I am definitely one of those people who are constantly on an on-again, off-again health kick! I feel like kale got really big as a popular health food item in the last few years so I am always trying to find new ways to use it! Kale, if you have ever tried it, is not the most inciting green in the garden. If cooked improperly, it can get… gross! Then again, if handled properly, it can be pretty tasty and very filling! Whole Foods sells a delicious Kale Salad (I cannot remember what they call it!) in their prepared foods section and it costs something ridiculous per pound, but its super easy and very inexpensive to make it yourself! I call it Lemony Kale Salad (original, eh?) because thats what it tastes like to me!
Here are the ingredients you will need if you want to give this a try!
- 1 Head of Kale
- 3 Tsp of Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
- 1/4 cup Pine Nuts
- 1/2 cup dried cranberries
- S & P to taste
Directions: The first part of making this salad is to remove the kale leaves from the stalks. This is probably the most time consuming part of the whole recipe, but its not that hard to do! I literally take one stalk of kale at a time and pull the leafy greens off. You can cut them off if you want to with a knife, but thats probably more time consuming. When doing this, try to make sure you don’t take any large branch pieces of the stems with you, because those are particularly bitter. Next, I wash the leafy parts using a salad spinner, but you can use whatever means you have available to you!
Then, you need to steam the kale for a few minutes. I fill a pasta pot a third of the way with water and sprinkle in some salt and cover it, cooking the water on medium to high heat until the water boils. Once you see that the water has started to boil, toss in your clean leafy kale greens and cover again. Let this steam for about 3 minutes until the kale turns a bright, vibrant shade of green! Next, strain the kale and put it into a large bowl to mix. Finally, add the rest of the ingredients listed above and mix! Sometimes, to be fancy, I like to mix the liquid ingredients together in a separate bowl before adding it to the kale, but I don’t think it actually changes the end result!
I store this salad in a plastic storage container and eat about half a cup at a time as a side salad or snack! As the salad sits, the acidity in the lemon juice will mix with the cranberries, resulting in a vinaigrette-like dressing. It’s great fresh from the bowl, but will last about a week in the refrigerator as well!
Let me know if you guys try this recipe and how you like it! Its one of my favorite healthy dishes because I can prepare it in advance and eat it all week!