Asian Avocado Raw Salad

*Casie Here*

So, I have been craving some healthy raw salad lately. (I almost had to take a road trip down to Kansas City to Cafe Gratitude). I had Vernon get me some ingredients at Whole Foods today. 

 I started with about 4 leaves of Dinosaur Kale. I ripped it in small pieces off the stem and looking back I think it would have been better to remove it from the stem and then shred it with my knife into thinner strips. I just like small pieces better (personal preference).

 LOVE my macro camera lens!!!! So beautiful.

I also tore a head of Romaine Lettuce.

 Does this pattern look familiar? Think blood vessels. Isn't that funny how things in nature mimic each other? There are so many fruits and vegetables that correspond to things within our bodies that they help improve. (ex. walnuts look like a little brain ~ they have have fats that are beneficial for the brain. etc..)

 The back of the Kale.

Removing the stem.

The lettuce part. Washed up with vinegar and water, rinsed and spun out. 

 2 Carrots. Washed but not peeled. We recently learned that you shouldn't peel carrots. The best nutrients live just below the surface, and if you peel it, you are stripping that away. We just rinse in vinegar water, scrub a little with your hand and rinse with plain water, then you are ready to go. 

 I made this Avocado dressing. So SIMPLE. And so very good.

1 Avocado, 1 TBS Olive Oil, 1 cup plus 1 TBS water,  2 TBS lemon juice (*TIP* I buy a bag of lemons with intention to use them, but inevitably don't, so just before they start to go bad I juice all of them with a reamer and freeze it in ice cube trays. Each cube of juice is exactly 1 TBS. NO WASTE!!!), 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. black fresh ground pepper and a pinch of Cayenne pepper (I did 2 tiny shakes of the jar and should have only done one). It was just a tad too spicy (we are weak), but I did like the kick it had. Blend it all together in the blender. It made like 2 cups!!!! I had an empty, clean Coconut oil jar and it fit perfectly in there and can be sealed to keep from getting brown and going bad too fast.

I made my regular Asian Salad. 

1 head of red cabbage chopped up into small bite size pieces (this was just about the time when I tried to slice off the top part of my thumb ~ Note: careful with all the chopping and cutting)

3 different colors of peppers (about half of each one), chopped small

4 green onions, cut small on the bias

2 carrots sliced thin with a mandolin

Handful of Cilantro washed, dried and chopped

1 bag of bean sprouts (mung), washed and chopped smaller

I would have probably put some chopped cucumber in there too if I had it, but the one I had was moldy. : (

 I soaked about 1/4 cup dried Arame Seaweed in cold water for 5 minutes (directions on the back of the package). Then chopped it up into smaller pieces and threw it in the salad. It doesn't really have that strong of a taste, but lots of great minerals and nutrients.

 This is the re-hydrated seaweed.

So I put some of the lettuce mix with the some of the Asian Salad mix and added a little Avocado dressing. I added a few chopped mini tomatoes on top and it really made a delicious difference!

It was SO good. Just a few tweaks and it will be perfect. Hope you try it and enjoy! I am teaching myself how to 'cook' more raw foods. I will share my ingredient finds and let you know what works and what doesn't. We will learn together!!!