Episode #40 Walnut & Kale Salad with pomegranate Dressing and special guest Suzie O’Neal
Courtney: Hi, I’m Courtney Uncooked here with my dear friend, Suzie O’Neal and today we’re going to show you how to make a delicious cherry walnut salad. It is out of this world and make sure you stay tuned until the end to hear Susie here, perform her hit single “Any Other Way”. She is amazing. Stay tuned.
Intro: Courtney…Courtney Uncooked. I’m Courtney Uncooked cause that’s how I like my food. The vitamins and the minerals, you know they all 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: Hi, I’m Courtney Uncooked and this is my dear friend, Suzie, and I’m so glad to have you in my kitchen today. And Suzie and I have been friends for about six years. She’s so supportive, so amazing. Anytime I call, she answers anytime I need anything she’s there and you’re just a beautiful, …
Suzie: I love you.
Courtney: Sweet soul. She’s believe it or not more beautiful inside than outside and I’m just so glad to have been friends with you for all these years. And we’ve been friends, you know…
Suzie: We’ve been through it.
Courtney: Yeah, we have. We have. So, speaking about going through it, you know, how are you getting through this time, Suzie? How’s it been going?
Suzie: I think when COVID hit it was tough because you know, everyone at our company went home. We did remote work and I am way too extroverted to…
Courtney: Yeah you are.
Suzie: Be sitting at home in front of Zoom all day. So, I had to find some kind of healthy outlet and what I’ve been doing is a lot of motivational podcasts to start off my day.
Courtney: That’s awesome.
Suzie: Also, I’ve been doing a shake, a vegan plant based shake which is very unlike me, I’m trying new things and it’s been amazing.
Courtney: Suzie is not vegan yet. Right Suzie?
Suzie: Not yet.
Courtney: You said you’re running?
Suzie: I am running. Believe it or not, I am not a runner naturally. It’s not something I love, but I’ve been running outside and actually I want to try that North End-Run Club.
Courtney: Yes, we’re going…
Suzie: Tuesdays.
Courtney: Tuesdays yeah.
Suzie: Tuesdays. So, I want to try that. I want to network with other runners and try and force myself to be one of them so yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing.
Courtney: Yeah. I am the slowest runner….
Suzie: Same.
Courtney: On earth. This is literally what I looked like when I’m running.
Suzie: We’ll be two peas in a pod then.
Courtney: People walking their babies in a baby stroller pass me when I’m running and I’m like, ladies, could you slow down? You’re making me feel bad about myself.
Suzie: Perfect, perfect
Courtney: We’ll run together at Run Club and everything will be good.
Suzie: Sounds good.
Courtney: Alright, well I know you love salad.
Suzie: I do. A salad is basically a food group for me since I’m… I’m not kidding. Since I was like five years old, it’s been my favorite food in the whole world.
Courtney: Well that’s why you look like this Suzie.
Suzie: Yea but I…
Courtney: Because salad is your favorite food.
Suzie: I also am obsessed with pasta, so there’s definitely a…
Courtney: There you go.
Suzie: balance there, but salad is at the top.
Courtney: Good. Well, I think you’re going to love this salad and I don’t think it’s going to be like anything you’ve ever had before, because it’s not like anything I’d ever had before. My chef son Gage, he’s 25, he recently came to visit. He is an amazing classically trained chef. This kid can take two ketchup packets and a salt packet and make a gourmet meal out of it. I mean, he puts Courtney Uncooked to shame, okay. So, he came and he made me this salad and it was delicious. And I’m going to let you make the dressing first because the dressing is so unique. It contains walnut oil.
Suzie: Walnut oil.
Courtney: Yes. Have you ever had walnut oil?
Suzie: I have not.
Courtney: I didn’t even know it was a thing. And so he made it with walnut oil and so it was a delicious, smokey, toasted flavor that I’ve never had.
Suzie: Okay.
Courtney: And then he used pomegranate vinegar. Have you ever had pomegranate vinegar?
Suzie: I love pomegranates, but not vinegar.
Courtney: I didn’t even know it was a thing.
Suzie: Yeah.
Courtney: It’s delicious.
Suzie: Okay.
Courtney: Then a little bit of agave, a little bit of salt and pepper and that is it. It’s amazing. So, I’m going to let you start putting those in our Pampered Chef food processor. Yep, you’re just going to empty them right there.
Suzie: She’s trusting me.
