Today, I received a couple of grins in our local grocery store, while excitedly rummaging through the fresh produce section. It made me think long and hard about how I could bring such an enthusiasm for healthy food cravings to my own patients. I thought I would spare you having to wait another full year before sharing with you my love affair with salads, ahem, super bowl salads. I encourage you to explore how the combination of different vegetables and fruits can add an exciting twist and an array of plant-based, nutrient-dense goodness to your diet.
Not sure where to start? Your naturopathic health tip: make it a point to try a new vegetable or fruit each week!
Every week I make it a point to purchase something I have never eaten before. This week it was kumquats. In a nutshell, kumquats are about the size of a cherry tomato, and they have the refreshing taste of a mini-orange and contain high amounts of vitamin C.
This past week, I enjoyed them whole, munching on them between patients for my afternoon pick-me-up snack. In the evening, I enjoyed both the colour and taste they imparted to my super bowl salad.
Try tossing together this refreshing red and green kale salad with a splash of sliced kumquats, which only takes a few minutes to prepare.
Ingredients
• 8 handfuls of organic red and green kale
• 1/2 cup hemp hearts
• 24 kumquats sliced lengthwise
Dressing
• fresh juice from 1 orange
• 2 tbsp orange rind
• 1/3 cup sesame or extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup brown rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp of hemp oil
• 1/2 cup fresh mint
Easy Peasy Preparation Instructions
Place all the dressing ingredients into a food processor and coarsely blend about 30 seconds. Combine your salad ingredients of red and green kale into a large bowl, layer the hemp hearts and sliced kumquats, and toss with the dressing. This makes 4 generous servings. To your health!
Dr. J. Ancheta Goguen, BSc (Hons), ND 