a wee bit o’ brunch
Crispy, crunchy, juicy, tangy, salty, savory, lemony, luscious. Mouth-wateringly delicious.
A baked wild alaskan salmon burger on a bed of lightly steamed green kale. Topped with a sprinkling of nutritional yeast, raw sesame seeds, a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of extra virgin olive oil, a bit of dijon mustard, pinch of celtic sea salt.
The salmon was incredible…it comes frozen from Costco for a steal of a deal at about $1 per burger.My food doesn’t often make it from pan to plate before I demolish it, but today I just felt the need to make it yummy AND pretty . Enough eating out of the pan standing up; this was a sit-down meal, though it was only 10:30 A.M. I was joined by Zia, who loves steamed kale and liked the lemon-dressed salmon, too. Sesame seeds still frighten her.
I used to always eat kale and spinach raw, but now I lightly steam my dark leafy greens. The cell walls of vegetables are made of cellulose, which is hard for our bodies to break down, so when you eat them completely raw, you don’t really assimilate all the nutrients in them. On the other hand, cooking live foods destroys the life-giving enzymes, so you want to just steam them very lightly. When you start to see a change in texture and color, you’ll know you’ve gotten through the barrier that inhibits the nutrients, and your body will have the very best chance to reap those nutrients.
The other way (actually a better way) to break down vegetable cellulose is to ferment raw vegetables, but this takes a lot more time and energy, and most people in our culture are so unfamiliar with the taste that it’s hard for them to enjoy naturally fermented foods. (Unless you love sour as much as I do: I ferment my kombucha tea for 2 or 3 months before I drink it, and I culture my raw goat yogurt for 2 or 3 days. Yum.)
Another key to getting the most out of your veggies is to drizzle them with a good expeller-pressed oil, such as extra virgin olive oil. That way you can assimilate the fat-soluble vitamins as well.
I’ll just jump off my soap box now, before I start in on the benefits of wild-caught salmon over farmed salmon, or before I go into the multiple boons of sesame seeds. Or the cleansing benefits of fresh lemon, or how much better celtic sea salt is for you than regular table salt. And the awesome B-vitamins in nutritional yeast…I’ll save all that for another day!
Greens only, today. Ok, I know, I’m a day late. Happy St. Patrick’s Day anyway, everybody!!
