Mindful Eating: Who’s Got Time? To Make Kale Salad w/Peanut Butter Sauce and Goji
This recipe is a favorite of everybody, especially me. And because it is raw vegan with a roasted peanut butter sauce, it reminds me of mindful eating.
Put peanut butter on just about anything, and it tastes good! So dressing raw kale– the most nutrient dense green leafy veggie on the planet, with peanut butter is a win/win. Because the kale is raw, the nutrients nourish the body, you’ll feel it. And the peanut butter sauce with Goji and strawberries tantalize the taste buds, satisfy our mouth feel and sweet tooth, and makes us think we are eating something decadent. When really it’s superhealthy!
This is what I call MINDFUL EATING. It is taking the time to plan, prepare, and enjoy the tastes we love.
RAW KALE WITH PEANUT BUTTER SAUCE AND GOJI
from “The 100 Best Gluten-free Recipes for Your Vegan Kitchen”
4 cups thinly sliced dinosaur kale 
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 cup chunky peanut butter
1/4 cup rice or coconut vinegar
1/4 cup Nature’s Agave
3 tablespoons Bragg’s liquid aminos
1/3 cup Navitas Naturals Goji Berries
1 quart fresh strawberries, washed and sliced
In large mixing bowl, add slice kale with lemon juice, olive oil, and sea salt. Massage the wet ingredients into kale until kale wilts. Mix in sliced onion; set aside.
In medium mixing bowl, whisk together peanut butter, rice vinegar, agave, and Bragg’s. Pour wet mixture onto prepared kale. Toss in Goji berries and prepared strawberries. Serve immediately.
Note: Skip strawberries, or only add as eaten as the strawberries will only taste good when served immediately. This is because the vinegar will make the strawberries taste fermented if left in the fridge over 24 hours.
Yield: 5 cups.
The Latest Thing to Happen to Me About Mindful Eating:
I usually look and feel 10-15 years younger due to my healthy lifestyle and mindful eating. I didn’t come across this behavior naturally, it was actually do or die. From age 35-39, over 1/3 of my hair fell out and I was balding. I thought, “This is my best asset, I can’t loose it!” Always a sugar addict/compulsive over eater, I was desperate to heal my hair and my body. Going sugar-free/gluten-free not only helped my heal my hair and grow back, I healed my sugar addiction and lost 50 pounds. I am now the most mindful eater I know! And I am so grateful. Here’s why…
Three weeks ago, I took a 9-5 job to enhance my understanding of internet business– which was actually a
7 am – 6 pm job. Working from home these past six years as an expert healthy chef afforded me the luxury of practicing a total regime of mindful eating and receiving the benefits from it. Now, I was doing eleven hours in the in can, and my mindful eating was railroaded right off the tracks. Even though I had strong tools of healthy choices and portion control in place, they barely carried me through the rigor of getting at 4:50 am and sitting in front of a computer until 6 pm, plus even though I was learning what I set out to achieve, I was admittedly unhappy and not fulfilled. And that’s because I couldn’t be 100% committed to my health 24-7. Suddenly, I felt badly for everyone everywhere who had a full-time job and didn’t have the time for healthy eating. I knew what it felt like to have limited time to be to shop and prepare whole fruits and vegetables, organic proteins, and sugar-friendly/gluten-free desserts.
Packing my lunch went out the door. I only had time to pack snacks, which were all gone by 11 am because I speedily ate them. Then, I would turn to coffee. Coffee and I don’t mix. The caffeine would crash my blood sugar and make me want to eat more than I needed. Then I would try to balance it all out and buy a healthy salad for lunch. For the average person, this could be batting a thousand, but for me, it was well below my standard of mindful eating. Buying food out at a store when stressed and unhappy was dangerous for me. I had to curb my spending and budget. I saw the stress of the job was causing me to purchase extra good-for-you-foods like rice cakes and Think Thin bars. Nothing wrong with these snacks, it just that I would eat half the bag or more than one bar. The time commitment stressed my body and mind to the max. I lasted three only weeks, and quit! It’s because deep health and natural beauty are what I value most, they are my greatest success and what I hold true and close to my heart. I don’t regret taking the job. It taught me what I love and value most, my health. And so much of my health depends on what and how I eat.
