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| Photo Credit - PositiveMed.com |
One day last week my cupboards were bare and I had nothing to take for lunch. So I went to my local Von's Grocery Store to see what they had in their deli that I might be able to eat that would be within my low carb way of eating. I saw they had some tuna salad so I was waiting to get some of that when an older gentleman asked the deli clerk for some of the Kale Salad, then he turned to me and said, "Have you had their Kale Salad? It's out of this world." He told the clerk, "Give this young lady some Kale Salad."
Well thank goodness that gentleman was there that day because I never would have asked for a sample and I never would have found out how great Kale is!
Here's a photo of my lunch that day. Tuna was simple, but good, just a bit of onion and celery and pickle. But the star of the lunch hour was the Kale Salad. It had so many great ingredients and I kept finding new things in it! Von's Kale Salad had Kale of course, dried cranberries, fresh blueberries, red onion, sunflower seeds, slivered onions, carrots and pomegranate seeds. The dressing was a Pomegranate Vinaigrette. Now I know this probably had a lot of sugar, but I went ahead and bought some and shared it with my co-worker and decided I would try to make it a bit more low carb.
So today I search for some recipes and I found this video from Aarti Sequeira. I love Aarti! I remember watching her on The Next Food Network Star and was so happy when she won. If you have a chance watch her video HERE, she's got the most pleasant personality and I love her voice!
Her recipe was super simple and she just added Mango. I didn't have Mango, plus Mango is high in sugar which brings the carb count up. So I massaged the Kale as she explains in her video, then while it wilted and softened I made a dressing almost similar to the one she did except that I used Splenda instead of Honey...again, the carb count.
Once the dressing was made I combined it with the kale, some blueberries cut in half, a handful of walnuts, another handful of pepitas, some red onion and lemon juice and salt/pepper to taste! Here's a picture of mine. I had shredded carrots but they are also high in sugar and before you know it that sugar can add up!
I had some leftover pork chops I'd pan fried yesterday for dinner so I re-heated it. The Kale Salad was a perfect companion! Doesn't this look yummy?
Can't wait to try it other ways and with other ingredients. You can also cook it, so can't wait to try that also. Have you ever had Kale? Got any good recipes or suggestions?
To find Aarti's recipe click HERE
Massaging the kale? How do you do that and what does it do for the kale?
ReplyDeleteI have tried kale...it is supposed to great for paleo diets for autoimmune diseases.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLjgBLwH3Wc
I liked it but found it too chewy as in on starts to feel like a ruminant working on a cud. Also our store sold it in heaps far too large.
I would like to include it in my salads but just wished I didn't have to buy a truck load of it. I tried the bagged stuff, it was pretty lame. It was mixed with two other lettuces and the kale turned out to be a minor ingredient. I love the taste, but found the chewiness a bit much. Do tell on the massage.
You are going to be so happy I wrote this post.
DeleteMassaging the Kale - You take the leaves off of the stalk, watch the video and see how Aarti does it, it's easy peasy. I washed them at this point and put them in my salad spinner to get rid of the water. Then you chop them by grabbing a bunch of the leaves and kinda rolling them up like a fat cigar and then chop. Then you throw them into a bowl. Now you say that stores sell them in heaps far too large. When I was done chopping I had a huge bowl of the stuff & thought I will never eat all this, but the massaging actually breaks it down and wilts it, almost like when you steam spinach. While it's in the bowl just add the juice of a lemon, some salt/pepper and a couple of drizzles of extra virgin olive oil. Then with your hands just massage or knead it, you will instantly see if wilt down to almost less than half! It's amazing, plus the olive oil is a great moisturizer for your hands! Just 2 or 3 minutes then let it sit while you make the dressing. Again...easy peasy and it's no more difficult to eat than lettuce!
Messaging is fascinating. My experience eating kale was like Sextant's above. I'll have to give it another try.
ReplyDeletePlease do Rebecca! Honestly it really makes a big difference! It's like when you wilt spinach in a pan. Not quite as droopy but definitely softens it up.
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