Gracious Greens
{By Nathalie Larsen} 

This Gracious Greens salad contains A,B,C,D,E,K plant vitamins that nourishes both inside and out. A complete blend of stimulating anti-inflammatory spices, plant proteins, fiber, healthy fats and immune boosting vitamins.

What you’ll need to fill your bowl:

Sprouts – I chose sunflowers

Raw grated vegetables spirals – I chose zucchini ( you can add carrot & beet )

Broccoli/Asparagus/ Green beans or Peas – lightly steamed

1 cup of cooked gluten free grain – Quinoa/ Millet/ Buckwheat noodles etc – this is totally optional of course 😉

Freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 large or two small Chopped Spring onion ( greens and whites )

Handful of fresh chopped Basil

Crunchy omega Seed sprinkle

Blistered tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes ( your choice )

2 tbsp of Avocado Turmeric dressing, plus extra for the top!

How you’ll do it 🙂

Place your veggie noodles of choice in a bowl along with your grain ( if using ) season with a squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper, add some avocado dressing and chopped basil and spring onion. Mix well.

Place into bowl or a plate, garnish with sprouts, blistered tomatoes or sun dried tomatoes and green veg of choice. Then dress it all with a little extra creamy dreamy avo sauce and top with your crunchy toasted seed sprinkle.

Spiced Avo dressing:  (makes a nice cold soup too!)

• 1 Ripe, Creamy Avocado
• ¼ Cup chopped cucumber
• 1 Cup of mixed chopped Coriander & Dill
• Optional spices ( ½ tsp ground cumin & ½ tsp turmeric )
• Pinch of cayenne
• 1 tsp raw honey or coconut nectar
• ½ Clove garlic, crushed
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup water
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 1 tsp good quality sea salt – add more or less to your preference
• Cracked black pepper

Method:

1. Place the avocado in a food processor or blender with all the ingredients and blend till smooth. Add more water if needed and adjust the seasoning to your taste. Stores in the fridge for a day or two – makes enough for a few salads.

Omega seed mix:

1 Cup  pumpkin seeds, soaked overnight in water

1 Cup sunflower seeds, soaked overnight in water

½ Cup sesame seeds

¼ Cup hemp seeds or chia seeds

2 tbsp of tamari

¼ Cup nutritional yeast ( optional for a cheezy tang and B12 vitamin boost )

Extra salt if needed

Pinch of cayenne

Method:

• Drain your seeds, place them on a baking tray except your hemp seeds and roast at 180 for a few minutes until they turn slightly golden.
• Shake the pan every now and again to ensure even roasting.
• Once they start to pop and sizzle, remove from the oven and add tamari and cayenne.
• Taste it and add extra tamari or cayenne if needed.
• Mix to coat well and place back in the oven to seal in the flavour for a few minutes – not too long as they will burn. Remove form the oven, allow them to cool completely.
• At this sage you have the option to pop them into a blender and pulse them for a quick whizz to grind them into a sprinkle – take care not to grind them too fine. Remove, add hemp seeds and nutritional yeast if using and and store in an airtight container in the fridge.

How to Blistered tomatoes

• Heat a pan over moderate heat, once hot add tomatoes and let sit for 2 minutes or so to blister.
• Give them a quick stir,  Add a splash of olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar, salt and cracked black pepper, stir again and remove from the heat.

Photo Credit {Adrian Shields} 

Nutritional fun facts of this salad:

YES! There is protein in avocado! And broccoli and sprouts! In fact there are traces of protein in most vegetables 🙂

Applying heat to tomatoes activates their Antioxidant properties.

Fresh herbs like coriander and basil bind to heavy metals in our body removing toxins from our body.

Spices are like magic dust, activating  digestive fire in our body.

Healthy fats, like seeds, nuts and avocado, act as a vehicle to transport nutrients through the blood, keep you sustained for long periods, lubricate your cells keeping them healthy and your skin glowing. 

Tubers – like Spring onions, garlic and turmeric are powerful natural anti biotics

The simple act of soaking seeds in clean water with a pinch of mineral salt for about 6-8 hours, then rinsed and dried, makes them more digestible by breaking down their anti nutrients which are present in their raw exterior.

Balance of raw and cooked food is better than one or the other. Cooking certain foods releases nutrients which otherwise would be hard to digest in their raw state but on the flip side, certain raw foods are better and fueled with sunshine minerals that would normally be destroyed by heat.

Spend a little time to do the research and find the balance that works for you.

https://chopra.com/articles/raw-foods-an-ayurvedic-perspective

https://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/raw-food-v-cooked-food-whats-better/