Tag: best kale salad

Mediterranean Chickpea & Sundried Tomato Kale Salad {Vegan}

On April 28, 2015

In Anti-Inflammatory, Clean Eating, Dairy-Free, Detoxifying, GBOMBS, Gluten-Free, Products I Use, Recipes, Tips & Tricks, Vegan, Vegetarian

I’ve been a kale lover for a few years now and have fun coming up with new ways to incorporate it into recipes.

I even found these super cool kale-lover clothing items at a small store called Simply Local in San Diego that reflect someone’s serious obsession with this leafy green veggie.

Today’s salad recipe has some Mediterranean inspirations with lemon, olive oil, garlic, tomatoes and chickpeas. It comes together in a matter of minutes and can be enjoyed for lunch or dinner.

From the kale and garlic to the hemp seeds and chickpeas, this delicious dish is LOADED with cancer-fighting and fat-storage fighting foods known as GBOMBS. Click here to learn more about GBOMBS and why we should eat them daily.

The key to this salad is massaging the lemon juice into the kale leaves to “cook” and soften the kale and break down its bitterness; it’s always important to give your raw kale a little massage.

Speaking of massage, when I was in college I considered going into massage therapy and even went so far as to buy a KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid) guide-book to learn the basics. Clearly I didn’t pursue that route, so massaging kale will have to do! 🙂

What I love about kale salads (one of the many things) is that they “keep” for a few days in the fridge.

Any other greens’ salads will wilt in a matter of hours once you put dressing on it, but kale salad holds up for about 3 days, so it’s something you can make ahead of time and enjoy for several meals.

Check out today’s recipe, and let me know what you think!

Mediterranean Chickpea & Sundried Tomato Kale Salad

I love the Mediterranean-inspired flavors and ingredients in this salad. Feel free to add some chicken or fish on top, if you’d like, for a complete meal!

1 bunch curly kale (destemmed, washed and dried)
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (about one lemon)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic (crushed and finely minced (1 large clove or 2 small cloves))
1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1 15-ounce can chickpeas AKA garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed (I use the Eden brand))
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes (chopped)
2 tablespoons hemp seeds (hulled)
Black pepper (to taste)

Tear kale leaves into pieces and put in large bowl.
Add lemon juice, olive oil, garlic and sea salt, and massage everything into the kale leaves for 1-2 minutes, until the leaves are shiny, soft, and have reduced in volume by about half.
Add the black pepper, nutritional yeast, chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, and hemp seeds and toss until evenly combined. Add more salt or pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Happy National Kale Day! {Plus a NEW Kale Salad Recipe to Try}

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On October 1, 2014

In Clean Eating, Dairy-Free, Paleo, Products I Use, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Happy National Kale Day!

In all honesty, I had no idea this was even a “thing” until I woke up this morning and saw it all over twitter.

We love kale and all of the amazing health benefits it provides. It’s a super versatile super food.

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the Natural Products Expo East in Baltimore and had the privilege of meeting Mr. Kale himself – Brad of Brad’s Raw Kale Chips.

Total food nerd moment 🙂

I’ve featured kale in several recipes on this blog in addition to the one I’m sharing today! I use it in everything from salads, soups and sautees to smoothies and frittatas.

To celebrate National Kale Day, try one of these recipes, the *new* salad below, or one of the others on the National Kale Day website:

Taste the Rainbow Kale Salad
Upgraded Kale Waldorf Salad
Mediterranean Chickpea and Sundried Tomato Kale Salad
Mini Kale & Mushroom Breakfast Frittatas
Peachy Keen Kale Salad
Tuscan Bean Soup (scroll to the bottom of the page next to the picture of the soup)
Caribbean Island Breeze Smoothie

Kale leaves after being pulled off of the pretty purple stems

I was on Facebook the other day and was intrigued by the headline, “The Recipe That Will Make You Fall In Love With Kale All Over Again” on MindBodyGreen’s page.

Being the kale lover that I am, I had to click on it.

Reading through the ingredient list piqued my interest, so Bill and I made it for dinner using the purple kale that we had in our fridge. I’m so glad we did!

The lemon juice broke down the bitterness of the kale (as it always does!), and the combo of the sweetness from the dates, complex flavors of the curry powder, bite of the ginger, tanginess of the tahini and crunch of the pumpkin seeds was a real mouth party!

Salad Ingredients

1 big bunch of kale (any variety), thinly chopped (about 5 cups)

Dressing Ingredients

2 tablespoons tahini (usually in the international section of the grocery store)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ginger root, peeled and grated
3 Medjool dates, pit removed and soaked in hot water for 10 minutes to soften them
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup water
pinch of cayenne pepper

We topped ours with some raw pumpkin seeds for an extra crunch 🙂

Click here for the full recipe from MindBodyGreen!

Ingredients for the salad. This is the best (and cheapest!) tahini we’ve found. We bought it at a Mediterranean grocery store/cafe nearby called Cedar Cafe

Peachy Keen Kale Salad

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On July 3, 2014

In Anti-Inflammatory, Clean Eating, Dairy-Free, Detoxifying, Paleo, Recipes, Tips & Tricks

It’s no secret that I like kale.

I’m surprised I haven’t bought one of those “Eat More Kale” shirts yet! (birthday hint??)

A beautiful bunch of curly kale

It can get boring to eat kale the same way all the time (juice from 2 lemons + 1-2 T olive oil + a few hefty shakes of nooch + a sprinkle of sea salt + black pepper massaged into the kale leaves), so I like to change it up throughout the year and try new recipes to keep things exciting.

I’ve shared my absolute favorite kale salad recipe before along with one for an upgraded kale Waldorf salad, but the salad I made this week has quickly become a new favorite!

