Apple Cucumber Salad Collard Greens Wraps - Gluten and dairy free and raw!

After a melty hot weekend visiting Brian's family in Orange, Brian and I felt a refreshing Sunday afternoon/evening was in order. What better way to cool off than head down the hill to the cool waves and ocean breeze of Sunset Cliffs. Brian and I both felt like zombies made of jello after the 2 hour drive home, but we managed to cruise down the hill with badminton rackets in tow for a relaxing evening at the beach. On our walk we passed by a bunch of people jumping off the cliffs from a natural bridge that formed over the coastline, and I had to get in on the fun.

Lucky for my mommy (who I write this blog for), I had my new smart phone on hand to film the fun. Unlucky for all of you, Brian is not used to the new device and filmed the experience sideways and got lost in the zoom for a while. I can't blame him because after nearly a month of new phone, I am still completely lost navigating the thing.

So of course Brian couldn't stand by and let his lady show him up. And so...stuff I feed brian now includes OB salt water:

I can honestly say I can't remember the last time I had such an exhilarating experience. The spontaneity of it all definitely added to the experience, but the rest of the evening I felt high on life! We enjoyed the rest of the day playing on the beach in one of the hidden little nooks in Ocean Beach.

brian snoozin

badminton action - thanks Trina for the game set - it is well used!

black and white would really capture the moment

old school prop planes cruisin through the sunset

playin with the phone camera

solar eclipse?

orb bunny head

So much fun in the sun made us hungry for a refreshing, healthy summer treat. Lucky for us we had a whole bag of mini avocados we snagged at a road side stand for $3, a giant garden cucumber, and some local organic collard greens and apples from People's market. I feel a wrap comin' on...

Apple Cucumber Salad Collard Greens Wraps - gluten free and dairy free recipe

Ingredients:
6 collard green leaves (preferably without holes or tears)

the meatless filling:
1 apple diced
1 small or half a large cucumber diced
1/4 cup raisins
2 tbs chopped almonds
1/2 lemon

Dressing:
1 large avocado or 2 small
2 tbs sunflower seeds
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 inch of ginger
1/2 juicy lemon
3 tbs olive oil
2 tbs apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Brian got bonus Apple Cucumber Avocado Salad

Chop up your apple first and soak it in your mixing bowl with the juice of half a lemon. Then throw in the diced cucumber (tip: if your cucumber is big and seedy, slice in half and scrape out the seeds before dicing), chopped almonds, and raisins.

In a food processor or blender, mix together your avocado, sunflower seeds, garlic, ginger, lemon juice, olive oil, and apple cider vinegar until you have a good textured pate. (It also helps sometimes to chop your garlic and ginger a bit before blending.)

Side of kale chips to green it up even more

Stir the avocado dressing into your fruit/veggie/nut mixture and salt and pepper to taste. Plop on your collard green wraps with the bigger part of the stem on the inside. I also usually rip off the tough part of the stem to make it more edible.

The great thing about using collard greens as a gluten free wrap is that they don't crumble in your hands or taste like cardboard! They do taste a bit earthy...but better than cardboard to me!

The meal got super green when I added a side of Sesame Kale Chips.

Click here for an easy kale chips recipe.

Ah...what a delicious day to live in San Diego.