Vegetable: Kale Salad

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Looking for a way to incorporate more leafy greens into your diet?  This salad combines plumb golden raisins, dried cranberries and slivered almonds with chopped kale -- dusted with parmesan, it is truly a sweet and savory way to enjoy eating your greens! To change it up, use currents for golden raisins and chopped scallions for red onion.  Lind family, this one's for you!

Kale Salad with raisins, cranberries and almonds

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 bunch dark green kale leaves, rinsed twice and stems removed
  • 6T [90mL] oil and vinegar or Caesar salad dressing, divided
  • 1/4 c [40g] golden raisins 
  • 1/8 c [16g] red onion, finely chopped
  • 1/2 c [75g] slivered almonds
  • 1/2 c [75g] dried cranberries
  • 1 c [120g] parmesan cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS

  1. Pat kale leaves dry and chop into thin strips - place in large bowl
  2. Add 3T [45mL] salad dressing to kale strips and "knead" the kale (as you would bread dough) for 3-4 minutes to help break down cellular structure
  3. Meanwhile, add remaining 3T [45mL] salad dressing to golden raisins in small ramekin - soak raisins for 5 minutes to plump
  4. To kale strips, add cranberries, almonds and onions - toss well
  5. Add plumped raisins - with residual salad dressing - and toss again
  6. Dust parmesan cheese over salad just before serving

Vegetable: Asparagus Salad

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Asparagus Salad

One of my go-to salads -- it's delicious, different and do-ahead.  This salad can be changed up easily too -- use red bell pepper and green cabbage for a holiday dinner, or bok choy and chopped scallions for an Asian potluck.

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 c chopped cabbage
  • 1/2 bell pepper, seeded and diced
  • 1 lb fresh asparagus spears, snapped or trimmed
  • 3 T balsamic vinaigrette

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat 1 qt. water in large pot to boiling.  Add trimmed asparagus -- boil for 5 minutes or until asparagus is bright green.
  2. Drain asparagus and rinse with cold water to stop cooking process
  3. Pour balsamic vinaigrette over asparagus spears to marinate -- refrigerate
  4. To serve: layer marinated asparagus over cabbage, top with chopped bell pepper


Entree Salad: Mixed Bean-Tomato Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

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This salad blends some favorite spring and summer vegetables - green beans, waxed beans and tomatoes.  The vinaigrette is simple to prepare.  All these ingredients, including the basil, can be found at your favorite farmer's market, grocery, or if you have space or containers (and a thumb greener than mine), your own garden.   For cookouts or patio gatherings, this is also a highly transportable salad.  Sometimes I even combine the tomatoes with the vinaigrette and then just pour the vinaigrette-plumped tomatoes over the beans and toss it all together!

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INGREDIENTS

  • ½ lb [230g] fresh green beans, trimmed
  • ½ lb [230g] fresh wax beans, trimmed
  • 1 ½ c [225g] cherry or grape tomatoes, halved 
  • ¼ c [60mL] balsamic vinegar
  • 3 T [45mL] extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 t [5mL] kosher salt
  • 1 t [5mL] freshly ground black pepper
  • ½ c [75g] basil leaves, coarsely chopped
  • ½ c [75g] finely chopped red onion

DIRECTIONS

  1. Cook green and wax beans in boiling water 5 minutes. 
  2. Drain, then rinse in cold water to stop cooking; drain again.
  3. Combine vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, basil and red onion - set aside
  4. In a large bowl, mix beans and tomatoes, toss gently.  Cover and chill.
  5. When ready to serve, pour vinaigrette over vegetables and toss to combine.​

​Adapted from Cooking Light

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