Episode 11: Paige’s Go To Kale Salad with special guest Paige Welch
Intro: Courtney….Courtney Uncooked. I’m Courtney Uncooked cause that’s how I like
my food. The vitamins and the minerals, you know they are get through. Absorbed into the body
so that nothing gets lost, When you start eating raw of your health you’ll be the
boss. Raw vegan for my health and you know that health is wealth. To help you stay
your best, we will welcome special guests. So let’s go make a recipe and have lots of fun,
Your healthy living journey has just begun cause I’m Courtney….Courtney Uncooked.
Courtney….Courtney Uncooked.
Courtney: Hi and welcome to Courtney Uncooked. I’m Courtney and this is my dear
friend, Paige Welch, back again to show us how to make her delicious, what we call
Paige’s “Go to Kale Salad”. And Paige has an amazing company called Empowered
Plant Cakes where she spends all day long making raw vegan, gluten-free cakes. They
are so good! Paige is like, I call her the Yoda of raw food. She’s 27 she’s been vegan for
six years. She’s been making raw vegan cakes. At 21 you don’t even want to know
what I was doing! It’s scary! So I’m proud of Paige and everything she’s accomplished
at such a young age. So thank you for joining us Paige and let’s make some kale salad.
But before we do that, please remember to like Courtney Uncooked on Facebook,
follow Courtney Uncooked on Instagram, and of course, subscribe to my YouTube
channel. And remember to hit that notification bell so that each week you can get a free
raw vegan recipe, that I have tested and tasted and I have wasted lots of time, money
and energy trying bad raw vegan recipes to bring you all only the best.
Courtney: This is definitely one of them today. One of the best recipes, with one of the
best raw vegan chefs I know. So take it away Paige.
Paige: Okay. Oh yeah. Yes. So we start out with a bunch of chopped curly kale. So we
did this beforehand.
Courtney: Yeah, she had me wash it really good and spin it dry in a salad spinner and
chop it up into little bits.
Paige: And the great thing about this salad is, you can add all the little stems of the kale
into this salad. You just want to chop them up super finely but, it’s a great way to use all
of the kale.
Courtney: Which is something I learned today because I usually like to just rip my kale
off by hand down the stem into bite-sized pieces, leaving the stem. But by chopping it
and not using your hands, you can use just the tiny little pieces of stem and it gives it a
delicious crunch and a whole new texture, which I didn’t know. So that’s why I love
having Paige over because I always learn something new.
Paige: So after we got the kale going, we’re going to add in a whole avocado. Okay.
Courtney: You’re not going to chop it up or anything, you’re just going to put it in there?
Paige: Nope, we’re just going to add it right in, and you want to make sure it’s a ripe
avocado. It is super important otherwise if it’s too hard, you’re not going to be able to
mash it into the dressing. And so this is also a great recipe to use up those old, not old
avocados, but avocados where they’re going to ripe and you don’t know what to do with
them, this is what I throw them into. Right after that, we’re going to add in the juice of
one lemon.
Courtney: And I love this squeezer, so I’m just going to squeeze it nice and evenly. It’s
up to you. And then, I’m going to put in a teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar from
Bragg’s and a teaspoon, just a tiny little bit of oil calm down, just a teaspoon of olive oil
or another great oil is avocado oil, if you have that. Salt, some really good high-quality
salt, just a teaspoon, and then.
Paige: A little bit of cayenne.
Courtney: Paige taught me this. Why do we add cayenne, Paige?
Paige: So the cayenne is going to help boost your metabolism and the apple cider
vinegar in here that is full of probiotics as well as the beet sauerkraut we’re going to add
in later to the salad. And that’s all going to help you digest all these really good greens.
Everything is in here, and that’s the dressing. So we’re going to take our hands, you’re
going to get a little messy. So make sure you have clean hands and we’re just going to
massage this dressing right into the kale.
Courtney: And so tell us why it’s important to do this by hand and not, you’re not mixing
it up and using tongs and things like that? Why are you doing this by hand?
Paige: Well by massaging the kale, it’s going to wilt down a lot and it makes the kale
softer and easier to chew. It’s just a more enjoyable experience and it’s really important
since we did add that cayenne in there, you want to make sure you toss this really well.
That way you’re not getting bites of cayenne in there.
Courtney: So one thing Paige, we’re adding today, which I’ve never had before, is beet
sauerkraut. And why do we like the beet sauerkraut? I’m excited to try to beet
sauerkraut! Go ahead and put it in.
Paige: Well, yeah, it’s raw and fermented. So once again, you’re getting those good
probiotics and look how pretty the beets look with that kale. It just adds such a nice
color and I don’t care what people say, people eat with their eyes. And when you’re
adding in all these pretty colors, it really just adds it to the next level.
Courtney: And then we’ll add some carrots. Now usually we shred these carrots, but
Paige said we don’t have to so today I’m having it a little bit different, we just chopped
up some carrots. We’re gonna put those in there. Chopped up an onion, you should’ve
seen her chop it up in like two seconds. Oh. And then delicious hemp seeds on the top.
Now, what made you choose hemp seeds? Because you put hemp seeds in everything
I noticed Paige. Why is that?
Paige: I like hemp seeds, it’s adding extra protein and nutrients and you really can’t
taste them. This is a kale salad. I have a six-year-old and he’s not a salad person, but
he will eat this out.
Courtney: Kale yeah, he will.
Paige: So we’ve got all these ingredients in here and then we’re going to take those
tongs back and we’re going to toss them in here. So we went with beets, and carrots
and onions. These are really good vegetables that you can find locally and seasonally.
Say if you’re making this in the summer, you could add fresh herbs, like basil,
blueberries. You can really taylor this to what you have around. Alright, so we’re mixing
that around. Looks good.
Courtney: That looks good! It smells good! So you don’t want to do this part with your
hands?
Paige: There’s no need to at this point. You can but it isn’t necessary.
Courtney: How do you like my dishes?
Paige: I love that!
Courtney: Got them from Kitchen Barn. I love them too! That looks good! Now, how
many days a week would you say you have this salad?
Paige: I eat a variety of this salad all the time, this is my go-to.
Courtney: Now when you say a variety, what are some other things you’re doing?
Paige: Well this salad is cool. We squeeze lemon into it earlier, but you could do a lime,
an orange. There are just so many different things. Instead of hemp seeds, you could
use chia seeds, sesame seeds, just different varieties of things.
Courtney: Now you said two salads, but this is pretty heavy.
Paige: I don’t know, I eat a lot of salad.
Courtney: What you could do, if you had anything else with this, you could have four
salads, four substantial salads if you made it with, you know, some vegan meatballs,
some raw meatballs or something like that. But this is beautiful. Okay, I’m going to give
it a go here Paige. Why does it taste better when you do it? Every time, it tastes so
good!
Courtney Rapping: We’re making Paige’s Go-to Kale salad. This stuff is so good it
makes me want to sing about it. I love the hemp seeds and the chopped onions. Like a
party in my mouth, it’s always so dang fun. Beet sauerkraut takes it to a whole new
level, makes me feel naughty like a little vegan devil. You don’t need a stove or an oven
to cook. Just a blender, dehydrator and Courtney Uncooked.