After my vacation to Maui I am in need of a big cleanse. Last week I tried to eat as healthy as I could but still found myself in front of a margarita and a plate of fajitas on Friday night. I made up for it on Saturday on a big hike with my friend Lori but I am not off the hook yet.
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again, if it was up to me we would eat mac and cheese with potato chips on it for dinner every night. Chris is really the one that pushed me to make healthy low carb dinner options. As much as the idea pains me at first I’m thankful in the end that he is the pinacle of health. He is willing to cook dinner during the week and some weeks I really rely on him to plan, shop, and cook. It is always fun to watch him in the kitchen because he has a big mess going and nothing timed right. Instead of trying to control the situation I have learned that the only way he will learn better time management in the kitchen is by trial and error. Hopefully after a few more trials he will start to understand how to time things and clean up as he cooks.
He found this recipe for a chopped kale salad in the cookbook The Sprouted Kitchen. He’s made it for me twice, once with dinosaur kale and another time with tuscan kale and he added chicken. Both ways were delish. It is a very low prep salad and if you are not interested in washing and chopping the kale they carry a prewashed and chopped version at Trader Joe’s. I thought the homemade dressing was the best part but if you aren’t interested in the extra step of making it I’m sure you could add any store bought vinegarette. Here is the recipe, enjoy!
- 1 small shallot, chopped
- Juice of 1 Meyer lemon
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
- Salad
- 2 slices rustic whole-grain bread, torn into bite-size pieces (we used regular whole wheat)
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- Sea salt
- 1 bunch kale, tuscan or dinosaur
- 1 apple such as Braeburn, Gala or Pink Lady, cored and diced
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas, chopped
- 1/2 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
- 1/3 cup dried cherries, chopped
- To make vinaigrette: combine shallot, lemon juice, Parmesan and olive oil in a blender or food processor. Process until smooth, then add a pinch of salt and pepper and give one last pulse. Set aside.
- To make croutons: toss bread with olive oil and salt. Toast in a toaster oven or in a sauté pan over medium heat until crispy, about 10 minutes.
- To assemble salad, cut tough stems out of kale and finely chop leaves. Put chopped kale in a large bowl.
- Add apple, chickpeas, pecans and cherries to kale.
- Add half of dressing and toss. Taste and add more if you like.
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