A kale salad is by far, my favorite salad to make. Not only is it easy but it makes a versatile bed for a host of dressing and veggie combinations. Many family and friends have tried these salads and loved them! They are incredibly surprised that the kale is not cooked – at all. It has a very wilted and sauteed appearance which lends itself to this reaction.
Interested to know how to make greens look sauteed but without turning on the stove?
It is simple. Take your greens (I assume they are washed/dried) and place them in a large bowl. Keep heaping them in, until they are like the Mt. Everest of greens. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over them and a drizzle with desired amount of extra virgin olive oil. Now, massage them with your hands. Mixing and stirring them up as you go. Within a minute, usually less than 2 minutes, they will start to resemble the sauteed look you’re going for. They will have transformed from a high peak to a plane state. Now you have a basic salad bed of greens!
Benefits from a bed of massaged greens:
- So many greens to use! Some new favorites and some old friends. I’ve done this with: parsley, kale, collard greens, mustard greens (these are bitter but tasty when paired correctly), spinach, baby leaf spinach, and bok choy.
- Increases the amount of greens you eat in a sitting. Can you imagine eating one bag of baby leaf spinach all to yourself for lunch? It’s possible once they’ve been massaged down.
- Greens, especially in large amounts are a great source of vitamins, minerals, and even protein.
Yay greens! That being said, I have been craving a sweet potato like you wouldn’t believe! Ever since watching Mimi’s video.
These tasty spuds are a great source of complex carbohydrates, fiber, and beta carotene (vitamin a). Since watching that video I’ve had a hard time finding them – of course. They haven’t yet made their appearance at the local farmer’s markets. When grocery shopping, the ones I believe to be sweet potatoes are in fact, yams. Argh.
Well, I finally found some yesterday and released their deliciousness into this salad.
Kale and Sweet Potato Salad
A quick, tasty, easy to toss together salad.
Ingredients
- 1 bunch kale, de-stemmed & chopped
- 1 medium sweet potato, peeled & julienned or shredded
- 2 green onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos
- Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 1 tablespoon)
- 2 teaspoons tahini
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
Instructions
- Place kale in a bowl, add olive oil and massage with hands or tongs until it becomes wilted in appearance (1-2 minutes).
- Add shredded sweet potato, green onions, Bragg Liquid Aminos, lemon juice, tahini, garlic powder, and nutritional yeast flakes. Toss with tongs until well mixed.
- Enjoy!
Yummmmm. This looks delicious, Michelle. I will give it a try. Please tell me more about liquid aminos.
Liquid aminos are a great replacement for soy sauce in both the taste and looks department but have way more nutrients than your average soy sauce. They contain 16 important amino acids (the building blocks of protein): Alanine, Arginine, Aspartic Acid, Glutamic Acid, Glycine, Histidine, Isoleucine, leucine, Methionine, Phenylalanine, Proline, Serine, Threonine, Tyrosine, Valine, and Lysene. They are also gluten free.
I love to use them on salads, kale chips, and stir fry’s. If you don’t have access to them, use soy sauce – maybe a little bit less than called for in the recipe. An organic tamari (Naturally GF soy sauce) would work to. 🙂