Kale Salad with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

It's been a while since I've posted a salad recipe. What better time to share salad recipes than in summer, right? If you don't know, I looove salad and most of the time, I make the same basic salad every week so my kids will eat it too. Maybe I'll adjust the ingredients a bit depending on what I have on hand, but its essentially the same. Rather, I save my experimental ingredient salads, like this one, when it's just my husband and I. No need to hear the unnecessary cries from my kiddos...Ewww, what's that? For me, salad is comfort food. I feel like there's something missing from my diet if I don't have salad for lunch every day. So I was happy to see this Kale Salad with Walnuts and Pecorino on Instagram from Smitten Kitchen. It looked so yummy, that I was inspired to give it a go. I know some may be grimacing because, lets be honest...its kale and kale is hard to like. I like kale, but I've also had kale I didn't like. For me, if I'm eating raw kale in a salad, it has to be chopped small, rubbed and paired with something sweet, preferably fruit or a sweet dressing or both. So, I decided to make a small adjustment by making the dressing with orange juice and honey rather than just lemon juice as called for in the original recipe and it was absolutely delicious! My personal litmus test is whether my husband likes it, since he is not a fan of kale. I gave him a small bite of my salad...and then another...and then he wanted his own bowl. 😁That's a win in my book! Enjoy! 

Kale Salad with Walnuts and Golden Raisins

Slightly adapted recipe from Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4

1/2 cup walnuts, roasted and chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T water
1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 small clove of garlic finely minced or grated
pinch of kosher salt
2T olive oil (first addition)
1 bunch of kale (I used curly kale), rubbed and washed
1/3 cup Pecorino cheese, grated
2 T olive oil, (second addition)
juice of whole orange
1 T honey
salt and pepper to taste

Prepare Walnuts: Heat oven to 350. Toast walnuts on baking sheet for 10 minutes, turning once. Let cool and then chop. 

Prepare Raisins: Place raisins in a small bowl and add vinegar and water. Let soak in liquid for 30 minutes or so. (Oops, the original recipe calls for heating the raisins in a saucepan to re-hydrate with vinegar, I missed that step and just let them soak while I prepped everything else)

Prepare Crumbs: Toast breadcrumbs, garlic, olive oil in a skillet until golden brown. Salt to taste. Set aside.

Prepare Kale: Remove tough stems from kale and rip curly leaves into small bite sized pieces. Rub torn kale between your hands to soften leaves. Rinse and spin leaves and transfer kale to a large bowl.

Prepare Salad:
Add pecorino cheese, raisins (without the vinegar mixture), walnuts, olive oil, orange juice, and honey and toss until coated. Taste and add salt and pepper and adjust with left over vinegar, honey or orange juice. Let salad sit for 10 minutes to let the flavors meld. Toss with Breadcrumbs before serving. Enjoy!

More Kale recipes:

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa

Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Thanksgiving is all about the sides for me. From garlicky mashed potatoes and gravy, cheesy corn casseroles, savory dressings and bread puddings, to green bean casseroles. All those comforting, rib-sticking side dishes are what I look forward to the most for Thanksgiving. However, I find I still long for fresh veggies on Thanksgiving. This recipe for Autumn Slaw is a delicious way to add a little green to all that comforting, sleep inducing, tryptophan-laced Thanksgiving meal. 

Wait, wait, wait, I know what your thinking...You hate Kale. I know. Kale is a tough sell for my husband too. And my mom, and probably my brother and sister-in-law...and forget about my kids...None of them are friends with Kale. Don't be afraid, here are a few secrets to make kale taste good. 
First, if using it raw in a salad, it needs to be rubbed between your hands and massaged. Gather up a big handful of Kale and rub it back and forth and roll it into a ball and break up all that fibrous toughness. Work in batches rubbing all the leaves, wash and spin and now you're ready to rock your salad.
Next, I think it's best when paired with something sweet, like fruit. Kale can be a bit bitter, so pairing it with fruit or a sweet salad dressing helps balance some it's harsher qualities. One more secret, is to cook it. Braising, roasting or sauteing this green makes it uber delicious. Savory onions, garlic and sweet balsamic butter really makes this wild cabbage sing in my Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter recipe below.
Anyway back to my kale-hating family, namely my hubby...I had little faith that my husband would touch this salad but to my amazement, he loved this salad and even had two servings. He even ate it for leftovers the next day too. Can you believe it? I love this Autumn Slaw and my husband liked it so I'm going to attempt to bring to Thanksgiving this year and see if the rest of my family will like it too. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Autumn Slaw with Candied Pumpkin Seeds

Serves 8-10
Maple Mustard Dressing
1 small shallot, finely minced (~1 Tbsp)
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard 
1/4 cup real maple syrup
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/3 cup canola oil

In a medium bowl, whisk together the shallots mustard, maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper. Slowly add the canola oil while whisking continuously to emulsify the dressing. Set aside.

