I don't post recipes all that often, but there is something about this salad that made me want to share. I feel like it may give you a little insight to how important food and fueling is to me. The name for this particular dish hit me tonight when I was shredding collards and kale. It is my Grounding Salad. After long travels, eating out every meal, or when life seems a bit upside down, I long to pull as many ingredients as I can out of the refrigerator, and pile them in a bowl. The process of washing, slicing and working with food grounds me. It takes time to prep a bunch of veggies, quiet time, working with my hands, preparing good food. It is the best way that I know to reconnection and feel at home.
It always starts with my rice cooker. Two cups of rice and four cups of water with a good bit of salt. I'll eat the excess rice for a couple of days. If I time my preparations right, the rice cooker light flips to "warm" just as I finish slicing and dicing. Next I clean and shred as many greens as my Miwok dish can hold. (Tia gave super functional, handmade bowls one year I placed at Miwok). After that, it is all about what came out of the fridge. On a particularly good night, the recipe might look like what I've listed below. Also, I've listed measurements, but lets be honest, I rarely measure anything, so these are just estimates. There are so many great alternatives and opportunities for creative flavor mixing that my Grounding Salad often takes on many appearances.
HAVE TOs:
3 C shredded greens (kale, collards, chard, spinach, arugula...)
1/4 C chopped red cabbage
1/4 C sliced carrots
3/4 - 1 C cooked white Basmati rice (you can do brown too)
1-2 T sunflower seeds
A heavy helping (2-4 T?) of Nutritional Yeast
2-3 T Flora's 7 Sources Oil
1-2 T some fancy balsamic vinegar (I've got Fig right now)
Other possibilities:
1/2- 1 C cooked ground meat, or other protein (I'm using moose right now - Thanks Monica & Christian!) Cottage cheese, tofu, shredded chicken have all made separate appearances.
1/4 C sliced bell peppers
1/2 Avocado (this really should be a have to, but I don't always have them around)
1 chopped Roma or other Tomato
1/2 chopped nectarine or peach
1/4 C dried cranberries, raisins, cherries
I like to pile in this order - greens first, then cabbage, carrots (heartier veggies), then protein and hot rice, right out of the cooker. Then, top with more of the fragile veggies or fruits, like tomatoes, avocados, nectarines, etc. I am a huge nutritional yeast fan for the flavor and the thought of all of those good B vitamins, so I am not shy about a heavy dusting complimented with sunflower seeds. After that, drizzle the oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Some of the simplest things together bring me home!