Heavenly

Yes, that's right, heavenly! See the Godly rays of sun gracing this bowlful's pretty face? Sometimes my food really feels like such a blessing, and today's lunch would be one example of that feeling.  Simple, like so much of what I eat, this salad was born from my timing being off last night as I impulsively, midway through other dinner prep, decided to make another batch of my favorite Raw Kale Mediterranean Salad from Little House of Veggies (http://littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com). By the time everyone else's dinner was ready, I had only completed the first half of the salad preparation. That is, I had washed and spun the kale and removed the stems, and had massaged the leaves with olive oil, half a lemon, salt and pepper. So I put the salad on the table as it was, without the additional ingredients (red bell pepper, black olives and pine nuts), and you know what? It was wonderful anyway! I had made fish tacos for the others, and ate up some delicious vegan leftovers for myself, along with the salad.

So today for lunch, leftoverless except for the salad and the vegan avocado aioli I had made for the fish tacos, I combined the two and the result is above. The vegan avocado aioli, a recipe I came up with myself, is published in a prior post, and I did not consult it, instead recreating it from memory. I believe this version is more avocado-centric than the last, so I will note the proportions here:

Avocado Aioli
1 avocado, mashed
juice of half a lime
3 Tbsp. vegannaise
Mash all together.


That's it. Really, really good. Isn't it funny how I made vegan aioli for my family's tacos even though I wasn't having any last night?  I didn't even think about it, knowing that nobody has ever complained about the flavor of vegannaise. I just can't see using regular mayonnaise if I don't have to. Avocado aioli is great on everything!  Go make some!

When I say this salad is heavenly, of course I mean the flavor and texture -- the sharpness of the lemon and kale juxtaposed with the rich, buttery avocado-mayonnaise. But I also want to go deeper now into why I feel personally blessed to have found a way to be good to my body. Since February, but mostly more recently, I have been amazed by how strong my immune system has become. There is illness all around me, in my own home my husband and daughter have been sick with colds for days. Sneezers and coughers abound in all the grocery stores and malls. Sometimes I feel the wake of a germ giving me a glancing blow -- I feel a little tired or mucousy for an hour or two, then it is GONE! I don't even worry anymore about getting right in the face of my sweet, sick little girl. I know I am safe. I don't want to mess with hubris here, I just want to say I am thankful and grateful for my health, and grateful for this vegan lifestyle which has afforded this bounty of blessings. This is a very big deal. I have a compromised immune system because of my MS. And yet I am well. I am grateful. Heavenly.