I shared this on my stories the other night and was blown away by how many of you could relate, so I wanted to create a permanent place for these words here on my feed:
This may sound silly, and may not make sense to most, but it’s the little things like being able to eat salad again that make me stop in my tracks and realize how far I’ve truly come in these last few months.
You might be reading this and thinking, “Wtf is she talking about.”
Not too long ago, my body couldn’t handle any vegetable that was not cooked to complete mush. It could barely handle anything. When I was at my sickest, even just soup would set me off. Even just water felt like my enemy at times. (And, as I always say, everyone’s body is so different, so please keep this in mind)
To be able to start eating salads again, to walk into the kitchen and turn inwards and really ask myself, “What is my body craving and what can it handle?,” and to have salad be the answer to that question – I know that may not seem like an accomplishment for many, but for me, it’s huge. It’s healing.
So, in honor of that, here is the recipe for one of my favorite salads lately – a harvest kale salad with a garlic-infused maple tahini dressing! The key is to massage your kale with olive oil and lemon to really help get rid of the bitterness and break down the toughness of the kale. The Garlic-Infused Maple Tahini dressing that this salad is served with will also really help with that. And, here’s a tip if you can’t digest raw greens: you can absolutely cook down your calm and make a warm version of this salad!
This Harvest Kale Salad is also adorned with roasted butternut squash, a staple for me in the fall and the colder months, as well as cubed pancetta, dairy free or low lactose cheese of your choice, dried cherries or cranberries, and, the piece to resistance (is that how you say it? ha!) – my refined sugar free candied pecans. Ooof. So good. It’s the perfect marriage of salty and sweet and everything I look for in a delicious fall salad!
Harvest Kale Salad With a Garlic-Infused Maple Tahini Dressing
Course: Mains, SCD Diet, SidesIngredients
- For the base
few cups of chopped tuscan kale, stemmed, massaged with olive oil and lemon
- For the squash
2 lbs 2 butternut squash, cut and cubed
2 tbsp 2 avocado oil or olive oil
salt, pepper to preference
- For the dressing
1/4 cup 1/4 tahini
1/4 cup 1/4 water
1/2 1/2 lemon – juiced
2 1/2 tsp 2 1/2 maple syrup
1 tsp 1 garlic infused olive oil
1/2 tsp 1/2 cumin
salt, pepper to preference
- For the toppings
cooked pancetta, cumbed
crumbled farmer’s cheese or cheese of choice
dried cherres or dried cranberries
refined sugar free candied pecans (recipe linked above & below)
Directions
- Preheat your oven to 400. On a lined baking sheet, toss cubed butternut squash with oil, salt, and pepper, and roast approx. 35-40 until golden brown and tender.
- Massage cleaned, stemmed kale in a bowl with olive oil and lemon.
- Prepare dressing by combining tahini and water, mixing until smooth. Add in lemon juice, maple syrup, garlic infused olive oil, cumin, salt, and pepper.
- Add roasted squash, crispy pancetta, cheese, dried fruit, and pecans to the kale and toss with dressing to serve.
