Warm Kale Salad

Hi all!

So lately, I've been on this kick of replicating my favorite restaurant meals.  Costs less and you know what you're getting.  Whoever says you can't eat healthy on a budget better think again!

Thanks to a tip from a couple of friends, I recently discovered the warm kale (All Hail Kale) salad at The Veggie Grill in WeHo.  I mean, how good can a salad be, right? Which is precisely why it took me awhile to get down to actually trying it.   I've been craving it almost daily ever since, and so I set about trying to make it myself this weekend.

I love going to the Saturday farmer's market, and it's especially fun when I've got a specific purpose/ recipe in mind!  For awhile now, it's become a weekly tradition for me to visit the drive thru ATM early Saturday morning, withdraw a single $20 bill and set out to buy as much seasonal, local, organic fresh produce I can get my grubby little hands on!

This past weekend, I picked up some beautiful fluffy green kale, brought it home and got to work.  This salad uses mostly common ingredients that you are likely to already have in your pantry.  My version has a slight twist... instead of lemon miso ginger dressing... I created a delicious chili-lime-ginger vinaigrette.   I omitted the candied walnuts opting instead to use raw walnuts which are much healthier for you and just as yummy!

So, please check out the recipe and let me know how y'all like it!


1 bunch green kale with coarse ribs removed and cut into salad bite-sized pieces
1 small tomato finely diced
1/2 cup cooked corn
1 cup quinoa
1/8 small head of purple cabbage thinly sliced
1 small carrot shredded
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 Tbsp canola oil
1/2 cup raw shelled walnuts (optional)


Dressing:

1/4 cup canola oil

1 medium lime juiced
1/2 tsp chili pepper

Salt and Pepper TT
1/4 cup Maple syrup
1/4 cup Agave syrup
1 Tbsp Powdered ginger
1/4 cup hot/ boiling water



Add 2:1/ water:quinoa in a small saucepan and cook covered over medium (first) then low heat until water is mostly gone (quinoa should still be moist from the little bit of water remaining).

In a large stockpot, heat 2 Tbsp canola oil and add cooked quinoa, diced tomatoes, garlic powder, salt & pepper to taste and saute for about a minute.  Add kale and about 1/2 a cup of water, close lid and leave for about 10-15 minutes until kale has wilted and decreased by about half in volume.

Mix together and whisk dressing ingredients until well incorporated.  Pour half of dressing into the bottom of a salad bowl, together with cooked corn.  Add kale mixture and lightly toss until kale leaves are evenly coated in dressing and quinoa/ tomatoes/ corn are evenly distributed throughout.

Add cabbage, shredded carrots (and walnuts) on top as a garnish and serve while kale mix is still warm.

Soooo goooddd!!!!     :-9


Why eat kale?  Here are a few excellent reasons...

Kale is full of a highly absorbable form of calcium... superior to milk!  As an added bonus, it's not an acid-forming food (unlike milk), which leaches your body of more calcium than it actually provides.

Chock full of beta-carotene, the anti-oxidants in kale keep your immune system going strong