Kale Salad with Pine nuts, Currants, and Parmesan

 This is what I made with the leftover kale I had after making Kale Chips. You can, of course, make a billion dishes with kale, two others that I linked on my Kale Chips post. But here's another good thing.

 I actually also made this dish for Thanksgiving, too. See how the leaves look wilted? In my last kale salad, I steamed the kale. Here, it is actually raw. What? Raw? Isn't it, like, hard, and bitter, you know? ...No. Not really. In fact, not at all. The trick? Massage. Oh, yes. This involves some oil and some rubbing and some time to get really personal with your dinner.

Massaging the kale is actually kind of nice. You pick it up and squeeze and toss and rub and turn, and all of a sudden, the kale is supple and a vibrant shade of green. But it still has a bit of a crunch. You can let it sit for an hour or two before serving, to let the olive oil do its thing a bit longer. Oh, and once you get past the whole massage concept thing, you've got to appreciate the flavoring. It just screams soothingly murmurs sophistication. The strips of parmesan give it some licks of salt, the currants add pops of sweet, and the pine nuts confer nibbles of fat. And it's still healthy!

Go on. Dim the lights. Burn some incense. Drizzle that olive oil. You won't regret it.

Kale Salad with Pine nuts, Cranberries, and Parmesan
adapted from Epicurious
serves 4.

note: the currants are soaked overnight to plump. If this is too much work or you haven't planned ahead (my classic problem) just substitute cranberries, unsoaked. This is also very very good.

note note: this calls for one small bunch. Eyeball it. if you're making this with leftover prepped Kale from Kale Chips, you may want to reduce it. But you can also just make the full dressing and only add as much as is needed.

1 tbsps dried currants
3 tbsps white wine vinegar

1 small bunch Tuscan kale
1 tbsp pine nuts
1/2 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
1/2 tbsp honey
2 tsps extra-virgin olive oil
dash salt
Parmesan cheese shavings


Place currants in small bowl and add white wine vinegar. Let soak overnight. Drain currants and reserve currant vinegar.
Derib and destem the kale, and tear into bite size pieces. Put into salad bowl. 

Lightly toast the pine nuts. Keep a close eye on them; they burn fast.

Add currants and pine nuts to the kale.
Whisk the reserved white whine/currant vinegar, rice vinegar, honey, oil, and salt in a small bowl. 

Add to salad bowl and begin to massage. This involves gently kneading, squeezing, and tossing. It will make your hands nice and soft. After five minutes or so, the kale should be tender and a brighter green. 

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle cheese shavings over salad and serve.

Best Potato Salad (with a little something I like to call Basil, bitches)

 So here's a lil' sumfin' for the spring and early summer, prime new potato season. Oh, what's that you say? It's now coming nigh on autumn? TOO BAD. Find yourself some fingerling potatoes instead.

Really, this dish is all about the sauce. As long as you find some small, non-starchy potatoes to use, you're set any time of year. Because, yum.

Kale Salad with Quinoa

When I was in LA, I had a lot of kale salad. And I mean a lot. Like, 5 times in a week. Because it was so yummy! And the best one I had was from this great lunch place, Veggie Grill. What I especially liked about their salad was that it was sprinkled with quinoa. Once more folks: protein! And it just tastes so good nestled up with kale.

3 Ingredient Salads

Perhaps this will be an ongoing theme. As I said before, I'm not into fussy preparation. So for me, something that has under five ingredients is just what I'm looking for. And this summer, I have been enjoy two simply awesome three ingredient salads.
The three ingredients here are as follows for both salads: one fruit, one vegetable, and one liquid.
Both salads rely on really great produce, since there's barely any preparation done. I suggest only buying local, organic ingredients that are in season for these salads, because trust me, it makes all the difference.
The first salad I learned from a great cook and friend of mine, Michael Sieverts.


It involves avocado, grapefruit, and olive oil. A simple vinaigrette is just a mix of an acid like vinegar or citrus juice and an oil like olive oil or nut oils. Here, the vinaigrette is created with the juice of the grapefruit mingling with the olive oil. For both salads, a little time for them to sit and gather flavor is beneficial.