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I’m quite certain I’m not the first and definitely won’t be the last person blogging about a “detox” New Years recipe. After weeks of cookie consumption (which I fully support) I don’t blame you if your body is crying for vegetables. I know mine is.
My body is funny that way. It legitimately craves vegetables. Occasionally you might actually find me turning down cornbread and cake for kale and carrots.
Some of you may be trying out detox juice cleanses or starting out on a path to making healthier choices this year. I’ve done a juice cleanse before and I was a hangry monster. I don’t condone them though and kudos to you if you feel like they work. It’s just not my cup of green juice. I do NOT however support fad diets. If you’re looking to lose weight or start eating healthier in 2014 please do not deprive yourself. Eat real food and enough of it.
I think a lot of people who make the resolution to “eat healthier” misconstrue healthy eating with eliminating food. Sure you can’t go binging on Big Macs daily, but I would love if people could focus on incorporating more nutritious foods rather than on what they shouldn’t be eating. I realize that what I’m promoting here is like trying to cure cancer (thank you diet industry for that…) so instead I’ve decided to start with just me.
I have one more resolution I did not include in yesterday’s list. I’ve made it my personal mission to eat at least one salad a day. Some days that might mean a large salad for lunch and other days a side salad with dinner. This is a choice of mine that makes me feel good at the end of the day. The best part about this is how creative you can get with salads. Ain’t got time for boring salads around here.
I would love if you guys decided to join me for the fun so why not start with this delicious Detox Kale Salad?
Detox Kale Salad
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 30 mins
Keywords: bake appetizer entree gluten-free vegan sweet potatoes kale
Ingredients (Yields: 4 large salads or 8 si)
- 4 oz baby kale
- 1 large sweet potato, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 1 tsp coconut oil or olive oil (or spray of either)
- 6 hearts of palm, chopped
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds (roasted or raw)
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- For the dressing:
- 3 T balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 T dijon mustard
- 1.5 tsp honey
- 1 squirt of anchovy paste (optional)
- salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Spray or drizzle sweet potatoes with oil of choice.
3. Roast for 15 mins. Remove from oven and flip over before roasting for another 10 mins.
4. Assemble kale, hearts of pal, pumpkin seeds and cranberries into a large salad bowl. Top with sweet potatoes once done roasting.
5. Whisk together dressing ingredients.
6. Toss salad and drizzle with enough dressing to coat.
Do you want to join me in eating a salad a day in 2014? How do you detox?Â
I love salads and they are so versatile!!!!!! I love that you can throw anything into them!!
You’re so right! It’s funny how ‘healthy’ seems to be equated so frequently with deprivation. Whenever I hear about a ‘new diet’ so often it’s all about focusing on one thing: cut calories.
Recipes like this prove you can enjoy real foods. They taste awesome, and nourish you from the inside out (or in the case of this detox, cleanse 😀 )
Thanks Mitchell! Now if only we could convince everyone on the diet-du-jour to see things the same way!
I actually LOVE salads so this one is a no-brainer for me… I like no-brainers. 🙂
I like you.
Looks yummy! I haven’t followed a “diet” in years and have never done a cleanse. For some reason if our forefathers could see what we do to our bodies, they’d think we were aliens. I mean food is food and good food should be eaten. Of course our forefathers would cringe at the processed food, so that’s what I do my best to avoid. 🙂
“…I do NOT however support fad diets. If you’re looking to lose weight or start eating healthier in 2014 please do not deprive yourself. Eat real food and enough of it. ” <– Can I get an AMEN to this statement!!! Ha Ha. Seriously though, you are 100% right. You nailed my feelings to the T.
Oh & girl I'm all in on this salad a day challenge.
Thanks Jessie!!! If you come up with any winning combos do share! Always looking for new creative ideas!
So fresh and so clean!! Both you and your salads! I love the idea of eating a salad everyday… And your paragraph about diet industry and what not… that’s a tangent i could surely go off on… don’t get me started. i have yet to actually enjoy raw kale but maybe it’s because i haven’t had one of your davida healthy maven salads. yum yum. happy new year you gorgeous girl.
I would love to eat a salad a day in 2014, but I’m already kind of a fail on that front – no fresh veggies when I came home today (except some carrots which were turned into a soup).
My detox is water, water, water – lots of fresh veggies, keeping the sugar at a minimum and lots of hot yoga. Luckily despite the lack of food in the house I ate pretty clean today – I am pretty pumped sauerkraut is such a PA New Year’s food because it makes a great pair with some broccoli.
Sauerkraut is a PA New YEars food?!?! I learn something new everyday! I made homemade sauerkraut last year and I was obsessed. It’s super easy! For now I’m sticking to poutine until I get home and can start cooking again haha
Yeah, so my first recipe for the year was a cake 🙂 . Unfortunately,, I don’t do resolutions, too much disappointment! Your salad is absolutely gorgeous and I can eat healthy if it looks that good.
Happy New Year!!
I love the idea of aiming for a salad a day… but some days I’m so busy that I only get my veggies in by standing in front of the fridge and gnawing on whole carrots haha! But this salad definitely looks worth the time to make it. I adore sweet potatoes in salads!
We’ll call carrots a salad 😉
I love salads – I need to start being more creative with them and this one looks awesome!!