raw matchstick salad

after the last couple of 'heavier' recipes, i decided to lighten up a little bit with a raw dish. one of my favourite offbeat flavor combinations is sauerkraut and avocados. i know it sounds a little questionable, but it's actually a party in your mouth. it must be something about the zing of kraut melded with the creaminess of avocado. i call this a matchstick salad because i julienned most of the veggies into small matchstick slivers. the recipe below yields one really filling salad.

• 3/4 cup raw sauerkraut, drained
• 1 carrot
• 1/3 red bell pepper
• 1/3 medium zucchini
• 2-3 medium button mushrooms
• handful of mung bean sprouts
• 1/3 avocado

julienne all your veggies (except kraut, sprouts and avocado) into small matchstick size pieces. cube your avocado. layer the drained sauerkraut first, then add each vegetable in subsequent layers. or, the wiser person would just dump everything in a bowl. as you can see, this was my realization after i took the first picture and tried to eat it.


i didn't use any dressing on this because the avocado and kraut were moist enough. however, feel free to use your favourite dressing - i bet one with ginger would pair especially well.