Springtime and chopped salads!

​Spring feels like it is finally here and it makes me feel wonderfully energised! I don’t know about you but at this time of year I find myself wanting to start eating more salads – especially as I know I eat far too few raw vegetables through the winter, and raw vegetables give us such a load of vital nutrients and enzymes, which can be lost in the cooking process. I really do feel like I need to have a bit of a catch up on feeding my body and my microbial buddies in my gut!
So... yesterday, with no lettuce to be seen in garden or fridge, but with my renewed commitment to eating not one but two raw salads (or at least raw vegetable based dishes) each day, I came in from my garden with an armful of non-conventional salad ingredients...
It’s always a bit of an adventure in my wilderness vegetable patch – yesterday I came across a cauliflower that looked like it was about to burst into bloom, some delicately tasty sprouting broccoli, some red and yellow stalked silver beet, celery and tasty little leaves from seedlings of rocket, Italian parsley and coriander. A quick check in my fridge produced some organic carrots, an avocado, 2 Medjool dates, some red cabbage and beetroot sauerkraut, 1/2 brown onion, walnuts, sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds, as well as some white miso paste. My pantry provided the Ceres Organic Coconut Balsamic vinegar, white wine vinegar and Extra virgin Olive Oil I added to the miso paste with salt and pepper, to make the dressing.
The end result? This! and it was delicious! For a little added protein we ate this with fresh smoked Kahawai - what a treat for me, my partner and our microbes! 

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The best part is you can make this style of “Chopped salad” out of whatever ingredients you like! I made this one from what was in my garden, in my fridge and in my pantry, in the moment!
In my kitchen I can guarantee it will be different every time.

The recipe:

Chopped Spring Salad (for 2 people)

In the bottom of a large salad bowl whisk together:

• 1 tablespoon white or light miso
• 1 tablespoon Ceres Organic Coconut Balsamic
• 1 tablespoon White wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Himalayan sea salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

​Thinly chop/slice 4 cups of whatever mixture of raw fresh vegetables and herbs you have.
Add all your ingredients to the salad bowl, mix thoroughly and serve.
​A couple of added notes:
1. I like to first thinly slice the onion and carrot and stir them into the dressing so they can bathe and pickle in there for a few minutes before adding all the other veges, herbs, nuts and seeds, sauerkraut and dates. 
2. This salad will actually keep quite well for a day in the fridge so make extra for tomorrows lunch!

​Enjoy