Gluten-Free Vegan Cheesey Kale Salad

Hi everyone! I’m happy to report that after a day home from work and spent in bed with Layla, I’m back to feeling good. Sometimes I think that exercise can pull you out of feeling sick. (Not always. Listen to your body. My body said “no exercise” the past two days, so I didn’t, but today was another story.) This morning Layla and I went on our morning walk and then after work I took her on a 25-minute run and then I did a 20-minute yoga podcast off of iTunes. She did not participate in the yoga session because she’d rather fling her bones around and run up and down the stairs.

I finished my yoga with a chakra-meditation and I have to say that I am feeling quite energized. I’ve read a bit about balancing one’s chakras, but have never fully practiced it until now. Don’t worry; I’m not going to get too “woo-woo” as Blake would say. I’m just working on my meditation and spiritulaity practices.

Onto my recipe of the day. I created this salad because I love kale salads and wanted to make one with a cheesey flavor. Nutritional yeast is great for vegans or people like me who mostly avoid dairy products. Make sure that you actually massage the kale or it won’t taste as good!

Gluten-Free Vegan Cheesey Kale Salad

Serves 2-4

1 bunch kale (I don’t know the exact variety I used, but it was green and firm)

1/2 cup shredded carrot

1/2 cup grape tomatoes, sliced in half

Dressing:

1/4 cup Veganaise (or organic mayo if you choose)

3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast

Juice of 1/2 a lime

1 Tablespoon filtered water

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (I always use Braggs brand)

1/4 teaspoon Mrs. Dash Chipolte blend

1/4 teaspoon coarse red sea salt

1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika

Wash and dry the kale leaves. Remove the tough stems from the kale. Slice the kale leaves into 1/4″ slices. Place them in a salad bowl.

To make the salad dressing: place all of your ingredients in your Magic Bullet, blender or food processor. Blend until well combined. Pour the salad dressing over the kale. Now, it’s time to roll up your sleves and get a little messy. Begin to massage the kale until it starts to lose some of it’s firmness (about a minute or two.) Add the shredded carrots and sliced tomatoes and toss. Refridgerate until ready to serve. This salad makes about two meal-sized salads or four side salads.

I have copied many of New Season’s Market’s salad recipes. Let’s see if I can get them to copy this one of mine ;)  And, I will end this post by showing that even healthy chefs like myself, will sometimes randomly throw items together and call it dinner. Tonight I enjoyed my cheesey kale salad with a brown rice tortilla filled with sliced turkey, Trader Joe’s masala lentil dip and whole seed mustard. Random, but tasty. Tip: I always heat my brown rice tortillas in a skillet before eating them because it gives them a softer texture than straight out of the bag.

Let me know if you try the salad out. I promise that it’s a keeper. Have a great day today!

Take care,

Kilee