Courtney: So, first… I do, I do. So, you got your walnut oil and then, so I love this manual food processor because you can use it anywhere. Camping, tailgating at run club, you don’t need an outlet or electricity. So, I just really like to keep it simple.
Suzie: Good job.
Courtney: And then just a little salt and pepper to taste.
Suzie: A little salt and pepper. Good job. Yes.
Courtney: Yes. And then you just press down. Isn’t that great?
Suzie: This is amazing. It’s so easy even I can do it.
Courtney: Great, that’s good. So, we’ll just leave that for now.
Suzie: Okay.
Courtney: We’ll make the salad then actually right before we put it on, we’ll just do it again, get it fresh and…
Suzie: Perfect.
Courtney: Then pour it on.
Suzie: Alright.
Courtney: Alright. So, I’ve just got some kale.
Suzie: Kale.
Courtney: Kale Yeah. I’ve got… oh, speaking of kale, why is kale never lonely Suzie?
Suzie: I do not know.
Courtney: Because it comes in bunches. So, I got me a bunch of kale and then I’m going to put in just two cups of shredded red cabbage.
Suzie: It smells so good.
Courtney: And the colors of this salad are amazing. And then some shredded carrots and some diced up and peeled cucumber, one…
Suzie: My favorite.
Courtney: large cucumber.
Suzie: You can never have too much cucumber. There are so many health benefits. I do know that.
Courtney: You do.
Suzie: There’s so much.
Courtney: Tell us. What do we got?
Suzie: Well, I actually don’t know the details but I know there’s so much in them that it’s beneficial to your health.
Courtney: I love you. I love salad recipes. A lot of people think you don’t need a recipe for a salad, but if you don’t, I find that you get caught in the same rut making the same dressings, the same stuff so when I have a new recipe, it just makes me think outside my box. Like I always use red onion.
Suzie: Okay.
Courtney: And he put a sweet white onion in there. It was actually Vidalia onions…
Suzie: Okay.
Courtney: that he put in, which I never use.
Suzie: I use red onion too, so this is good, something new.
Courtney: Exactly. And then some walnuts, which I love and then this is different to, dried cherries. Have you ever messed with dry cherries?
Suzie: I thought they were raisins. They look like huge raisins.
Courtney: No, have one.
Suzie: I want one.
Courtney: That is so good.
Suzie: Oh my God, really good.
Courtney: All right. So, I’m just tossing the salad over here.
Suzie: Tossing the salad.
Courtney: You can refresh the dressing.
Suzie: This smells…this dressing smells amazing.
Courtney: That’s okay.
Suzie: Oh yeah. There’s more than enough for that whole salad.
Courtney: And Gage actually used a cup of walnut oil and it was delicious, but I tried it with a half, this recipe is with a half and it is great with a half a cup. Anytime you can cut down on oil…
Suzie: Right.
Courtney: You know you want to. And a lot of people get on to me and write to me and say, you shouldn’t use oil and they’re right. You shouldn’t really Suzie. You should get oil naturally from foods, from the avocado, from the walnut.
Suzie: Right.
Courtney: From the olives. But you know what? Sometimes we got to have a little fun in life. So, we got a little oil here and I think you’re really going like it.
Suzie: It looks so good.
Courtney: I’ll just serve up a little bit of that.
Suzie: Love your presentation.
Courtney: Thank you. Thank you. Yes. I really, really pride myself on presentation. Oh yes.
Suzie: Presentation doesn’t matter, it’s the taste. That’s what we’re after here. Oh, this looks great.
Courtney: Let’s give it a go and see what you think.
Suzie: That is so good.
Courtney Rapping: Making cherry walnut salad with my girl Suzie. Brace yourself, this one’s a doozy. The dressing is the bomb, it’s totally unique. The pomegranate vinegar was the missing link. I love the dried cherries; I just can’t get enough. This salad builds your muscles and it makes you really tough. No, you don’t need to stove or an oven to cook. Just a blender, dehydrator and Courtney Uncooked.
Suzie Singing: Sometimes I want to jump on a plane to the VA sun or somewhere safe
Where the water’s right, where the water’s just right.
Break away from the land of broken dreams, the same old story, same old scene.
Where the water’s right, where the water’s just right.
When the water seems too high
I’m tired of treading in the deep end, I wanna swim against the tide.
Spent some time in North Carolina, mid Colorado where the Rocky Mountains stand
My life on this road is not always easy, it’s not always what I have prayed
I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Wouldn’t have it any other way.
Wouldn’t have it any other way.