My Fully Belly Salad

I have SO MUCH TO CATCH UP ON!!!

This week is all building up to a massive fundraiser for V’s nursery school and since I’m on the board I seem to be living at the church this week.  No matter! I’m going to set aside some time to blog because I have some things I feel like I must share.

I have created a new favorite Fall salad, but I’m not blogging about that yet.  First off, this weekend.  We went to a live show (podcast) with the kids 🙂

I know I’ve talked about Wow in the World before, but for those who didn’t know, it’s the kids’ favorite science podcast (it’s on NPR).  They looooved it and it was super cute to see them all into it.

All blurry because he was bouncing out of his seat.

The drive into the city was actually a breeze and the location was easy to get to (Fort Mason Center).  And the weather was p e r f e c t.  Like, unbelievably amazing for SF.  We brought jackets, but didn’t need anything, even being right there on the water.

After the show we walked a few blocks over to Plant Cafe Organic, one of my top spots in the city.  I’ve been plenty of times, but never to this location.

I ordered the plant burger on GF bread (because it’s a MUST) and split it with Kyle.  The home-made patty (made from lentils, mushrooms, beets, cashews & bulgur wheat) is heaven.  And it was JUST as good as I remembered it being.  Maybe better??

I also got the Full Belly salad, because it sounded good too, and when you are in a vegan haven like Plant Cafe, you just have to go big.  I didn’t finish it (even though it was SOOO good), but then I had the leftovers later that night for dinner.

As I was menu planning the next day, my mind couldn’t get off that salad!

So I looked up the menu online, and added everything I didn’t already have on hand to my grocery list.

So here it is.  My recreation of the Full Belly salad I had at Plant Cafe Organic.

Looking at the menu online it says it has “mixed greens, Dino kale, Napa cabbage, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, roasted beets, sunflower sprouts, quinoa, avocado, hummus, pickled onions, sunflower seeds, and ginger miso dressing”.

It’s a lot of ingredients, so it’s not exactly the simplest thing to make, but that’s what makes it so good, so it was worth the effort.

You can do a lot of the prep in advance, like making the quinoa and dressing.  And chopping the greens.

The night before I did a quick pickle on some radishes I already had in the fridge in lieu of the pickled onions.

I also had beets already in the fridge (the odds and ends I can string together, I tell ya!).  And even though they were already cooked, I decided to roast them just to be as similar to the OG as possible.  I’m really the only one in my fam who likes beets, so 90% of them were for me.

Just like the salad at Plant, I used Napa cabbage, dino kale, and a tiny bit of mixed greens.

In an effort to reduce my waste, I’m trying to use fewer (slash zero) plastic bags.  The past few times I’ve gone shopping I’ve made the effort to bring herb bags to put loose leaf lettuce in, as well as loose brussels and other things that I’d usually get in plastic.  It’s been a slow process as I learn more, but I’m really trying to consume less.  You may have noticed (although maybe not since I haven’t posted as frequently lately) that I’m going to TJ’s less.  We also stopped our Costco membership.  Both places use so much plastic and wrapping and I just kinda figured if I wanted to really practice what I preach, I had to continue to make steps towards eco-ifying my life.  Here in Davis we are blessed with the ability to do so.  We have farmer’s markets twice a week all year long and a co-op that sells things in bulk without any packages…but even taking little steps is better than nothing.  Nugget is happy to let me use my own bags too.

So that bag of loose greens was half spinach and half spring mix.

Which I only added at the end, followed by the medley of kale, cabbage, shredded carrots, tricolor quinoa, and dressing.

For the dressing I used an inch of fresh ginger pulsed in the blender with an equal amount of miso paste, canola oil, water, sesame oil, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup, and tamari.

Massage massage massage.

These tomatoes are from the garden.

I scooped it all into individual bowls and then added the rest of the toppings after – cucumber slices, tomatoes, sunflower seeds, cilantro, hummus and avocado.

Daaaaaang.  My hummus cravings are in full swing after the weekend and I couldn’t resist buying a tub of my #1 gal, Sabra classic.  Some things are classic for a reason.

I felt super full after this, but still found room for dessert later.  😉

Full Belly Salad [vegan]

Ingredients:

• 1/2 bunch (6 leaves) dino kale, shredded
• 1/2 head of Napa cabbage, shredded
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup mixed greens
• 1 1/2 cups tri-color quinoa,  cooked with water per package instructions
• 1 Persian cucumber, sliced
• 1/2 cup sliced pickled radishes
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup roasted sunflower seeds
• 4 beets, quartered and roasted
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves
• 2 avocados, sliced
• 1/4 cup hummus
• ginger miso dressing

Ginger Miso Dressing

• 1 inch peeled ginger
• 1 tbsp mellow miso paste
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1 tbsp maple syrup

Blend until smooth.