kid approved meal.  Unlike traditional tater tots, these contain a ton of fiber…no constipated kids here!

Also included in this recipe is miso paste and nutritional yeast.  If you are unfamiliar with these ingredients don’t be scared off of trying this recipe!  Both items can be found at a health food store and are easy to work with!  I talk a little about the benefits of miso here :)

 Nutritional yeast is an inactive yeast, not to be mistaken with brewer’s yeast or baker’s yeast.  It is a great vegan/vegetarian source of vitamin B12 and protein.  In just 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast there is 9 grams of protein, that’s more protein than in one egg!  It also contains fiber making for a happy digestive system!  Nutritional yeast has a mild cheesy flavor.  It is great dusted over popcorn or added into salad dressings.  Give it a whirl!

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Not Your Traditional Tater Tots

1 cup cooked quinoa

1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

1/4 cup onion (minced)

3 tablespoons flax meal

1 tablespoon miso paste

2 tablespoons flour (I used GF flour)

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons olive oil (plus more for frying)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

tatertots2

-In a food processor, blend chickpeas until a paste is formed.

-Add in remaining ingredients (except quinoa) and blend until well mixed.

-Remove “dough” from the food processor and add to a bowl with cooked quinoa, mix well.

-Spoon out a handful of dough and roll into a “log” shape and slice into 1 inch pieces.

tatertots3

-In a heavy frying pan or skillet heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium low heat.

-Add pieces of “tater tots” to the skillet and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side or until crispy.

-Serve hot with organic ketchup and enjoy!

tatertots

~Note: I fried mine in two batches.  I added 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the skillet between batches.~

www.beginwithinnutrition.com