Meals in a flash

The busier I get, the more essential it becomes to plan ahead for quick meals and snacks on the go. Otherwise, I end up eating Larabars and apples 3x a day. {I’m not kidding}. The problem? I hate planning.

I like to eat what I crave, especially more so in the last few months when I’ve been eating entirely intuitively and have gotten back into my “healthy groove”- I no longer crave any of the yucky faux-foods I used to crave. I do my best to plan out dinners for every night of the week I’m home, and satisfy all my cravings at breakfast and lunchtime instead. But sometimes my busy days turn into busy nights, and I am left with no time to think about dinner, let alone make an elaborate meal!

I’ve told you all my secret for making a dinner in 10 minutes flat. But sometimes, I don’t even have ten minutes! I know. Usually I am also incredibly hungry, or running out the door when this happens. Just the way I roll sometimes. That’s when Speedy Chef mode turns on and  I need to figure out something, quick. So I glance through my fridge and try to come up with something on a whim. Sometimes it’s a total gem like my latest white beans with kale pesto and roasted tomatoes. Sometimes it’s a whole bunch of kale smashed with some lemon juice and tamari. And sometimes, it’s something unexpectedly delicious.

I had some kelp noodles hanging out in my fridge, and I remembered Gena posting a recipe for a kelp noodle salad a short while back. So after some quick searching, I discovered her recipe. Sounded delicious, but I didn’t have any cucumber and I wanted something full-meal worthy. So I whipped up a batch of her delicious date mustard dressing (seriously drink-able) and added a couple of ingredients I had on hand… voila! One of the quickest, and tastiest meals I’ve had in a while. It also happens to be gluten-free, vegan and high-raw. Best of all? Super portable because it doesn’t require any heating.

Simple Kelp Noodle  & Kale Salad bowl
Serves 2 

1 package kelp noodles, drained and rinsed
1/2 large bunch kale, chopped
1 can organic adzuki beans, drained and rinsed
small handful dulse, torn
1 batch Date Mustard Dressing (recipe here)

1. Massage kelp noodles in a bowl of very warm water until softened slightly. Drain well.

2.  In a large bowl, massage kale with a couple tablespoons of dressing until wilted. Mix in noodles, beans, dulse and enough dressing to coat, or to taste.

3. Divide between bowls. Pack and go or devour.

Optional additions: Raw veggies (cucumber, as in the original recipe, would work really well, but anything you’d like, really!), a different type of sea veg, nuts/seeds of your choice to garnish

This is why I encourage everyone to play around a bit in the kitchen. Use inspiration from everything you see- something in a magazine, on the Food Network, on a blog, and use what you have. I plan enough that I  always have food in the fridge, it’s just tossing it together. Keep it wholesome and use fresh ingredients and chances are, you’ll come up with something delicious.

**And the winners of Meghan’s Green Smoothie Cleanse E-books are…
#5 and #9… Hayley and Krissy!

Congrats, ladies! Email me your info at cookbakenibble [at] gmail.com and we’ll send you your voucher!**

xo

Tagged as: easy, quick, raw, vegan, vegetarian