Mighty Vegan Salad

Long time, no post! I hope you all didn’t miss me too much. I’ve been having a fantastic summer traveling the US and enjoying all the fun Portland activities. Seriously, I can’t keep up with all the events going on in town! We do make the most of our sunny summers here.

Tonight, I’ve got something that everyone can enjoy — a Mighty Vegan Salad! I’m not posting a “recipe” for it since this is more of an intuitive nightly ritual for me. I hope this gives you a little inspiration to make a mighty salad of your own!

Tonight, I had:

Spinach (2 cups)

Chives, chopped (2 tbsp)

A handful of raw, whole almonds

A handful of cilantro

Some fresh mango chunks

1/3 cup cooked wheat berries

1/4 cup of lemon hummus (store-bought)

1 small avocado

About 8 cherry tomatoes

Marinated and sautéed tempeh strips (olive oil, soy sauce, pepper, coriander, chipotle)

…all drizzled with a dash of balsamic and some grape seed oil.

 

 

You can see the ingredients a little better here:

 

 

I was curious myself, so I calculated the nutrition information for this salad (just the protein, fiber, and vitamin/mineral content, as I’m not concerned about calories or natural fats).

You might be surprised what this lil ol’ vegan salad brings to the table!

 

• 28 grams of plant-based protein!
• 1237 mg of potassium! (if you are trying to decrease high blood pressure, try for more potassium and LESS sodium)
• 8 grams of fiber!
• 38% daily value for iron! (with plenty of vitamin C — 83% daily value — to help it to be absorbed)
  
• 23 % daily value for calcium!
• 54% daily value for magnesium!

And who says vegans are undernourished?

That’s it for tonight, folks. Hope everyone is enjoying their summer. Make a mighty salad for me!

 

 

DIY: Water-proofing your wooden planter box

I picked up this neat wooden crate for $8 a few weeks ago at Old Portland Hardware, a reclaimed wood and hardware shop close to me, intending to make it into a planter box. Portland Nursery, I just can’t quit you and your adorable indoor plants!

I knew it had to be stained and waterproofed to avoid mold growth (mmm!), but I needed something clean and quick, since I’m living in an apartment. I settled on this Varathane polyurethane satin stain and finish in a spray can, for about $9.

The whole thing was pretty simple, even if I did lose a few brain cells in the process. Not having a back yard, I wasn’t able to provide “adequate ventilation,” so I ended up taking a deep breath, holding a rag over my nose and mouth and blasting away at the planter box in my bathtub until I couldn’t take it anymore.

All for the sake of a good DIY, right?

I coated the planter box three times, with about 4-6 hours of dry time in between. The end result was adequate–it isn’t shiny or smooth, but I didn’t also bother sanding it down beforehand.

The last step was to add my myriad house plants and hope the roots don’t end up strangling each other over the soil area in some kind of “Game of Thrones” plant war.

 

What next? Enjoy your new planter box, until you come home and see that your cat has knocked the entire thing over!