Citrus Kale Addiction

I am adding this beautiful kale salad to The Spunky Coconut’s Holiday Carnival! Welcome Easter! This is a gorgeous salad, and the colors fit perfectly with spring and Easter… Hope you all enjoy!

I am addicted! But in the way of addictions, I guess this is a pretty healthy one to have! I am addicted to kale… there, I said it. I am addicted to kale! And I am proud to be a kale-a-holic…

O Kale – with your crunchy green leaves, your fresh and lively flavor, you melt my heart and make my taste buds sing! Oh how I love thee kale!

But honestly – isn’t kale such a wonderful vegetable. It is so versatile. I have used it simply sautéed with onions and garlic with a little squeeze of fresh lemon juice, I have sliced it up and put it in my sloppy joes, I add it to soups, I put it in scrambles in the morning… but my favorite – my absolute addiction, is my Citrus Kale salad. I am honestly addicted to this. I eat it every day, sometimes for every meal, or rather, with every meal… I still add variety to the other parts of the meal, but it is so tasty, so satisfying, and so healthy, that I don’t feel bad eating it for every meal.

The first time I experimented and made this, my husband and I had it for dinner one night with BBQ I think. Now – we are the type of family that eats leftovers for lunch every day – if there are no leftovers, I almost would rather not eat lunch, I just can’t be bothered. Well – there was only enough salad for one person for lunch the next day. I am usually a very giving wife, but I even went so far as to tell my husband that he couldn’t take it for lunch the next day, I didn’t want to share (and he had to go to work, and I didn’t! oops!). That should tell you how much I love this salad! Now that I know better, I make up a double batch every couple days, and then we can both eat it whenever we want.

Scrumptious Citrus Kale Salad

So – without further ado, here is the recipe for my scrumptious Citrus Kale Salad!

Citrus Kale Salad

• 1 bunch kale (any kind – curly, dinosaur, etc…), destemmed & coarsely chopped
• 1 carrot, grated
• 1 beet, grated (optional)
• ¼ c. dried cranberries (preferably organic & non-sulphur)
• 1 organic tart green apple, cored & diced
• Juice of ½ lemon
• Juice of ½ orange
• Up to 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• Up to 2 Tbsp. honey
• Dash of sea salt

Directions: Toss all ingredients (except the beets) into a large bowl. With clean hands, massage all of the ingredients together for about 2 minutes until the kale is broken down and turns a brighter, vibrant green. Add the beets and mix until well combined. Let sit about 1 hour before you serve so that the flavors meld. Serve and enjoy!

Massaging the kale helps to break down the tougher fibers that would be softened during cooking. You can add the beets at the beginning, but be warned that if you do not wear gloves, your hands will be stained pink for awhile! I use gloves when I grate them, and then add them in after I have massaged all of the other ingredients. I love adding the beets for color, subtle flavor and an even bigger boost to an already nutritious scrumptious salad! Plus they dye the apples and carrots pink, which is oh so fun!

My go-to dinner of BBQd venison and Citrus Kale Salad

This is great as a side, on its own, or topped with pumpkin seeds, hemp seeds, chia seeds or sprouts. Get ready to be addicted!

For the recipe of the BBQ’d Venison featured in the photo, you can find it here!

If you are looking for even more fun Easter ideas, hop over to our latest post – Natural Food Dyes for Easter Eggs!

About these ads