One of the many self proclaimed goals I have made a mental tally of is this - eat more greens, and vary the types of greens I eat. I consume a lot of spinach, in the form of daily green smoothies. Usually spinach is the only green leafy vegetable I eat in the course of a week. The benefit of eating a wide variety of greens, is that they contain different nutrients. Therefore eating a variety of them allows you to get access to all that nutrition.
So today, I pulled a bunch of kale out of the fridge and got to work creating a delicious salad. Kale salad might sound quite daunting, but here is a way to make raw kale so delicious.
1. Choose the freshest looking bunch of greens. Since it is January and I do not have access to fresh local kale, I painstakingly choose the best looking bunch of organic kale that I can find at the grocery store. I also prefer to buy lacinato or dinosaur kale over the curly kind. I find that it is easier to work with. Either type will do.
2. Wash and dry the kale and remove the leafy part from the stem. This will also create a more pleasant salad as the stems are tougher to chew.
3. Gather the leaves tightly together and cut into thin strips.
4. Pour on about a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle on some sea salt.
5. Use your hands to coat every piece with the oil and salt. This step is really important as the oil and salt work to break down the toughness of the kale so that it is easier to eat and digest.
Lemon juice can also be used as opposed to salt, and also helps to break down the kale.
Now you have a lovely base for a salad. You can store prepared kale in the refrigerator for a few days for quick and easy meals. The longer the greens sit, the softer they will become.
5. Toss together a salad of the prepared greens and whatever else you would like to add. You can top them with another salad dressing if desired. I added a splash of coconut vinegar to brighten up the flavor of the salad.
The other ingredients I used were roasted red pepper slices, chopped baby portabella mushrooms, hemp seeds, nutritional yeast, and some fresh ground pepper.
The possibilities are endless once you have your salad base. You could use apples, nuts, and a dash of maple syrup for a sweet fall salad, or fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and lemon juice for a delightfully tangy salad. Get some kale and get creative.
Here's to a year full of a leafy variety!
I wish dinosaur kale actually was in the shape of dinosaurs...it would be much more tempting to eat :).
ReplyDeleteEating more leafy greens is actually one of my goals for this year too - Aaron is much more adventurous when it comes to greens, where I'm always like, "ewww its stringy and feel like hair in my mouth - where's the romaine?" so we'll see how it goes!
They do take some getting used to, but you can do it. I understand about the stringiness, I hate when a get a piece of spinach string in my mouth.
ReplyDelete