Generally, I spend the Spring and Summer grilling veggies and devouring greens – but as soon as the mercury gets down to sweater weather – my crock pot immediately comes out and its chili, soups, slop and casserole time! This weekend, it was a lovely 60-something degrees and sunny so I headed for the Kale isle at the grocery store. I also decided that today would be the day that I share my “Almost Famous Kale Salad” with my adoring fans (all 17 of you!) LOL. I even made it to yoga and made a video tutorial on how to make the salad (not in that order). I think this has been a very (very) good day!
ENJOY this 3 minute demo on how to make my “Almost Famous” Kale Salad… the recipe is below the video:
Almost Famous Kale Salad
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 cups raw chopped kale (stems removed)
The next three toppings can be bought frozen, then brought to room temp by running under hot water in a colander for about a minute before adding to the salad:
1 cup roasted corn kernels (Trader Joes)
1 cup shelled edamame
1 cup chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
1/3 – 1/2 cup red onion chopped fine (amount is to taste)
1/2 Ripe Lemon
Place the cooked quinoa in the bottom of a deep-sided bowl. Top with chopped Kale. Squeeze 1/2 lemon over the kale. Massage with hands for 5-10 seconds. Set aside so the Lemon can soften the Kale.
Make the dressing while the Kale is resting.
“Almost Famous” Dressing:
In a blender, combine the following:
8 to 10 oz of salad oil (Olive, grapeseed or avocado)
2 TB of Cider Vinegar
Juice one lemon – throw away rinds and be careful not to drop seeds into the mix. Unless you have a high powered blender, you will have chunks of lemon seeds in your dressing…
1 (to infinity) cloves of FRESH garlic (not the jarred stuff)
1/4 cup of chopped basil & oregano
1 oz of honey
1-2 pinches of sea salt
Blend for 10-15 seconds depending on the strength of your blender, you may need to go a little longer.
Bottle up your dressing using a re-used glass salad dressing bottle or mason jar’s work great. Set aside
Back to the salad:
Top the quinoa/kale mix with the remaining toppings: corn, edamame, onion & chick peas. Top off with any remaining herbs that you have available for a little kick.
Pour 1/2 cup of dressing over the mixture – shake and let sit on the counter for 1-2 hours or in the fridge over night.
I also top each serving with some cubed avocado in lieu of cheese. But if you are a cheese person, I highly recommend that you shred some Asiago or Parmesan over this mixture just before serving. YUM!
Save for later in the week by scooping 1-2 cups into small mason jars – you will yield about 4 small mason jars out of this recipe. Feel free to half it or double it. Its pretty flexible.
I would love to hear about some of my followers who have tried this recipe or if they have tried alterations that worked well. Comment here or email me!
Have a great week!!
Tina
