the vegan crew

I’ve been looking forward to sharing this salad with you for a while now, which is a little surprising for me.  Never a big salad person, I began resisting them even more when I went vegan.  I didn’t like feeling as though I was falling into a stereotype.  When someone would give me a blank stare and say something along the lines of, “Vegan? So…you must eat a lot of salad,” I liked being able to say that no, actually, I didn’t.  Can anyone else identify with that?

Stereotype or no stereotype, salads have unnecessarily caught a bad rap as bland, boring diet food.  They can be hearty and flavorful and just as satisfying as anything else.  Lately I’ve started to come around and have been incorporating more greens and salads into my diet, a goal that has been made much easier thanks to the fact that Erik loves them and already eats one nearly every day.

A few weeks ago I combined two things in particular that I’ve been wanting to eat more of:  kale and lentils.  They, along with a few other ingredients, made for an easy, fantastic salad that we have both been craving like crazy ever since.  The strong earthiness that kale can have is tempered by the other ingredients in this dish, giving it a very smooth and deep flavor.  I’m enjoying the salad the most with warm, freshly made lentils–perhaps because it’s winter–but it’s equally as good when they’re chilled.  This is the salad that what we paired with the Creamy Sweet Potato Soup I shared last week (great combo!), but it is a great addition to any meal.

KALE AND LENTIL SALAD
Serves 4-6

Ingredients
1 small/medium bunch kale, destemmed and broken into bite-sized pieces
1½ cup cooked green lentils (warm or chilled)
Oil (or water), for the onions
One quarter of a small red onion, thinly sliced
½-1 avocado, diced
2 tbsp walnut oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
Splash of tamari or Bragg liquid aminos

Directions
Heat a small amount of oil (or water) in a small pan.  Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5-10 minutes.

Add all ingredients in a large bowl and stir (or “massage” with your hands) for a few minutes until well combined.  Serve.

Tip:  (1) If you don’t have any cooked lentils on hand, simply pick through the lentils to remove any stones/debris, then rinse them.  Add one part lentils and about 2 parts vegetable broth or water to a pot and bring it to a boil.  Cover, lower to a simmer, and let them cook until tender and all the water has been absorbed, about 20-30 minutes. (2) If you have a large bunch of kale, I’d suggest adding extra lemon juice, to taste.  (3) Along those same lines, if you have any salad leftover, it is great the next day as well; although I recommend mixing in a little extra lemon juice a few minutes before serving.

What’s your favorite salad?  Any great kale or lentil recipes I should try?

I was going to post this recipe this weekend, but I was too excited to wait.  The last few months I have been obsessed with sweet potatoes—I can’t get enough of them.  We’ve been eating them several times a week, which isn’t so bad considering what a nutritional powerhouse they are—lots of dietary fiber, potassium, beta-carotene, Vitamins A, B6 and C, manganese—this “super food” has it all.

Though we most often roast our sweet potatoes, I’ve had it in the back of my mind for several weeks to make a sweet potato soup.  I finally threw this soup together this past weekend and it was…heavenly!  Hearty…robust flavors…just a hint of sweetness.  We served it topped with a little green onion and homemade croutons (I decided to make the croutons after the picture was taken—they were a great addition!) and alongside a kale and lentil salad*.  It made for an excellent meal.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!

CREAMY SWEET POTATO SOUP
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients
6 cups cubed sweet potatoes, unpeeled (about 3 medium potatoes)
2 tbsp olive oil, plus more for the potatoes
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
5 cloves garlic, crushed
½-inch fresh ginger, minced
1 rib celery, thinly sliced
4 cups vegetable stock
½ cup white wine
1/3 cup silken tofu plus 1/3 cup plain soy milk, blended
1 tsp poultry seasoning
½ tsp ground cumin
½ tsp black pepper
Salt, to taste

Directions
Heat oven to 425º. Toss sweet potato cubes with enough olive oil to lightly coat.  Bake for about 25-30 minutes, or until tender, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pot and add onion, garlic, ginger and celery, sautéing until onion is translucent and browned around the edges.

Add potatoes and all other remaining ingredients to the pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.  Using an immersion blender (or by transferring to a regular blender), blend until smooth and creamy.  Serve.

Modifications:  (1) If you prefer the soup to be a little less thick, you can add extra soy milk (up to ½ to 1 cup) a little at a time until desired consistency is reached. (2) If you want to reduce the overall time, you can skip roasting the potatoes; instead, add the potatoes at the same time you add all the liquid, boiling until the potatoes are tender.

*Kale and lentil salad recipe is coming up next!