There are a lot of people wondering if it’s okay to eat aloe vera, aside from making smoothies. The simple answer is “yes.” You can treat aloe vera almost like tofu. The clear gel inside has a similar consistency to the vegan alternative food too. One of the best ways to prepare your aloe meal is in the form of a salad. There are a ton of recipes online for this but I’ll just give you an example to get you started on a healthy new way to make salads.
First, you’re going to need some prep work if you’re growing your own aloe vera plants. You need to fillet your aloe plant by holding down the flat side of an aloe leaf and cutting down as close to the gel as you can. You’ll eventually end up with thick pieces of translucent aloe jelly. These will be somewhat solid, again like tofu.
Now, cut those huge chunks of jelly into smaller strips, like you would for a chicken salad. Finally, use a strainer to rinse the strips and get off any remaining liquid left on your beautiful aloe vera gel pieces.
The Rest of your Aloe Vera Salad
- Wash and dice a small handful of chopped arugula leaves and place them in a bowl with your aloe strips.
- Cut up some sliced tomatoes.
- Add a spring mix of lettuce and spinach leaves.
- Add a dash of garlic powder.
- Add a small amount of kelp powder.
- Finally, toss and chill the mix in the fridge.
- Add a very small amount of raspberry vinaigrette dressing and salad tortilla chips (optional).
Obviously, you can create a salad using any combination of ingredients you like. The general idea is to cut and rinse your aloe into strips to use with your salads.
It should be noted that aloe has a slightly sweeter taste than most salad ingredients. You can either tone this down with saltier ingredients or complement the sweeter taste with mint, tomato, or lemon juice.