Raw Kale Salad: A Green Time of Year

Today at the farmer's market a guy that I don't think that I know directly asked me if I'd seen any bok choy at the market. I said, "No" because, I hadn't.

Then he asked me if I'd seen chard, and since I was right at the Triple T Ranch and Farm booth, I pointed to the basket of Swiss chard. He went over to it, and I remarked, "Why don't you use kale, there's lots of it here today?" He walked away and I have no idea what he did.

But I know what I did, I bought collards and 2 different kinds of kale: dinosaur and Red Russian and made a raw kale salad. This is certainly one of my favorite winter salads when the greens are sweetest. There are many variations on this but this is my current favorite. I think that this will change when the vegetables change with the seasons.

The Veggie Queen’s Raw Kale Salad
Serves 2-4
This is easy to make and you’ll get a great dose of greens. Use your favorites types, put in extras to suit your taste. The only limit to what goes into this salad is your imagination. When you massage the greens, be sure to add the love.

2 bunches kale, collards or other greens, washed and spun dry
2-3 teaspoons raw tahini
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1-2 teaspoons miso (my favorite is South River Miso – brown rice or or mellow white works well) or Bragg’s liquid amino acids
1 teaspoon agave, or more to taste
1 apple, sliced thin, julienned or grated

Remove leaves from large ribs and slice thinly. Put into a large bowl. Add the tahini, lemon juice and miso. Put your hands into the bowl and massage the greens until they are wilted, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the agave syrup and apple. Stir well to combine. This tastes best when eaten immediately.

Note: you can also add sunflower seeds or dried fruit to this salad, or go more savory by adding crushed garlic and sliced onion and omitting the apple.

Notice how the greens shrink by about half when they are massaged with the tahini, miso and lemon juice. If you are eating this by yourself, make half a batch at once.

Let me know how you like this salad by leaving a comment here on this blog, below, or sending me an email at jill at theveggiequeen.com.

Meeting the Rancho Gordo Big Bean Guy at Denver Airport

While snaking through the security line at Denver airport, I spotted Steve Sando of Rancho Gordo bean fame. Just about a week or so ago he was featured in the New York Times. And he still talks to me. That's impressive.

Steve was a presenter at the IACP (International Association of Culinary Professionals) conference in Denver. He was nice enough to mention me during his bean presentation. I felt very special.

So imagine my surprise when I was standing at the Mexican food place in the airport on my way to my Southwest flight, when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I was intently studying the menu. "Are you trying to figure out the nutrition of this stuff?" Steve asked.

"No, I want to figure out what I might eat," I replied. Steve had already eaten and wanted some coffee. I wanted to check out my other options so we walked together. It turned out that the Mexican place seemed most appealing -- a better choice than bagels. So we circled around to the Mexican place again where Steve and I talked over my bean tostada with guacamole. It was small and tasty and just a bit spicier than I expected for an airport restaurant.

Steve said that his burrito was quite good. Now, that's like me saying that those vegetables get a B+ for their taste. Steve knows his Mexican food. In fact, as we talked he mentioned that he's now the Big Bean Guy because he's growing so many pounds of them (this has nothing to do with Steve's stature, so don't even go there).

It's almost futile to try to buy Steve's beans at this point because many of them are sold out (but check them out anyway because you never know). He'll have his next crop in the fall. But keep watching because Steve told me that since the Times article the bean farmers are coming out of the woodwork and he should be able to increase production for this year. That means in October or November there could be beans for sale.

Steve is also working with Mexican growers who according to Steve are "beyond organic" because they have to use natural methods for their crops due to lack of money. We talked about how beans are not a crop that is often bothered by a lot of pests. Probably too much work for pests who prefer to attack strawberries as an easy target.

In any case, it was special to share time with the "Big Bean Guy" at the Denver airport. Even though Steve only lives about an hour from my home, we've never had a chance to just chat for 40 minutes. You never know what might come your way --- some heirloom beans would be great. And if you've never had them, there's always later in the year.

Watch for my guest nutrition blog post on Steve's site soon. The preview: beans are very good for you, and for Steve, too.

Flax Your Baking Muscles Contest Starts Today

Time to "Flax" Your Baking Muscles!

If you bake with flax and have a great recipe, put it to the test to win a year's supply of flax from

FlaxUSA, the country's leading producer of ground, roasted and whole seed flax from America's flax heartland, North Dakota.

Never tried baking with flax? Well it's time you did! Flax is a great substitute for eggs and butter, not to mention the most potent plant based source of heart-healthy Omega 3s. Click here to learn more on how to bake with flax.

