raw salad – Trading Paper Crowns

Not only do I feel like I am a natural harvester when I chow down on this guilt-free salad, I feel like my internal organs are getting a good scrub down by the awesome, detoxing ingredients in this caveman meal.

Everything in this little mixture of greens is so good for you. It has crunch, tang and a little bit of savory flavor. Can it really get better than this? You will not – and I repeat – will not miss the meat in this little meal. The Brussels sprouts fill up that tummy and provide that fleshy goodness.

You will need: 1 green onion, 1 pinch of cilantro leaves, 2 handfuls of organic salad mix, 8 Brussels sprouts (cooked and sautéed with onions), 1 handful of almonds (chopped), ½ avocado and homemade Italian dressing.

Literally all you have to do is mix these all together and enjoy. You will want to chop the green onion and the cilantro (in order to make bite size pieces). Simply, add them to the salad mixture.

Sauté the Brussels sprouts in olive oil with chopped yellow onions. I typically let these sit the fridge for a couple days, after they are cooked, in order to soak in that onion flavor. Dump your plump Brussels sprouts into your green salad mixture.

In a food processor, place in a handful of almonds. And pulse – so you get little nuggets of almond pieces. Pour these crumbles over the greens.

Add your chopped avocado half – and then douse with dressing. Click on this link to find out how to make the best salad dressing that I have ever tasted – here.

Enjoy your detox salad.

I cannot take all the credit for this salad. Last weekend, I visited my mom and sister in Texas and learned this yummy recipe from them (of course, I changed it a tad to my taste).

Raw food is so good for you and so is kale. So, this little cold, refreshing salad is a homerun.

This strawberry kale salad is perfect for a side salad at dinner or just an addictive lunch bite. The sunflower seeds give it a little crunch and the apple cider vinegar really erases the potent taste of the rich kale.

You will need: 1 bag (or head) of kale, ½ cup raw sunflower seeds, ½ zucchini, 1 avocado, 5 tbsp. Newman’s Own Raspberry Vinaigrette, 5 strawberries, 5 tbsp. apple cider vinegar.

First, dump your kale into a large mixing bowl. Pour your apple cider vinegar on top of the fresh kale leaves. This is an important part – massage the vinegar into the leaves with your hands. This may take about 10 minutes. (No joke, do not skip out on this part).

Look at this beautiful salad!

After massaging the vinegar in, add in the raspberry dressing and massage once again for about 5 minutes.

Mash up aw hole avocado into a green paste. Once, it looks like unseasoned guacamole, add this into the kale mixture and massage once again.

I used a vegetable spiral slicer to make zucchini noodles. You only need about ½ of a zucchini; but feel free to add more to the salad mixture. Mix these in with your hands.

Add ½ cup of raw sunflower seeds. These do not have salt in them (so way better for you!)

Lastly, chop up tiny pieces of strawberry and gently fold them into your salad. Set in the fridge and enjoy for dinner, chilled. Or box it up for a little yummy work lunch the next day.