(Check out the video below to see how you can quickly and easily “destem” kale as you prep this salad 🙂 I’ve been working on doing some videos for Hometown Harvest, which is the company Bill and I use for our fruits, veggies, eggs, meats and some other pantry items. I also write for their blog. If you don’t live in the Baltimore/DC metro area, check out LocalHarvest to find a farmer’s market, CSA or farm near you!)

This salad is SO easy to make and gave me an excuse to use the sweet, juicy and flavor-filled peaches that are in season right now on the East Coast.

The basic ingredients are kale, peaches, and red onions. Easy, right? The dressing isn’t much than that – a peach, olive oil, water and apple cider vinegar (whose health benefits I’ve raved about before in this post!).

Make sure you let the kale sit for at least 30 minutes to soak in all the flavors. We stored ours in the fridge overnight, and the flavors came together beautifully for dinner the next day.

I plan to bring this salad along with a watermelon mojito salad to the 4th of July party we’re going to on Friday. You have to try it for yourself – it’s so yummy and will be a hit if you bring it to a summer party or cookout!

Peachy Keen Kale Salad

This beautiful peachy kale salad will be a hit at your dinner table or a potluck!

A perfectly peachy salad ready to be enjoyed! You won’t even need dessert after having this treat 🙂

Ingredients

2 bunches curly kale, stems removed
1/2 red onion, diced
1 ripe peach, pitted and chopped

Peach Vinaigrette:

1 ripe peach, pitted and chopped
2 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon honey (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt

Click here for the recipe from The Detoxinista!

“Upgraded” Kale Waldorf Salad

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On June 26, 2014

In Clean Eating, Dairy-Free, Paleo, Recipes, Vegan

I almost had the privilege of staying at the renowned Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City when I was a senior in high school.

Unfortunately, due to lots of picketing and some sort of boycott, my classmates and I had to change locations and stay at a different hotel during our senior class trip to the Big Apple. Oh well!

The salad I’m sharing today originated in the Waldorf Hotel in the late 1800s and is often a potluck favorite due to the combination of creamy dressing, crunchy celery and walnuts, and sweet, crisp apples.

A bunch of healthy ingredients go into this salad recipe

One of the things I like to do when preparing meals is make some upgrades. “Upgrades” are little changes that basically boost the nutrient score of a particular food or dish. The more nutrients we get in our food, the more our bodies will thank us by staying well and feeling energized!

I made this salad, which puts a healthier spin on the class Waldorf Salad, for a friend’s baby shower last summer, and it was a big hit.

The sweetness comes from apples and raisins instead of the white sugar used in the traditional recipe, and the Dijon mustard, apples, and walnuts blend together to create a creamy dressing without using mayo.

The main “upgrade” to this recipe is the addition of dino kale (a superstar vegetable!). This is a great way to introduce friends and family to kale. It has lots of different textures and great flavor. Bring it to your next potluck!

“Upgraded” Kale Waldorf Salad

Ingredients

4 cups packed finely chopped raw kale, preferably dinosaur kale
1 large red apple, such as Fuji or Honeycrisp, chopped, divided
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, divided
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons raisins, divided
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water, more if needed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Optional: 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

The dressing will be pretty thick, but I just massage it into the kale. If you find that you need more than 2 tablespoons of water to thin it out, feel free to add in one tablespoon of fresh lemon juice instead of adding more water.

Click here for the full recipe from Whole Foods Market Recipes (one of my favorite recipe apps!).

Lemon Tahini Kale Salad Recipe {Vegan, Gluten-Free, Paleo}

By Rachel Druckenmiller

On March 22, 2014

In Products I Use, Recipes

I love kale.

Prior to about 4 years ago, I had never eaten kale, and, to be honest, I didn’t even know what it was. I had no idea that the leafy green garnishes I had seen at buffets or the “leaves” on Edible Arrangements were none other than…kale!

Saw this sign on a walk and DC and had to take a picture. It’s so true!

Kale is an absolute nutritional powerhouse. It scores a whopping 1,000 points on the ANDI scale, which stands for “Aggregate Nutrient Density Index,” a scoring system that rates foods on a scale from 1 to 1,000 based on nutrient content. To give some context, blueberries (another super healthy food) receive a score of 132. Kale is cancer fighting, anti-inflammatory, detoxifying, and loaded with bone-building and brain-boosting nutrients. This leafy green is definitely a standout!

We use kale in everything from smoothies and salads to soups, stir-fries and sautees. It is super versatile and a great way to pack a nutritional punch at any meal. It’s also one of the “Dirty Dozen” veggies that is most likely to be contaminated with harmful pesticides, so it’s important to buy it organic.

A Christmas gift from my dad – 50 Shade of Kale cookbook!

A few years ago, I befriended two holistic health coaches, who were trained by the health coaching program I recently completed and were a big part of the reason I pursued it. They introduced me to their delicious 5-flavor kale salad…one that has now become my absolute favorite and a staple in our house!

I bring this salad to potlucks and parties and enjoy it probably once a week for dinner. It’s the way that I introduce friends, family and clients to kale when they’ve never had it before. I haven’t had anyone turn it down yet, and it’s now my dad’s favorite, go-to salad, too. He raves about it!

5-Flavor Kale Salad

Dressing ingredients & a head of dino kale for the 5-flavor kale salad

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
3 Tbsp. raw tahini (sesame paste)
3 Tbsp. lemon juice (add more to taste)
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (we use Grade B)
1 Tbsp. tamari (wheat-free soy sauce) OR coconut aminos
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 cloves crushed raw or roasted garlic
dash of sea salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

Salad:
1 large bunch curly kale or dino kale (stems removed), washed and chopped (dino kale is also called Tuscan Kale or Lacinato Kale and holds up best in this recipe)
2/3 cup Dressing
1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds
1/2 cup shredded carrots

Click here for the full recipe!