Recipe forward by: Dr. Filza Swalah, ND

Recipe by: Bailey Campbell

You’ll want a second serving of this salad. It’s tasty and colourful and helps with balancing hormones.

 Here come the superstars:

• Kale gives a healthy dose of Indole-3-carbinol, aka I3C, which is a potent antioxidant and helps to support the metabolism of estrogen.
• Another hormone-balancing ingredient in this salad is flaxseed. We love flaxseeds because they are rich in healthy fats, fibre and lignans. Research shows that flaxseeds can help reduce inflammation, improve blood sugar as well as decrease cholesterol levels. You can also find these kinds of healthy fats in this salad’s avocado and almond butter.

The pièce de résistance

Did you know that hormones are made of fat?! That’s why it’s important to keep the healthy ones centre stage when we’re talking hormonal health…and why you should make this salad.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:

For Salad

• 1 medium size sweet potato
• 2 tbsp avocado oil
• Salt + pepper
• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp Cajun spice
• ½ tsp paprika
• 1 bunch kale leaves, stems removed and chopped
• 1 avocado, diced
• ¼ cup pumpkin seeds

 For Flax Almond Butter dressing: 

• 3 tbsp almond butter
• ½ tsp ground flaxseeds
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• ½ tsp ground ginger
• Salt + pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. Peel and chop sweet potato into cubes. Season with avocado oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Cajun, and paprika. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 40 minutes, flipping once.
3. While sweet potato cubes are cooking, make the dressing. Add all dressing ingredients to a blender and combine. Add 3 tbsp water and combine again. Add more water if desired, depending on how thin you like your dressing.
4. In a medium size bowl, add kale. Massage for 1-2 minutes, until it is softened and becomes smaller in size.
5. Add dressing to kale. Then add roasted sweet potato, avocado, and pumpkin seeds. Optional extra toppings - dried cranberries, pomegranate seeds, quinoa, tofu, chicken breast, etc. Enjoy!