My Signature Colossal Confetti Salad

Hi readers!

I’m coming at you with (what is for me) a very exciting post today. As a vegan, salads are a central part of my diet, and over the past two years, I’ve been perfecting my own salad formula. In fact, for a long time now, I’ve been making what is essentially the same exact salad for myself every day. To some, this sort of routine may seem monotonous and boring. But honestly, the reason I keep making this salad is because I am not at all sick of this salad—quite to the contrary, I absolutely love it. Not only is it wonderfully nutritious and healthful, it is also ridiculously tasty and probably the one dish I crave more than any other. And because of this, I can find no good reason to eat anything else.

Furthermore, I’ve recently realized that my “colossal confetti” salad—‘colossal’ for its enormity, and ‘confetti’ for its vibrance—is actually unique, or at least quite different from the salads most others are used to. In particular, it’s a dry salad, utilizing no dressing or anything like that. For some this may seem odd, but for me it’s just how I’m used to doing things, and I do not think the salad suffers at all for it.

So here, then, is a detailed tutorial on how to create my signature colossal confetti salad for yourself. I may look like a lot of steps, but it’s actually very straightforward once you get comfortable with everything (I can now get everything bowled in under fifteen minutes flat). Also, please take these instructions only as a guideline, since the great thing about salads is that they’re highly customizable and adaptable to whatever is in season or in your fridge. I’ve included the sliced and grated vegetable I used this time around, but those can be replaced by any number of other things. Also, I often enjoy adding avocado, sweet potato, or baked tofu to the mix. But experiment for yourself! This salad is whatever you want it to be!

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 big leaves of kale
• 1/4 cup whole wheat couscous (and the whole wheat really is essential), plus a little olive oil and salt
• 1 slice of bread (preferably sprouted bread like Ezekiel or Silver Hills brand)
• a couple vegetables for grating (carrots, beets)
• a couple vegetables for slicing (cucumbers, tomatoes)
• sprouts
• various add-ins (flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, dulse flakes)
• various nuts and seeds (sunflower seeds, pepitas)

Instructions

1. Start off by preparing the couscous. Heat 1/4 cup water, about a tablespoon of olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt in a small saucepan.

2. Once water starts to boil, quickly mix in the 1/4 cup of couscous, swirl around a bit, and immediately cover. Let stand until you’re ready to come back to it.

3. Also at this point, place your slice of bread in the toaster.

4. Take your leaves of kale and remove their stems by holding them by their base and ripping the leaves off in one swift downward hand movement. Then tear leaves into bite-sized pieces and place in a colander.

5. Wash kale briefly, then take in your hand.

6. Squeeze kale tightly for 10 seconds or so, really softening it up.

7. Your massaged kale should end up looking something like this. Leave in colander in sink to drain.

8. Grate your vegetables for grating!

9. Slice your vegetables for slicing!

10. Your bread should be out of the toaster by now. Break it in crouton-sized croutons.

11. Remove the lid from your saucepan and fluff the couscous.

12. Mix everything you’ve prepared thus far in a big bowl. This is the preliminary mixing.

13. Now you’re ready for your add-ins. I like to put in a handful of sprouts I get from my farmers’ market…

14. …followed by generous sprinklings of flaxseed meal, nutritional yeast, and dulse flakes…

15. …and finally some sunflower seeds and pepitas.

Give everything once last mix around, and your salad is now complete! Apparently, this makes about 8 cups of salad, which surprises me, since I eat these salads up so quickly. But whatever—it’s 8 cups of nutritious heaven, and enjoyable every bite of the way!

Finally, one last word of advice: The best way to eat salad is with chopsticks, so if you haven’t tried before, give it a shot now. You’ll still want to bring along a spoon for scooping up everything left at the bottom of your bowl, but for the majority of your meal, chopsticks are definitely the way to go. Happy eating!

Until we eat again,

Willie