Super-Green Winter Salad {Paleo, Vegan}

Happy New Year!

If you have found this post, then you have found my New Year’s surprise: enlightened cooking has a new name and a new home, Power Hungry and powerhungry.com! I am really thrilled. A few tweaks are still in process (like the recipe categories–they will be complete very soon! You can still search for recipes using the blog search engine at the left), but I could not wait any longer to share the good news.

Like any kind of move, the reasons for this one are multi-fold. The primary reason, though, is that when I  began writing enlightened cooking back in December 2007, I did not have a clear vision for the blog. I knew I wanted to share my easy, healthy recipes, but…to be honest, I didn’t have a plan beyond that. Part of the reason was that Nick was only 1-1/2 years old at the time and was still not sleeping through the night; finding your focus with more than a year of sleep-deprivation is never easy!

But as I continued to post over the years (and get more sleep!), I realized I had found my focus by default: the recipes I was posting were for the foods I was making for myself and my family, to power us through busy days and to power me through my second career as a fitness instructor and trainer. I short, I was power hungry, and that’s what my blog was reflecting. Hence, powerhungry.com. So much easier to spell and remember than enlightenedcooking.blogspot.com, too!

To kick off the New Year and the new digs, I am offering my supergreen salad, chock full of winter vegetables and general yumminess. Kevin made fun of it as I prepped (especially the kale, which he thinks he doesn’t like), but ended up LOVING it–raw kale and all! Trust me–that is high praise indeed.

So, here ‘s to a year of great health, including plenty of easy, empowering eats!

(P.S. I would love it if you “like” me on my new powerhungry facebook page and/or share the news with friends!)

Super-Green Winter Salad {Paleo, Vegan}

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• Author: Camilla
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 5 mins
• Total Time: 20 mins
• Yield: 6 1x

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Ingredients

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• Salad:
• 1/4 cup raw green pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
• 1 small head broccoli, cut into florets (save stems for soups or slaw)
• 1 bunch kale, center ribs removed, washed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 1/2 large head Romaine, washed and torn into bite-size pieces
• 2 stalks celery, trimmed, sliced on the diagonal
• 1 large avocado, peeled, seeded and diced
• Optional: 1/2 cup crumbled soft goat cheese (leave off for Paleo or vegan)
• Dressing:
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried tarragon leaves
• 1 tsp honey or agave nectar
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 tsp EACH fine sea salt and cracked black pepper

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Instructions

1. Salad: Place the pepitas in a medium, dry skillet. Set the skillet over medium high heat and toast the pepitas, shaking pan lightly, for 1-2 minutes until the seeds puff up, smell fragrant, and make a popping sound. Transfer to a dish to cool.
2. Prepare steamer; steam the broccoli for 1-2 minutes until bright green (alternatively, blanch the broccoli for 30 seconds in a saucepan of boiling water). Transfer broccoli to a colander and run under cold water to cool; pat dry thoroughly with clean dish towel.
3. In a large bowl, combine the broccoli, kale, lettuce, celery, avocado and optional goat cheese.
4. Dressing: Place all of the dressing ingredients in a lidded container or jar; secure the lid then shake vigorously to combine. Pour over salad, gently tossing to coat. Sprinkle with the pepitas and serve.

Notes

Be sure to dry the broccoli thoroughly as noted in the recipe; water that is left clinging to the broccoli will dilute the dressing, as well as make the salad soggy.