The Fiber of My Life: Reuben Salad and Beyond!

There it is. Reuben Salad. It has been weeks in the making!

So how did we get here? Let me tell you the way!

On August 2^nd I began a cleanse with a group called Cleanse America. This was the eighth initiative and I had done most of the previous ones as well. The objectives are to eat 100% raw food, a combination of raw food and liquids, or do all liquids – smoothies, juices and blended soups – for ten days. Why? Lots of reasons, but for me it is a time to gift my body with nutrient dense foods to allow healing, weight loss, and added energy. It works every time! This time I choose to do all liquids. I had never done that and I wasn't sure I could. Well, I did, and I loved it. Not only did I feel great, but went way beyond the 10 days – almost 30 days liquid – and on September 14^th as I write this (in an airplane 35,000 feet in the air!), I am still doing lots of liquid meals – smoothies and juices, blended soups with garnishes – and I have begun supplementing a raw meal or so a day.

What does this have to do with a Reuben Salad? Well, Cleanse America is an online community and I have “met” lots of great people, from the ordinary that are doing extraordinary things, to doctors and professionals. I have learned so much. Well, one of these people posted a picture of the sauerkraut they were making. I was totally intrigued and knew I had to try it. As you may have read in my previous post, I Made Sauerkraut, it was a success. It made a lot. Really. A lot! I knew I had to use some of it for a Reuben Salad. And so it began. That meant I needed Eggplant Bacon and Thousand Island Dressing too.

Sauerkraut, Eggplant Bacon, and Thousand Island Dressing waiting to meet each other!

Let’s make the salad now that we have all the preliminaries out of the way.

First, I combined caraway seeds with the sauerkraut and let them talk to each other while I made the rest of the salad. The caraway seeds add a nice taste to the salad and soften the taste of the sauerkraut.

The other players in this salad are romaine lettuce, red onions, cucumber, tomatoes and avocado.

I just love pictures of produce! First, I sliced, or shredded, the romaine, depending on how you look at it!

The tomatoes are chopped, the avocado and onion are sliced, and the cucumber was cut lengthwise, seeded, and then cut in bite size lengths.

In a large bowl combine the romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, onion and a good scoop of the Thousand Island Dressing.

Mix it all together.

Plate it.

And now for the final touches. Add the avocado slices to two sides of the salad. Or where ever you want it. Remember the reason for the salad? The sauerkraut! It’s time. Add a heaping pile of the yummy kraut right on the top!

We could stop here, but why?? Next up – eggplant bacon. Give it a good cracking so it looks like big bacon bits.

Sprinkle it all over the salad. (I got a bit carried away but I love this stuff!)

Is it done yet? It could be. No. Not yet. (This is the "beyond" part!) I am adding two more of my favorites. Hemp seeds – everything is better with hemp seeds – and chipotle sour cream. I squirt chipotle sour cream on all kinds of things!! (Yes, I do use a raw vegan chipotle sour cream.)