MASSAGING KALE

QUEEN OF GREENS

We have all heard that we should eat our greens. Kale is the QUEEN of greens! Most people think it is a decoration on a dish, too hard to be chewed and impossible to be enjoyed. I beg to differ.

GETTING PRESENT

I found my mind wandering to uncomfortable places this holiday season. I used the kale massage to make a delicous salad and to concentrate on the present moment. Feeling the kale in my hands, the oil and salt breaking down the tough exterior, smelling the fragrant oil, experiencing the bright green color... Sometimes, a little massage, is good for everyone!

LEARNING FROM MOM

My mom massaged kale over Thanksgiving with fragrant, extra virgin olive oil and Himalayan salt. Her hands were softened and moisturized, her mood, present and peaceful, and talk about really putting love in your food. Does it get more loving than massaging your food?

CHEW TO A PASTE

Chewing and grinding raw leaves, all the way to a paste, helps the digestion process exponentially. Vegetarian animals from cows to horses, dinosaurs and giraffes, have enormous strong bones and convert plant protein into fabulous muscles. Chewing is our first step to transforming food into joy and then into nutrition.

MASSAGING YOUR GREENS

Massaging Kale begins to crack the cellulose, soften the leaves and reduce their size and volume. It encourages us to eat more kale with less surface area, and it helps break up some of the leaves inherent bitterness, improving the eating pleasure and it is also is easier to chew. Massage for about 5 minutes until reduced in size and softened. Enjoy the process.

ENZYMES Raw vegetables contain the living enzymes that help us to digest them in the first place. It is challenging to digest raw greens because of the tough cell walls that make up our raw roughage, (cellulose), but don't let this idea stop you... We may not have two stomachs like a cow to break down cellulose, but we've got brains and brawn and well, maybe even a little affection to give to the king. Let's give it a massage.

MASSAGED KALE RECIPE

Soak and rinse one head of curly kale.

Remove the stems, stack on top of one another, roll like a tight burrito and sliver the leaves fine. Cut in the other direction a couple of times to make smaller pieces.

Place in a large bowl.

Drizzle 2 Tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil

Sprinkle 1/2 tsp. Himalayan salt

Massage for 3 to 5 minutes.

Enjoy the massaging process as a way to be present.

Squeeze the juice of 1/2 lemon over Kale.

Add:

a dash of pepper

1/4 cup pine nuts.

1 small tomato, diced

2 Tbsp. dried cranberry

Toss and serve.