She also had a little feline virus that caused her some pretty relentless sneezing and cat-hacking. I tried all of the all natural methods first, to see if I could get her immune system to bolster up and do the hard work of kicking her illness. I got her new, better raw meat, which is super-charged with things like kelp and bee pollen, among other things to make it a complete protein source. Then I would add special supplement powders with flax seed and a multitude of other things, including meals from fish and animal bones. The key medicine was a dose of animal-friendly tincture of olive leaf. Also, as suggested by a knowledgeable friend, I stirred in some hemp seed oil, which very interestingly, he said the high Omega-3s would help combat the little summer flea invasion she was experiencing. Eventually though, I had to resort to taking her to the vet and getting her on antibiotics. She cleared up within a few days. I certainly learned a lot through the process.
But what to do for ourselves when we're sick? Time is the number 1 healer of all ails, but there is quite a lot we can also try to bolster up our immunity and resiliency. Being the Cancerian that I am, and I'm sure ALL nutritionists would agree, good food is one of the best methods for accomplishing this difficult task. Some will run to the store for chicken soup. I did buy myself a carton of chicken broth last night to make my own soup with, probably tonight, but that is not what I'm choosing to share with you in this particular blog, because many people are vegetarian and don't eat chicken broth. Last night, I was in the mood for raw, so this will more likely appeal to anyone, including you vegans, unless of course you're the raw bird who just doesn't like vegetables. Shame on you, if that's the case!
First let me list off the ingredients, which of course you can vary quite a bit and quantities will never be mentioned, because eye-balling is just how I role and that's my recommendation too. The only two that are KEY that you do not alter, are, you guessed it: Garlic and Ginger!!! And the only criteria for quantity of those is, generous ones, of course. Do not be shy with the garlic and ginger. I repeat: Dose yourself real good with plenty of garlic and ginger.
SALAD:
-kale
-olive oil
-sea salt (Pink Himalayan is the best!)
-zucchini (If you've never eaten it raw, you're totally missing out!)
-carrot
-beet
-avocado
-raisins
-black pepper (and more sea salt)
DRESSING:
-lemon juice (fresh is best)
-honey (local, even better)
-white wine vinegar
-tamari
-tahini
-miso
-mustard
-hemp seed oil
-olive oil
-black pepper
-sea salt
-GARLIC (pressed, ground or minced fine)
-GINGER (minced fine)
Now, for the order of things. I like to wash everything first, so I don't have to task-switch or worry about it later, one ingredient at a time. You can also save yourself trouble by chopping off the butt-ends of your veggies.
Tear or chop the kale and throw that into a generous-sized bowl (trust me). Even if you don't want a monster salad, like I usually do, you'll need room to massage that fluffy kale around and it will shrink significantly, but then you'll need a little room to pile your toppings high. What I'm about to show and describe will be for a layered salad presentation, which I find more beautiful, but of course you are free to toss it up before you eat it, and the larger bowl will also help with that.
Next, the blessed kale massage treatment. You want to drizzle a smattering of olive oil on that bad boy and then grind (or sprinkle) a bit of your sea salt over top. Then, with clean hands, get both of them in there and scrunch and squeeze and toss the kale, coating it with the oil and salt, coaxing it into relaxed submission so it wont be too terribly rubbery and tough the way plain ol' raw kale just is. It should look limp, bright and lovely, and decreased by about 1/2 it's original size.
Okay, so I'm going to introduce a tool to you that is a must have for all you guerrilla salad-makers. Are you ready for your lid to be flipped? This revolutionary little gadget has been my buddy since pre-Lucia days and it thrills me every time I use it. The brand name is Benriner and it is a mandoline slicer and grater, made by those incredibly sharp and precise Japanese, and it works like a dream for slicing ΓΌber thin slices of your toughest root veggies (beet chips anyone?) or apples for your perfect French apple tart. As well, it can make the narrowest, faux-julienned matchsticks or shoestring veggies, sans a knife.
The plate which the veggies slide against lengthwise against the teeth and main blade is also easily raised or lowered by a little plastic twist knob on the back, allowing you to achieve any desired thick/thinness. It comes with 3 separate, interchangeable teeth widths, the thinnest, being virtually tinier than angel-hair, the medium being closer to spaghetti size (what I use most often), and the largest makes a great, linguine-sized "noodle," which is awesome if you're doing a raw zucchini pasta with a sauce.
One very important thing to note here, when using the mandoline, is safety. Also, that safety comes from being fully present with the task at hand. Otherwise, you may loose part of a finger with this guy. And I've totally been there. Yep, just passin' a stalk of fennel through the plain ol' slicer blade and thought I had it all under control, then YOWZA! Took off about a quarter of my forefinger nail and a chunk from the finger. Sorry, for that graphic description. I hope you're still hungry. But, it's true, and worth noting twice. Watch what you're doing with this tool. Please don't be afraid to use it though. I've have more than one boyfriend that refused to work with the thing and it's just too bad, because it's well worth it for the end result. You just really need to practice awareness with every single pass and when the veggie gets too small to do it safely, stop, and eat the core or chop that part or juice it or save it for a veggie stock. Oh, and those plastic holders that are supposed to make it safer, they've just never worked for me. They usually slip off the veggie at a time that could be especially inopportune. I trust my own hands much much more.
Where was I? Oh yes, I like to grate the greener items like zucchini, or possibly you're using a cucumber, first, so they're down close to the greens. Then I get brighter and/or finer as I move upward. So the zucs or cucs could be done at a bit wider setting, by lowering the plate and creating a larger gap, then I narrowed it and grated the carrots, and narrowed even more and grated the beets. Voila!
The thing I love most about raw cheffing, is that the element of heat is taken out of the equation, and therefore, timing isn't really crucial either. You could get this far and then make your salad dressing, or you could've prepared it first, but either way, the salad will keep just fine.
So, for the dressing, I just mixed all of the ingredients in a bowl and stirred well with a fork. Other methods I like are blending the dressing really nice and smooth, or, one way I love to do it when on the road, is shake it all up in a jar. The miso does usually need a bit of extra stirring and breaking down,
if you're using it. An invaluable tip on concocting the perfect salad dressing, is to include many of the main taste bud tastes within the dressing. For example, a sour, a sweet, a pungent, a spicy, a salty and a fat. Don't forget the fat! When blending, an olive oil blends up more opaque, creamy and a light green color, but tahini also works fabulously for adding some serious body to the texture of the dressing. When you think it's done, taste it and see if it's heavy on anything, lacking in another, and add what you need to create a nice round balance of flavors that's delicious to you.
Pour the salad dressing over the grated veggies and be generous with it, especially in these layered salad variations. Then you are ready for your final toppings and garnishes. I love raisins with sweet root veggies like carrots and beets. Avocados are always a major benefit to any salad, if you can get good ones that are in season. You can slice the avocados thinly within each half shell and scoop out with a spoon, then spread them in a fan shape with your fingertips. Alternately, you can also cube the avocados and scoop them out, spreading relatively evenly. I like this method when adding avos to soup.
A final grind or sprinkle of salt and pepper works nicely as a top garnish. And Voila! It's ready to eat.
Here's a photo of the same salad I made the following night with crispy, sauteed tempeh strips and loads of nutritional yeast, which is high in vitamin B 12, great for vegans and vegetarians.
I hope that you'll enjoy creating your own salads and use these as some basic guidelines to continue experimenting, salad by salad. Thanks for reading the blog!
