My First Kale Salad

Woah, sorry for my laze-induced absence from PLB!  I was on spring break for the last week and a half, so naturally I had BIG plans and an even bigger to-do list (i.e.: spring clean the apt., do portfolio, finish NYC teaching application, clean out the fridge...) Fast forward to today, and I only have a clean fridge.  I guess it's better than nothing, right?  Yesterday, though I came to the realization that things need to change around here.  As fun as it has been drinking fancy beers with J, catching up on Breaking Bad, and stuffing my face with carbs - I'm pretty sure my bod doesn't appreciate it.  I tried on my bridesmaid dress for my cousin's wedding, and it doesn't fit - HOLY CRAP, I haven't had anything not fit in at least 3 years!  So Erica - I'm doing this for you girl because I know you don't want a stuffed sausage in your bridal party ;)
After my heart attack trying the dress on I knew I needed a plan.  Here's how that went:

1. Start crying
2. Start feeling bad for myself and convince myself that I'm just one of those people that can't lose weight as a vegan even though I work so hard 
3. Realize that I have eaten hardcore carbs with every meal (bread, bagels, pasta...) paired with at least 4 beers (and not light ones) every night for the past 10 days 
4. Remember that I have slacked on cardio
5. ...Admit that I have a problem - hey that's the first step right??

SO I am majorly upping my veggie intake, limiting wheat ...and banning beer :(  (Don't worry though we bought a large bottle of vodka and some seltzer last night - you didn't think I was going to stop drinking did you?)

My plan is to have carbs with one meal a day - let's see how that goes!  

One problem is that I am so not a salad person, I get super bored with them and need to mix them up all the time.  I decided to make a kale salad today because, well, I'm a fat cow right now - remember?

I was a little scared of kale salads, so if you are too don't worry I can now say they are pretty good!  

Fool around with the ingredients all you want, this my version of a kale salad I found on Oh She Glows with dressing from Veganomicon (amaz cook book!!)

Red Kale Salad with Miso Tahini Dressing

Ingredients - Salad 

• About 4 cups red kale - chopped, rinsed & dried well
• 1 cup chopped cucumber
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots 
• Handful of Gogi berries (can sub craisins)
• Handful of walnuts - I just broke them up into the salad 
• 2 TBSP chia seeds 

Ingredients - Dressing

• 1/4 C white mellow miso
• 1/4 C tahini
• 1/4 (or more) warm water 

Directions

• Wash and dry your kale - I chopped it up and threw it in a salad spinner
• Put kale in a medium sized bowl
• Chop up cukes and carrots - throw them in the bowl to hang with the kale
• Make your dressing, so easy: put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk it up, add more water if you want to thin it out - this recipe is way more dressing than you need so you can transfer it to a container now if you want 
• Pour about 1/4 cup of dressing over the veggies 
• Massage the dressing in to the kale ;) 
• Let it all come together in the fridge for about 15 minutes
• Clean up that big mess you just made 
• When you're ready to eat sprinkle in the chia seeds & walnuts 
• Enjoy!!

Peas & Love,

~L