Kale Waldorf Salad

I found a basic salad recipe while looking through the Whole Foods App on my iPhone, I highly recommend this app, it has great healthy recipes that are easy to prepare. I have made a few changes to the original recipe and find it to be heavenly. The dressing works so well with the Kale as well as on other salads or used as a dip or marinade.

Serves 4-6 people 

Ingredients:

4 cups packed finely chopped raw kale

1 large red apple, such as Honeycrisp or Fuji, chopped, divided
1 cup thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons craisins, divided

1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped, divided

 

For Dressing:

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons water, more if needed
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/8 teaspoon sea salt 

Directions:

Place kale in a large bowl. Add half the apple to kale along with celery, 1/4 cup walnuts and 1/4 cup raisins. Put remaining apple in a blender along with remaining 1/4 cup walnuts, remaining 2 tablespoons raisins, mustard, water, vinegar and salt. Purée until well combined and slightly thick, adding water if needed to thin. Pour dressing over kale salad and toss to combine.

*place the salad when dressed in the fridge for 15 minutes once dressed, it allows the kale to soak up the dressing and the leaves fill with flavor. 

Pea and Beet Salad

This unusually warm winter in New York has me eating plenty of salads lately and I decided it was time to think of some new recipes. This one is quickly becoming a favorite! 

Ingredients:

- Arugula

- Sugar Snap Peas

- Pea Shoots

- Cucumber

- Roasted Beets

- Goat Cheese

For dressing:

- EVOO

- Balsamic Vinegar

- Egg Yolk

- Water

Directions:

Well folks, this is a salad, not reinventing the wheel so I will make this short and sweet.

Place arugula in a large bowl, dice up the peas, pea shoots, and cucumber and add to bed of arugula. As for the beets I bought prepared beets at Trader Joes and diced them up and tossed in the salad. You can also roast your own beets it time permits.

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and sprinkle with goat cheese (feta also works well). I also like to sprinkle some roasted flax seeds on top as well for added benefits.

For the dressing add 1 part EVOO,  1 part water, 2 parts vinegar and an egg yolk to a bowl and whisk until it all turns to a balsamic vinaigrette.

 

Toss dressing into salad and serve. 

Fun Fruity Salad

I read a recipe in a magazine a few years back that incorporated Asian Pears into salad. I have since been addicted to the costly fruit, so I do try and put it to good use. Here is a recipe for one of my favorite salads.

Ingredients:

For Salad:

- Handful of Spinach Leaves

- Handful of Romaine Lettuce

- Handful of Pea Shoots

- 4-6 Strawberries

- 1/2 Asian Pear

- 1 stalk Hearts of Palm

- 1/4 Cucumber

- 1/4 Avocado

- 3oz Chicken

For Dressing:

- EVOO

- Balsamic Vinegar

- Water

- 1 Egg Yolk

For the Salad:

Well folks it’s a salad, so I will keep it simple. Cut up the lettuce, dice up the vegetables, slice the fruit and chicken and mix it all in a bowl.

For the Dressing:

I use this container to make measuring easy and so I have dressing for a few days. 2 parts vinegar, 1 part water, 1 part EVOO, 1 egg yolk... then SHAKEEEEEE!

Pour some dressing on top of the salad and enjoy!