So simple, so tasty. Rucola Fennel salad with Tamari dressing

Recently I discovered a new favorite salad. It’s boasting of flavors, extremely alkalizing and perfect as a light lunch, or a side to another dish. Besides that it’s super easy and only takes a couple of minutes to assemble (if you prewash all your greens in advance as I do. Otherwise it might take 2min more ;). And the best of it, its ingredients make it a true powerhouse for your immune system!

Rucola, also known as rocket, contains high levels of vitamin C which fights against free radicals, toxins and boosts resistance to viruses and infections. It also contains lots of vitamin K and A, floats  and has several cancer fighting substances in high concentration. BOOM!

Fennel gives it a very nice, sweetish complimentary flavor. I have been loving fennel since I was a child and will never understand why quite some people don’t like it, but well – different people, different tastes, right?! It’s particular flavor comes from a high concentration of Anethole which has anti-fungal and anti-bacterial properties. Fennel has anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects and also contains good levels of potassium (good for the ❤ )and has a soothing effect on you bowels (the give fennel seed tea to babies for a reason!).

This list could go on and on about the positive effects of sunflower seeds, fresh coriander & apple cider vinegar which this recipe also contain, but enough talking of theory. Let’s get started with the recipe!

All you need….
For the salad

• 2 hands full of rucola (cleaned)
• slivered fennel (1/2 bulb, core removed)
• 1 big tomato (chopped) or sweet pepper (I like red or orange for the contrast)
• some sunflower seeds (toasted if you like)
• some fresh coriander

For the dressing

• Apple cider vinegar
• Best quality olive oil
• Tiny bit of organic agave sirup
• Tamari sauce
• Bit of fresh pepper

What to do….

Put all the cleaned salad ingredients in a nice bowl. Sprinkle with (toasted) seeds. Mix the dressing ingredients depending on your personal taste in a little bowl. Start with a little and then play around with it to find out how you like it the most. Some people like more, some less dressing, some more tanginess from the vinegar, some more oil. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and enjoy 😀

Love & sunshine as ever!
N xx

P.S. Btw – for chopping I’m really a huge fan of my latest kitchen addition which is a ceramic knife. It doesn’t only stay sharp longer up to 10 times longer and is not as heavy as a stainless steel knife but the main advantage is that there is no ion transfer with ceramic knifes. That’s great for all of your veg and fruits. It stays fresh longer, doesn’t oxidize – so better for the veg, better for you 🙂 Check out this video which explains most advantages and differences between ceramic and steel knifes.

Crispy cauliflower crumble.

Everybody knows crumble. Crumble with apples, with pears, with rhubarb, with apricots and many more. One thing they all have in common is that they are sweet. As you might guess from the name, this cauliflower crumble isn’t. It’s savory and full of lovely spices. It’s another dish, invented because of using seasonal veggies – and it came out really really nice. Might sound weird – but give it a try, it’s worth it!

Ingredients:
1 big cauliflower –  broken into florets, 1 large onion – peeled and diced, 1 fresh green chilli (or dried if you don’t have fresh one) – finely chopped, thumb-sized piece of ginger – peeled and diced, 3 tbsp of oats, 2 tbsp sunflower seeds, some cumin, mustard seeds and coreander seeds, curry powder, sea salt, cayenne pepper, some Dukha, 1 knob of butter, 1/2 pack of feta cheese – crumbled.

Method:
Preheat the oven to 180° C. Steam the washed cauliflower until al dente in a steaming basket (approx. 7min). Preheat your oven to 200 degrees. Roast onions on medium heat. Add the ground cumin, coreander and mustard seeds – fry until they start poping. Add fresh ginger and green chili and finally some oats and sunflower seeds to roast. Now add curry powder, sea salt, cayenne pepper and 2,3 thin slices of butter. Mix with the steamed cauliflower and put the mix in a baking dish. Top with feta and sprinkle with Dukha if you get it somewhere (if you don’t have it skip it or mix it yourself – it’s delicious). Put it in the oven until the feta cheese is nicely getting brownish.

Enjoy 🙂