What the Kale?!

Confession: I used to feel guilty for hating kale. I really tried to like it, but it was just too hardy to eat raw and I'm not a fan of any cooked green. I was persistent, however, in my quest to enjoy kale because it might be the healthiest thing you could ever put in your mouth. It's low in calories and high in fiber, iron, calcium and vitamins A, C and K. It's full of antioxidants and has anti-inflammatory properties. Kale is what all the other greens wish they could be! 

So in my search for the best way to prepare kale I came across a recipe for "massaged kale". You literally give the kale a massage and it changes before your eyes! The reason this made it easier for me to eat was because it wasn't as fibrous as raw kale, but it wasn't slimy like cooked kale (did I mention that I REALLY hate cooked greens?)!

Massaged Kale Salad  

Ingredients:

• one bunch kale
• one mango, diced* 
• roasted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
• juice of 1/2 a lemon**
• less than 1 T olive oil
• pinch of kosher salt
• coarsely ground black pepper 

     1.  Tear the kale into pieces and place in a large bowl

     2.  Drizzle with just a bit of olive oil

     3.  Reach in and squeeze the kale, a handful at a time, until it starts to wilt. It will actually start     to smell like ripe bananas after a minute or so!

     

     4.  Once it seems fully wilted, mix in your diced mango, seeds, salt, lemon juice and pepper 

*This is also really good with apples, pears or grapes. If you want veggies instead of fruit, roasted squash, pumpkin or sweet potato would be great, too!

**Balsamic vinegar is also really good in place of lemon!

It's tangy from the lemon juice, sweet from the mango, crunchy from the seeds (not pictured in this salad!) and a little salty. You now have every food craving wrapped up into one healthy salad. Eating this got me so used to kale, that I now eat it raw without making a face! I really hope you like it!