This salad is bursting with nutrition and summer goodness. If you live where blueberry picking is possible, go do it NOW!! Blueberries are amazing fruit powerhouses, filled with delicious flavor and antioxidants. They freeze amazingly well, with much of their original nutritional value remaining undamaged by the process. In our area, the season is pretty much at its end, but there are still some local ones to be had.
Freshly picked greens are soft and delicious. I have never however loved kale completely raw before. That is until now. When kale has been massaged with a fat of some kind, it loosens the cell walls and begins to soften without cooking it. The benefit is a cooked texture, while still being raw and maintaining a high nutritional value. Often times people have a harder time digesting raw foods. The act of massaging the kale starts the break down the cell walls, making it not just softer in texture, but easier to digest. Growing your own greens is very easy. They can grow from cold weather in the spring, to cold weather in the fall. We cover them to shade them during the heat of summer.
By using avocado, you get the added benefits of the omega 3-fatty acids that avocado has, as well getting a great dose of folate, Vitamins K, E, C, and fiber. Kale is packed with calcium and protein and is great way to get calcium from a plant-based source, as well as being low in calories. In 1 cup of chopped kale there’s 33 calories and 9% of the daily value of calcium, 206% of vitamin A, 134% of vitamin C, and a whopping 684% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of miner Blueberries also weigh in with a hearty dose of anti-inflammatory properties and are packed with Vitamin K and C, as well as boosting immunity and decreasing inflammation.
Ingredients:
- 6 cup kale
- 1 avocado
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup finely chopped cucumber
- 1/2 cup blueberries
- freshly ground pepper and pinch of salt
- *optional: I topped ours with a few crushed pecans
Instructions:
- Peel avocado, and mash in a bowl
- Add in cup fulls of kale at a time, massaging the leaves and squishing the avocado along with the leaves. You will notice the leaves softening and becoming darker
- Continue to add kale until you reach your desired ratio of leaves to avocado (for me it was 6 cups)
- Add in lemon juice, freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of salt, mix again
- Add in cucumber and blueberries, mix and serve topped with optional nuts
Nutritional Benefits:
- Packed with fiber; 7.3 g/serving, helps to lower cholesterol, decrease inflammation, clean digestive tract, reduce blood pressure, regulate blood sugar levels, and increases satiety
- High in antioxidants: helps reduce frisk of many forms of cancer and boost immunity: 414% of Vitamin A, which boosts skin, eye, bone, and dental health as well as maintaining healthy blood pressure, 292% Vitamin C, which helps boost immunity
- High in potassium: 975 mg; great source to help lower blood pressure, maintain heart rate, regulate nervous system and kidney function
- High in omega 3-fatty acids; improves heart health
- Good source of plant-based calcium: 19% in 1 serving, more readily available form of calcium for body absorption
- 16% iron daily needs: boosts oxygenation in blood
- Anti-inflammatory
- Gluten Free and Vegan
- 6 cup kale
- 1 avocado
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 cup finely chopped cucumber
- ½ cup blueberries
- freshly ground pepper and pinch of salt
- *optional: I topped ours with a few crushed pecans
- Peel avocado, and mash in a bowl
- Add in cup fulls of kale at a time, massaging the leaves and squishing the avocado along with the leaves. You will notice the leaves softening and becoming darker
- Continue to add kale until you reach your desired ratio of leaves to avocado (for me it was 6 cups)
- Add in lemon juice, freshly ground pepper, and a pinch of salt, mix again
- Add in cucumber and blueberries, mix and serve topped with optional nuts