Candied Pumpkin Seeds
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 Tbsp real maple syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp butter

In a skillet, add pumpkin seeds, maple syrup, brown sugar, and butter and heat over medium heat until sugar is melted and nuts are coated. About 5 minutes. Turn out on a parchment paper to cool. Set aside.

Salad ingredients
3 large bunches of curly kale, chopped and rubbed 
3 carrots, peeled and cut into matchsticks (I used purple carrots)
1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups finely shredded red cabbage 
1 cup candied pumpkin seeds 

The secret to using Kale is to use only the curly parts of the leaves and remove all the fibrous stems. I tear it right from the stems, rather than cutting it. Kale is best when massaged, or rubbed between your hands, like what you do when your hands get cold and you rub them together to heat them up.  Working in batches, grab a handful and rub it back and forth and roll it into a ball in your hands. Then, place the rubbed kale in a salad spinner. It seems like a weird thing to do but it really helps soften the fibrous leaves. Once you rub all the kale, rinse and spin in a salad spinner. 

I used purple carrots for this salad because I like the two toned color of them. When cut into matchsticks they look like flames. Neat-o!

Add Kale, carrots and cranberries to a bowl and coat with about half the dressing. Do not add the red cabbage at this time, you'll add the cabbage right before serving to prevent the color from bleeding and turning everything purple.  Refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. This will help soften the kale further and plump up the dried cranberries just a little. The kale will shrink as the dressing wilts it a bit. Right before serving, add the red cabbage and toss, only adding additional dressing if needed. Top with lots of crunchy candied pumpkin seeds and enjoy! 

Other recipes to try:

Braised Kale and Onions with Balsamic Butter

Spiced Couscous and Carrot Salad

Brussels Sprouts Salad with Bacon Mustard Dressing

Salisbury Meatballs with Kale and Balsamic Butter Sauce

These days, you see recipes for kale everywhere. You can't look at Pinterest without seeing kale, quinoa or chia in some new and delicious recipe. They are the trifecta of food popularity. I love quinoa and kale, there's a reason food becomes popular, because they are so yummy. Believe it or not, I haven't yet tried chia seeds. Not sure why I haven't. Maybe it's because I only see chia being added to yogurt and smoothies and stuff like that and I don't really eat yogurt or drink smoothies or protein drinks. Yucky. I guess you can say I'm still looking for a chia recipe that interests me. Anyway... 

I do love Kale, but I must admit I am not all that fond of kale when it is in salads all by itself. An entire salad of just Kale is practically inedible. It definitely needs to have another green to tone down the roughage factor. It's tough, hearty and floral tasting but I find it can end up tasting bitter if not mixed with the right salad toppings. I personally think Kale tastes best when paired with something sweet like fruit like in my Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa. 

I also think Kale is BEST when cooked. Saute, braise, roast into chips, and throw it into soups, all super yummy!  
If you like greens or fried cabbage this is the veggie for you. The idea of braising it with onions and topping it with a sweet and earthy balsamic butter sauce had been bouncing in my head for a while. I'd made it a few times as just a delicious side dish but I felt the heartiness of it needed to be its own meal. I decided to pair it with these yummy Salisbury meatballs and the dish was a home run. Enjoy!

Cool Product Alert!
My mom gave me this lightly dried parsley from Gourmet Garden and I used it in my meatballs and also to top the finished dish. I loved having this on hand because I don't always have fresh parsley in the fridge. This little tub has quite a bit in it and goes a long way. Convenient and pure genius! 
 

Salisbury Meatballs with Braised Kale and Balsamic Butter Sauce

Serves 4

Salisbury Meatballs
1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
2 T Gourmet Garden Parsley, dried
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 T canola oil for frying

In a large bowl mix all ingredients together and roll into medium sized meatballs. Add oil to a large skillet and over medium high heat, brown all sides until cooked through. Remove from skillet and cover with aluminum foil and set aside.


Braised Kale and Onions
2 large bunches kale, roughly chopped (~10 cups)
1/2 large yellow onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 T olive oil
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup water
pepper

In a large pot, add olive oil, onions and garlic and cook over high heat until translucent. About 5 minutes. Add chopped kale, chicken broth, wine and water and cover with a lid. Heat on high for about 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, stir kale. The kale should be wilted enough to be covered by the liquid at the bottom of the pot. Heat on medium heat, covered for about 15 minutes until Kale stems are nearly tender. Add about half of the balsamic butter to the greens and stir. Continue to heat uncovered for another 10-15 minutes to reduce liquid until the kale is cooked to desired tenderness.  
Salt and pepper to taste. Note: Taste the kale before adding salt because the chicken broth when reduced adds salt so take care not to add too much. 

Balsamic Butter Sauce
1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, reduced to 3T
1 stick of unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
1/2 T brown sugar
black pepper

Add vinegar into a small saucepan. On medium heat, heat vinegar until reduced to about 3 T. Turn off heat and add sugar and pepper and stir. Add butter and set aside until butter is melted. 

