Kale If I Know part 1

Touted as a super food, kale packs a nutritious punch. Great! The difficult thing is that it's not always easy to chock down. It can be tough and earthy not to mention GREEN. Many are adverse to anything GREEN. Luckily I am not and I love a good challenge. 

The best way to eat vegetables is, of course, raw. That can be tricky with kale for the reasons mentioned above. But two things can be done to get around that: massage adult kale a bit to break down the fibers or get baby kale instead. That's what I did recently for two different salad ideas. To add a little different texture & flavor, I also mixed in some baby spinach. 

For the first salad, I went with a sweet fruity flavor balanced with a mustard vinaigrette. The raspberries added a delicious sweet berry flavor that tempered the earthiness of the kale. The next one I went with dried cranberry that added sweetness to balance the pungent blue cheese.  

In all, both turned out great and made the kale extremely palatable. So give this super food a try in a salad. You might not even realize it's in there!

Raspberry Kale Salad

4 C. washed baby kale

2 C. washed baby spinach

1 C. washed whole raspberry

1/4 C. pine nuts

1/2 C. shaved parmesan

4 tbsp virgin olive oil

3 tbsp flavored vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

black pepper, to taste

Chop kale & spinach. Divide up between two bowls. Sprinkle Parmesan then raspberries then pine nuts.

In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Lightly drizzle over salads.

Cranberry Blue Cheese Kale Salad

4 C. washed baby kale

2 C. washed baby spinach

1/2 C. cucumber, sliced

1/4 C. dried cranberry

1/4 C. blue cheese

4 tbsp virgin olive oil

3 tbsp flavored vinegar

1 tsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp fresh thyme

1/4 tsp fresh rosemary

black pepper, to taste

Chop kale & spinach. Divide up between two bowls. Place slide cucumbers. Sprinkle blue cheese then cranberries.

In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining ingredients. Lightly drizzle over salads.

Tell me what you think.  Share your ideas too.

I invite you to follow on Facebook,Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram & Google+.

https://www.facebook.com/smallkitchencook

https://twitter.com/KitchenSmith01

http://www.pinterest.com/smallkitchencook/
https://instagram.com/smallkitchencook/

Google+ Small Kitchen Cooking

#smallkitchencooking
#workwithwhatchagot