Friday, January 9, 2009

A Healthy Winter Salad

I never knew what to do with kale until my son made this delicious salad for me. Kale will give you the iron and vitamin C you need to fight off colds, as well as the potassium you need for a healthy heart. To get all the ingredients in one quick stop, try Country Sun, a store on California Ave. in Palo Alto that requires much less time and $ than Whole Foods.

Noemi’s Kale Salad With Apple, Date, and Tahini

• ~ ½ bunch curly dark green Lacinato (or dinosaur) kale
• 1 apple, preferably organic so that you can leave the peel on
• 2 Medjool dates
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/6 cup seasoned brown rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon tahini (sesame seed paste)

• Wash the kale by dipping it in a large bowl of cold water, then thoroughly dry it in a salad spinner. Cut the leaves lengthwise into 2-4 strips, discarding the stem. Chop the strips into ¼ inch pieces. You should have about 3 cups of finely chopped kale.
• Cut the apple into quarters, remove the core, slice each quarter into 3-4 slices, and chop each slice into ~ 6 pieces.
• Remove the pits from the dates, slice the dates into pieces ~ ¼ inch wide, and then cut these into small chunks.
• Combine the above ingredients in a salad bowl, separating the date pieces as much as possible.
• Measure olive oil- if you add seasoned vinegar to reach the ½ cup mark, that will be 1/6 cup.
• Add tahini to oil + vinegar, mix with a whisk or fork, and gradually add to salad, tossing to mix well, until kale is well coated with dressing. You will probably have leftover dressing.
• Serves 2