Add about half of the balsamic butter to Braised Kale during the last 10-15 minutes of cooking time and drizzle the remaining half over the Salisbury Meatballs before serving. Garnish with Parsley and enjoy!

Other recipes to try:

Greek Meatballs                        Spicy Asian Meatball Soup           Quinoa with Balsamic Mushrooms            

Crockpot White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup

October went by way too fast this year. It went by so fast that I never finished decorating my house for Halloween. :( We held a big Halloween Carnival at my boy's school so my time, attention and decorations were focused on that event. I was responsible for the Zombie Maze. We transformed the school cafeteria into a Haunted Maze, got volunteers to dress in character and scare kids. It was great and the kids and adults loved it! My photos didn't turn out so great but I'll blog about the maze in the near future after I try to belatedly finish a Halloween decorating blog this weekend. :)

Anyway, fall is finally here (as in cooler weather) and I'm neck deep in yummy comforting fall recipes. Crockpot White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup is one of those easy, delicious recipes that cooks itself. Throw it all in and forget about it. Perfect for those long workdays or cool weekends watching football. Enjoy!

White Bean, Sausage and Kale Soup

Serves 4-6

2 cups dried white beans, soaked overnight
1 Kielbasa sausage, sliced and pan-fried
1 small red pepper, diced (~1/2 c)
1 medium carrot, diced(~1/2 c)
1 small yellow onion, diced (1/2 c)
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups kale, roughly chopped
2 bay leaf
1 t. smoked paprika
1/2 t. thyme, dried
1/2 t. Italian seasoning, dried
1 t. kosher salt
pepper (to taste)
6 cups chicken broth


Soak 2 cups of dried white beans overnight. Drain water and place beans into slow cooker.
Pan fry kielbasa sausage until browned and drain about half of the rendered fat. Add sausage to slow cooker.

Add remaining ingredients. Stir and set slow cooker to low and cook for 6-7 hours. Enjoy!

  
Other soup recipes to try:
Spicy Slow Cooked Beef Stew            Rustic Minestrone                             Tomato Garlic Soup

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa

The idea of topping salad greens with salsa has been bouncing around in my head for a while now. I can think of many times topping my so-so salad with salsa. So I guess the idea hadn't been in my head but rather in beta testing on my salad plates at countless Mexican restaurants.

But now that summer is near, fruit salsas are again topping grilled chicken and fish in most of the cooking magazines. Feeling inspired to top my grilled chicken with a delicious tropical fruit salsa, I bought some Mango Pineapple salsa from Trader Joe's to try and it was amazing! I imagined it on soy marinated, grilled salmon and chicken and as the finishing on so many dishes that I then thought of my favorite food...salad. I thought of the many times I used plain salsa to top my salads...Wouldn't it be awesome to top a salad with the whole container of this delicious salsa from Trader Joes? There would be no need for a dressing. The bright idea flashed as I looked down and realized I'd eaten the whole container of salsa. Not a drop left to top a salad with, but that didn't mean I couldn't make my own salsa, right? Inspiration comes many ways and just like the TJ's Mango salsa, my trip to SLO brought me Kale. The perfect marriage.

I love Kale. It is chewy and hearty and unexpectedly, floral in it's taste. I think it tastes best when paired with fruit. The Strawberry Mango Salsa is sweet and tangy and works perfectly with this delicious green. It's perfect for summer BBQs because you keep the salsa and the greens separate until ready to serve, that way your greens don't wilt after sitting in all that juice. Enjoy!

Kale Salad with Strawberry Mango Salsa
Serves 4-6

3 large leaves of Kale, chopped
1 medium head of green leaf lettuce, chopped

Strawberry Mango Salsa
1 cup strawberries, diced
1 cup mango, diced
1/2 cup pineapple, diced
2 T cucumber, small dice
1 T red bell pepper, small dice
1 T jalapeno, small dice (optional)
2-3 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 T agave syrup or honey
2 T orange juice concentrate
2 T vinegar
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 T fresh ginger, grated
sea salt (to taste)

Chop, rinse and spin lettuce and kale and place in a large serving bowl. Set aside.
Prepare Salsa. The ingredients are approximate as I added a little here and there to get the right amount of sweetness so this is my closest approximations. Feel free to adjust to your taste. 
Add all fruit and vegetable ingredients into a medium sized bowl with tight fitting lid (for storage) and mix well. In another bowl add agave syrup or honey, OJ concentrate, vinegar, olive oil, ginger and salt and whisk together until well combined. Add to fruit, mix and chill covered in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or overnight. (This is a good make-ahead salad)

When ready to serve, place Kale salad on a plate and top with this deliciously sweet Strawberry Mango Salsa. Enjoy!

Looking for a new salad recipe for Spring and Summer? Try some of these:

Sunflower Sprout Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette
Nappa Cabbage Salad with Ginger Garlic Dressing 
Caprese Salad with Pesto Vinaigrette
Green Goddess Primavera Salad
Vegetable Ceviche