Salt & Humor

Well, two wonderful food discoveries for me over the last year would be tempeh and massaged kale.  Yes, I have heard of kale but it’s not like I was really eating it.  When I did, I think I only put it into smoothies.  Well, one day I discovered massaged kale.  Crazy right?

Massaged Kale

I start with a bowl of rinsed kale pieces

Next, add salt. (hopefully sea salt)

Then add lemon or lime juice. (I used 1/2 of a lime.)

Lastly, massage the kale.  I mean use your hands and mix and squeeze. If you let it sit for a few minutes it breaks down even more.

Then add your topping and dressing.  I recommend using less dressing than usual because of the tangy juice.

This salad was topped with tempeh, marinated in dijon mustard, olive oil and basalmic vinegar, purple bell peppers and tomatoes.  Which brings me to my next favorite discovery, TEMPEH!  If you have followed this crazy blog for a while, you may have noticed it pop up from time to time.  I LOVE the stuff.

I added some tahini sauce for my dressing.  I was at Trader Joe’s the other day looking for tahini, which I discovered they DO NOT have.  Will have to make a seperate trip, gal! However, they do have tahini sauce.

Well, this stuff is WONDERFUL! The ingredients are tahini, lemon and garlic.  It is like whipped tahini goodness!  Is it too late to mention that another favorite food would be tahini.?  Anyways, do get to your nearest Trader Joes and get some of this stuff.  I could practically eat it by the spoonful.

How about you, any new foods lately?  What is a favorite food discovery you have had?

You betcha! Why can’t I enjoy the great taste of falafel with a healthy spin? Well, I say make falafel patties and bake em.  Into my favorite kitchen appliance (food processor) went: 1 can drained and rinsed garbonzo beans, 1/4 sweet onion, 4 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 3 tablespoons each of cilantro and parsley. After it was a good consistency (whatever that means) I added 5 tablespoons of wheat flour and 1 teaspoon of baking powder and pulsed a little more.  Then I made little patties and plopped them into a glass baking dish with a little bit of cooking spray. Baked @ 400 for 20 minutes on each side.

The really yummy part is the sauce that I made to go with it!

I did not measure, so bear with me.  Tahini, maybe 1/3 of a cup, juice of 1 lemon, salt, ground cumin, 1/2 packet of stevia and 4 tablespoons of non-fat yogurt.  I am so hooked on this dressing/sauce.  I plan to make this more often for sure.  I might thin it down a little with some water or more lemon juice next time.  With the falafel, I had massaged kale salad with yellow bell peppers and cucumber.

The massaged kale is oddly, one of my favorites as of late.  I just put lots of lemon juice and a little salt and its perfect.  It is even more perfect with that sauce.  I want to make the falafel again soon.  For one, it was so good, and for two, I over baked them.  So depending on how you like them , cooking times should vary.

Worked out with Jackie again last night.  Not sure if Netflix will be getting that dvd back anytime soon.  No worries, that is why we have 3 on rotation. I am thinking I just bust bust out of my home workouts and go to the gym tomorrow.  Hopefully, if it doesn’t rain, I plan to take a bike ride.  There is  part of a trail I need to discover that I found this winter!

Tonight is my Friday. My cheat day is actually, Thursday night.  I feel better if I only cheat part of the day.  So, I am thinking one of these and some Pop Chips sound delightful!

The deal I made with myself, is that if I cheat tonight, it’s gym tomorrow.  Deal.

Have a good night!

What is your favorite food or drink for cheat day?

If someone told me that I would LOVE massaged kale salead I would not have beleived it! Really!? I have enjoyed kale for years. Mainly I would just add it to soups. Then I strated adding it to stir fry and smoothies. Well, tonight I tried it. I couldn’t resist this purple organic kale.

I can actually say this is one of my favorites! I massaged half a juiced lemon and some sea salt with the kale for a few minutes. Then I added a little scoop of tahini. Topped with avocado, browned up baked tofu, and sesame seeds. A few sliced of sweet potato went well too.
Yoshi says HI!

That’s all for now, I have a lot on my mind tonight.