If you don't want to click above, let me give you a brief heads up on baking with flax from my experience:

5 tablespoons of already ground flax, or grind 3 tablespoons in a blender or spice grinder, mixed with 1/2 cup water substitutes for 2 eggs in baking. It works best as a binder, and not as well as a leavener. So no Angel Food Flax cakes -- yet.

Do not mix the flax long before mixing with other ingredients or you could end up with a very stiff, yet sticky mess.

Use golden, not brown, flax in lighter colored baked goods. Flax works well in cookies, cakes, muffins, quick breads, yeast breads, and more. Let's see what you come up with.

Your recipe must be original, or so highly adapted that you are not accidentally "stealing" some else's recipe. The recipes will be judged on use of flax, and most of all taste. Since this is a vegetarian blog, I prefer recipes without meat, especially in cupcakes. Your recipe can be for sweet or savory baking. So thinking out of the box (but not too far) is encouraged.

Entering is easy. Just post the title of your recipe here on this blog in the comment section (so that this blog doesn't get clogged with recipe text) and send a copy of the actual recipe with your email address, blog URL, if you have one, a photo (optional) to flax@crierpr.com. All recipe submissions become property of The Veggie Queen and FlaxUSA.

I will test the recipes with Stephanie Stober, the "Flax Queen" of North Dakota (and co-founder of flaxUSA). Grand prize is a 12 month supply of flax (ground or whole seed; you choose). Three runners up will win three 12 ounce shakers of Ground Flax Sprinkles and three packages of Roasted Golden Flax Seed Snacks.

The contest starts today, February 24th and ends March 11th, so get cracking - or baking as it were.

Winners will be notified on March 16th. If you have any questions, please email me or post a comment.

Looking forward to reading about your wonderful creations. Good luck.

John Ash Encourages Sprouting and So Does The Veggie Queen

If you read my previous post you know that I had the privilege of taking a cooking class with John Ash. The most amazing part of the class for me was when John talked about sprouting arising from his hippie days.

I have known John about 20 years and I just can't imagine John as a hippie. I'd have to see the pics to believe it. But I did see his sprouter from those days, and it is very cute. He said that he's had it for many years but it was in just fine shape. They sell a similar one on Amazon for $10.95.

John also encouraged people to sprout with the simple method: quart glass Mason jar, cheesecloth and a rubber band. I have used that method often but sometimes substitute a paper towel for the cheesecloth. I also have a green plastic sprouting lid and a wire mesh lid that fits into a quart jar ring.

I tried my green plastic lid most recently, inspired by Ash who encouraged everyone to go out the next day, Saturday, and start sprouting. He brought his "home-grown" fenugreek sprouts to the class in their sprouter. It was a touching moment.

John also talked about how he's not a gardener and how sprouting fulfills that desire to grow something. That's just my style, too. I had no idea we had that in common.

I was remiss in following Chef Ash's directions to start the next day, as I started sprouting on Sunday, not Saturday, by soaking some French green lentils, along with broccoli, radish and mustard seeds, in a quart jar with my new, green sprouting lid. I found that the holes in the plastic lid made pouring the water out a bit more difficult. I also removed the lid to add water to do the twice a day rinsing.

By day 3, the sprouts seemed ready so I took them out of my kitchen cupboard, where they had lived upside down in a bowl, and put them near a light-filled window so that they could get cholorphylled up, and get green.

This morning I had a half-full quart jar of my own beautiful sprouts. I have been sprouting for possibly as many years as John but I'm not sure as he is a bit older than I. I can tell that having,and growing, sprouts satisfies some deep needs for each of us.

And now, on to the next batch -- I have a 1 pound bag of spicy mix so I had better get to it. Might throw in some red quinoa, just for kicks. Oh, the possibilities are almost endless.

Growing sprouts is very exciting and provides almost immediate gratification, if you can wait a few days. It's hard to realize that each bean, seed or nut actually contains the energy of an entire plant that will yield many more. Give it a try.

A photo will appear as soon as I learn how to use my new camera.

10 Things that The Veggie Queen and John Ash have in Common

I was going to write a post specifically about 1 subject when it dawned on me that John Ash and I share a number of characteristics which I wanted to share with you. Not quite as interesting as Letterman but...

Here goes:

1. Our names start with the same letter
2. We both live in Sonoma County -- Santa Rosa to be exact
3. We're writers
4. We encourage people to use local ingredients
5. We're each cooks and not bakers or gardeners
6. We're each irreverent when we teach and love to share stories
7. We've shared the same behind-the-scenes person, who we both adore
8. We support local and encourage others to do the same
9. We encourage farming without poisons, or the Cide sisters as John refers to them (pesticide, fungicide and herbicide)
10. We've both been sprouting in our kitchens for many years

And it's the last one that I will really post about next time. So, be on the lookout for more about sprouting.