I went back to basics and planned my food for the day. I love the health benefits and appreciate my life more because of my mindful eating. This is all due to my sugar-free/gluten-free and flexitarian food practice of planning, preparation, and prayer. I plan my meals and snacks first and make a shopping list. I prepare all my fruits and vegetables for juicing and snacks and store them in Tupperware so they are ready to eat, even on the go. And prayer is to remind me to receive the benefits of healthy glowing skin, better sleep, trim body, steady blood sugar, and ability to access my happiness frequently through out the day. I am so grateful for who I am and who I have become as a person and as an expert chef. The tools I’ve created for myself saved my life. I could’ve gained 10 pounds and be miserable, but I didn’t.
I bounced back.
Nature’s Agave vs. Madhava Taste Test
At my raw vegan, sugar-free gluten-free cooking class last week, I surprised my class with a new agave product, Nature’s Agave. This is my new choice of agave because it is premium and has the lowest glycemic index of any agave I’ve tried. Coming in at only a 17 GI, it is far lower than most agave rating a 50 GI. A food is considered a low glycemic food if it rates at 50 or below. For me, 50 is high as I can feel it when I eat it. So for me, Nature’s Agave is the obvious health choice. I want to taste my food and be energized from it, not blown away by the sugar rushes and crashes. From a culinary pov, Nature’s Agave has a premium taste and quality unlike any other I’ve tried. It made our recipes sing.
In the taste test video, you will see a candid shot of my student, Susanne, tasting Nature’s Agave for the first time and comparing it to Madhava. While Nature’s Agave is a few more dollars, it is worth every penny when it tastes light, not sugary, and doesn’t spike my blood sugar at all.
Use these simple recipes with agave to replace high glycemic sweeteners like white sugar, brown sugar, molasses, honey, maple syrup, and high fructose corn syrup.
Easy Uses for Agave in Recipes
1. Drinks
Use agave in your morning hot beverage and you’ll have found the first alternative sweetener that has no aftertaste. It tastes great, too.
Coffee and Tea with Agave
8 oz prepared coffee or black, green, or rooibos herbal tea
1 teaspoon agave
1 – 2 tablespoons creamer
Pour prepared coffee, black, green, or rooibos herbal tea into cup. Stir in agave. Add in your choice of non-dairy creamer or milk.
Yield: 1, 8 oz serving
2. Smoothies
A simple smoothie using ice instead of fruit can be used for a 10 o’clock or 3 o’clock snack. And with a just a teaspoon of agave, it will make your life sweeter.
Sugar-free Smoothie with Agave
8 oz water or milk
1 scoop sugar-free chocolate or vanilla flavored protein powder
1/2 cup ice
1 teaspoon agave
To blender, add water or milk, protein powder, ice, and agave. Blend on low and increase speed to high for 30 seconds. Pour into 16 oz glass.
Yield: 1, 12 oz serving
3. Hot Cereal
Don’t dump maple syrup all over your breakfast. Try agave on hot oatmeal or quinoa. Your breakfast will last you all morning long without giving you sugar crashes.
Sugar-free Hot Quinoa Cereal with Agave
1 cup water
1/3 cup Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes
1 teaspoons agave
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
dollop of your choice of milk
1/2 cup fresh berries
In medium sauce pan, add water and Ancient Harvest quinoa flakes. Bring to a boil stirring constantly for 90 seconds until cooked. Transfer mixture to a small cereal bowl. Stir in agave and cinnamon. Top with milk and fresh berries.
Yield: 1, 1 1/2 cup serving
4. Yogurt
The best way to buy and eat yogurt is plain, nonfat. Then add your own flavorings like vanilla bean and use agave to sweeten without spiking your blood sugar levels.
Sugar-free Vanilla Yogurt with Agave
1 cup plain, fat-free yogurt
1 teaspoons agave
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract or bean
Place plain, fat-free yogurt in a small serving bowl. Stir in agave and vanilla extract until well blended.
Yield: 1, 1 cup serving