Health Kick Kickstart - Part 2

Still on my health kick.  It's such a love-hate relationship.  I love feeling good with lots of energy but I hate that I 'choose' not to eat the bad crap of food, like Oreos.  I do eat the Oreos, but with fear in my heart because I know that I can't eat just one.  So I try to come up with new recipes and fun ways to eat healthy food and then my sugar cravings actually go down.  Yay me!

I've written before about kale and how good it is for you in my first Health Kick post.  It's the healthiest green you can eat.  I tested a smoothie recipe in that post with kale in it.  It's surprisingly good so you'll have to check it out if you haven't already.  Here's my next recipe from Amy Marzluff at Advanced Wellness Center in Columbus.

Massaged Kale and Currant Salad

1 bunch of kale
pinch of sea salt
1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. currants (or apples)
1/3 c. sunflowers seeds, cashews, almonds, etc.
1/2 c. avocado, chopped
Lemon juice

De-stem the kale and place in ziploc bag.  Add a pinch of salt and seal.  Massage the leaves for two minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, shake well and enjoy!

Here's what I learned: 

Tear the kale in very very very (very) small pieces.  It's easier to chew.

The first time I had this salad, I didn't massage the leaves long enough.  You don't want to massage too long or the kale will get mushy.  Two minutes is just about right.

I don't think I used a full 1/4 cup of olive oil.  I eyeballed it and ended up adding a tiny bit more once I dumped it in a bowl.

I didn't have currants so I chopped up tiny pieces of apples.

I'm not crazy about avocado alone so I used a quarter of one avocado.  Perfection!

I loved this salad more when I added the apples and sunflower seeds instead of using cashews and currants.  The sunflower seeds gave that bit-of-salty/nutty flavor and the apples toned it down with a touch of sweetness.

If you're not sure about eating kale as a salad, I remember my mom always saying (and I now say to my children) "Don't knock it 'til you try it.  You just might like it."

Let me know how YOU liked this salad!  You might be surprised!