Crack Kale Salad

Monday is delivery day for us from SLO Veg. That means a whole box of fresh fruits and veggies to fit into the refrigerator day-after-tomorrow. So today I decided to use up most of whatever veggies had not yet disappeared from last week's box. There were some red potatoes...and that kale was still hanging around in the frig from last week's box. Actually, there were two kinds of kale, and one was two weeks old (from the previous box). Dang that stuff has a long refrigerated shelf life. MAYbe I should use it up?

I quickly made a dinner plan: kale salad, roasted potatoes, bacon-wrapped chicken marinated in beer, and garlic bread. The only things I needed from the store were chicken thighs and bread. 

Okay, so I pulled out the kale and inspected it. The curly kale that had been in the frig for two weeks was mostly good, with just a few leaves that needed to be cut out. The Lacinto kale that we just got this week was really dark green and crispy. I trimmed off all the stems and center ribs and gave it all a good washing in my salad spinner. Then I sliced it into 1/4" ribbons for the salad. I found a recipe I liked with a simple lemon juice and olive oil dressing. I jazzed it up a little after I tasted it, because it REALLY made me pucker! So I added a teaspoon of sugar, a splash of apple juice and some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. I poured the dressing over the kale and let it all meld together in a glass mixing bowl.

Meanwhile, I sliced up a nice, crispy apple into long strips and added it to the salad bowl. I wanted the lemon juice to coat the apple pieces so they would stay fresh looking. Then I mixed in some toasted almonds, raisins and some shaved Parmesan cheese.

The salad was a side dish for tonight's dinner which consisted of bacon-wrapped chicken breasts, roasted red potatoes and sourdough garlic bread. As you can see from the bottom photo, none went to waste.

Crack Kale Salad
 (very addicting!)

Dressing:
3 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons apple juice
pinch of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of sugar

1 bunch of kale, any variety, stems and center ribs removed
1/4 cup honey roasted sliced almonds
1/4 cup raisins
3 green onions, diced
1 large, crisp apple
1/2 cup shaved parmesan cheese

Mix together the dressing ingredients. Slice kale into ribbons. In a mixing bowl, pour dressing over kale and mixed together.Cut apple, peel and all, into julienne slices and mix with kale. Add almonds, raisins, and parmesan cheese and its ready to go!