Recipes

Now before you immediately stop reading this post because of the words kale salad, indulge me in a few sentences to convince you to give it a try. I used to be like you and shy (or run at times) away from the bitter, sometimes tough leafy green that everyone seems to be touting these days; but have to say that these days were friends.

So what’s the secret? Two things. First, it’s really important to cut the stems out of your kale, they are very bitter. The easiest way to do that, fold the kale in half around the stem and slice it right out. Second, when you eat raw kale it needs a quick massage with some kind of acid. I like to use lemon juice. Simply toss all of your kale into a big bowl and squeeze on some lemon juice. Start with about 1/2 lemon. Toss it around and then gently massage the leaves with the lemon juice for 1-2 minutes until the kale gets a bit darker in color and shrinks down to about half the size. Doing this both softens the kale and it also brightens up the flavor and reduces some of the bitterness.

Now maybe you and kale can be friends too. Here is one of my favorite Kale salad recipes, a twist on a traditional Waldorf salad that is adapted from a recipe from Whole foods. Also the dressing for this salad is delicious on it’s own. I usually make extra.

Weight Watchers Kale Waldorf Salad
Points: 4 weight watchers pointsplus
Servings: 4
Serving Size: about 1 cup
Nutritional Info: 140 calories, 7g of fat, 20g of carbohydrates, 3g of fiber, 3g of protein

Ingredients

• 4 cups packed finely chopped raw kale (I used dinosaur kale, but any will work)
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 large apple
• 1 cup champagne grapes (or regular grapes, cut in half)
• 3 stalks thinly sliced celery
• 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons raisins, divided (dried cranberries also work great)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons water, more if needed
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

Instructons

1. Place your chopped kale into a large bowl and squeeze the lemon juice over the kale. Give it a quick massage until the kale reduces to about half its size.
2. In a blender combine 1/4 cup walnuts, 2 tbsp raisins, mustard, vinegar, water, and the sea salt to make your dressing.
3. Add the apple, grapes, celery, and remaining raisins and walnuts to the kale. Then add the dressing and toss everything to combine. Serve immediately or keep refrigerated for 2-3 days.