Kale & Cabbage Salad

I’ve made this twice in the last 3 days, so that oughta tell you how delicious it is. My husband was actually a little worried that I might O.D. on it! Too much cabbage for one person can be a little scary! But OMG! It was so delicious! I made a big HUGE batch of it for meal prepping on Sunday, so that I could dip into it through the week.

So… here’s how it went down.

It all started with NO TOMATOES! I almost always have tomatoes on hand to make my staple Greek salad. I seriously eat a Greek-inspired salad at least 3-4 times per week. So when I was in the mood to munch of fresh greens the other day, and I looked over at my EMPTY tomato bowl, I PANICKED!

I scanned the frig and pantry and came up with some bags of kale from our local CSA farm, a head of cabbage, a big bag of carrots, pepitas (pumpkin seeds) from Costco and some organic dried cranberries. It was looking promising!

kale_cabbage

 

Before we go any further with this recipe, you’re going to need to know how to massage your kale! WHAT?! I know, it sounds crazy. But there are a lot of people that thought they HATED kale because it was so rough and coarse, but if you just show it a little love, it’ll turn into something much more palatable and delicious! Watch and learn:

The amounts aren’t really set in stone. I am the queen of ‘add a little of this and a little of that’ and don’t always measure. But if I had to make my best guess, here goes…

Ingredients: for 2-4 servings

  • Dozen stems of curly kale (remove from stalks, chop and massage)
  • 1/4 head of cabbage (chopped small)
  • 3 carrots (shredded)
  • 1/2 cup pepitas
  • 1/2 cup dried low/no sugar cranberries

Dressing: Homemade Creamy Garlic Dressing (this stuff is the BOMB! – seriously drinkable!) Just 2-3 tablespoons will do.

Directions:

  • Umm….just toss it all together and try not to eat the whole dang bowl!

Containers (21 Day Fix/Hammer & Chisel): 2 greens, 1 orange

kale_cabbage2

 

 

*The kale and cabbage stand up nicely to the dressing, so it doesn’t get soggy even a few days later! A lettuce salad would be pretty limp and wilty by then! My husband loved this salad, too. It’s nice and crunchy and the flavors are…AHHH!!! Just try it! I promise, you’ll love it! Feel free to get creative! What else would be good?


What’s on SALE this month!?

Try This! Kale Quinoa Salad

baby_kale_salad

I made this salad today for lunch, and it was SO good! I highly recommend that you try it. Even my six year old couldn’t resist the yummy smells coming out of the kitchen, and enjoyed a bowl of the finished product with her lunch. Not sure you like quinoa? Do you like rice? I think it really has the same texture as rice, but it’s so much more nutritious, and high in protein, too! BONUS! Not sure you like kale? I found a giant bag of ‘baby’ kale at Costco, and it’s much more tender and mild. Good for adding to salads, or sautes…quite nice.

Anyway, back to my salad. It’s a New Year! If you’re working on a New You…then you’ll want to incorporate some New Foods! 😀

Kale & Quinoa Salad (makes 6 servings)

2 Cups of water

1 Cup of quinoa

6-8 loosely-packed cups of kale

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon dijon mustard

1 garlic clove (minced)

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

3/4 C. Almond pieces or slivers

3/4 C. dried cranberries

1/2 C. reduced fat feta cheese

Directions

  1. Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir quinoa into the boiling water, reduce heat to medium-low, place cover on the saucepan, and cook until water absorbs into the quinoa, about 15 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat and let rest covered for 5 minutes. Remove cover and allow quinoa to cool completely.
  2. Put kale in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic, pepper, and salt together in a bowl until oil emulsifies into the mixture; drizzle over kale. Add cooled quinoa, almonds, cranberries, and feta cheese to the dressed kale and toss to incorporate.

 Nutritional Information: 297 calories, 12 g. fat, 11 g. protein per serving