OK I admit it, I have started to shop at Whole Foods again and somehow feel guilty about it. As if I am now no longer one of the 99%-ers or something..
It happened after work when I ran in to try to pick up something from the salad bar before a rehearsal since I knew I would otherwise stop at a fast food drive in and eat something I would regret. They had a local chef touting healthy greens with high ANDI factor (I admit I just spent 20 minutes searching the web for that and it stands for High Aggregate Nutrient Density Factor). Basically that stands for foods with high nutritional value and bulk that fill you up up without fattening you out. I ended up getting a large plate of their raw kale salad with the garlicky aminos dressing and I am now officially addicted.
My version is a couple of leaves of different kinds of kale (de-ribbed) (dinosaur, red and green) along with some Italian parsley and any other crispy green that catches my eye and any other nut or bean I want to add today. After chopping the greens into manageable size I put just a little olive oil on my hands and rub the greens vigorously between my palms to soften them up just a bit and then pour on the dressing (which I shamelessly buy by weight at the salad bar instead of trying to make from scratch) and toss. The dressing reportedly has Tahini, lemon, lots of crushed garlic, aminos and plum vinegar in it but I have not been able to recreate it to my standards yet. This usually reduces to two large bowls of greens and goes a long ways toward filling me up but still tasting great due to the garlic dressing.
I have to admit that the quality of the veggies at WF is significantly better than at my local Giant Eagle (or Big Bird as we call it) and is usually the same or even sometimes better (!) price despite being organic. The only problem shopping there is the tiny parking area and the rabid shoppers who vie for the rare open spot. I haven't seen any mayhem yet but you can feel it's potential even among these healthy Prius driving folk! I've taken to parking on the street to avoid the wary stares as we circle the lot. Feels sort of like duck-duck-goose when someone finally leaves..
Unfortunately my other recent addiction is Burgatory ("a hell of a burger and a heavenly shake") so any good I am doing my body I am also undoing with regularity. Ah well, have to love the contrast too!
