Garlicky Kale. Vegan. GF.

Garlicky Kale. Vegan. GF.

If you’ve ever had the wonderful opportunity to eat Whole Food’s garlicky kale – chances are you were in love at first bite.  It’s the stuff kale lovers dream of… seriously.  I’ve been making this recipe for the past three years of being vegan.  I make it each week and keep it stashed in my fridge when hunger hits or I need a side dish in a hurry.  It isn’t for the faint of hearts however, mandatory garlic lovers only.

Ingredients:

1 large (huge will suffice) bunch of curly kale, washed and stems removed
4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes
3 tablespoons of tahini
2 tablespoons of liquid aminos (I use Bragg’s) or low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
3 garlic cloves, minced
Optional:  Sesame seeds topping

Directions:
Wash your kale and remove the hard stems.  Tear into bite-sized pieces and dry well.

Into a high powered blender or you may whisk vigorously, add your nutritional flakes, tahini, aminos, vinegar and garlic.  I like to process in my Vitamix on setting of 10 for about 45 seconds.  Add your kale to a large bowl and pour the dressing over top.  With clean hands (remove your rings) get into the bowl and coat the leaves – rubbing them with the dressing.  This will help wilt the leaves a bit and make the kale much more palatable.  Do this for 2 minutes or so.  Then add to an airtight container and refrigerate for at least one hour before serving.  I make this and it lasts about 3 days (before I eat it all) in the fridge.  The flavors marinade the leaves and impart great flavor.  Be warned… it’s garlicky goodness.

Well time to kick off 2016!  Do you make resolutions?  Do you set goals?  I’m not a big resolution fan. I have two races that I’m focused on this year (one I need to get into because it’s a lottery).  I do have a 50 mile ultra this spring and training has officially begun.  I’ve been running December pretty much with no plan & going by how I felt. Increasing my mileage a bit too much has taxed my body.  I’ve done my most mileage ever 258.74.  I need to get more focused now and work on specifics.   Work within ranges now and become much targeted with my efforts.

Sunday starts my running week and we found a new, harder -much more technical trail with a great deal of ascent.  The total was over 3800 feet and I was feeling it.  Trying out new trail sneakers (yes, again.  I think this was my 8th pair to try).  We navigated hills, cliffs, trees, stumps, rocks and large bodies of water.  It was super fun and challenging to say the least.

This pic was taken early on in the run as I was covered in mud post run.
Lucy velocity pants found here.  Pro compression socks here.
*Ambassador for Lucy and Pro Compression. 

Recap:

Sunday: 8 trail miles (working on hills/technical course)
Monday: 12 Treadmill/strength/core

That’s it from here.  Make it a great week!

— Knead to Cook