Coastal Kale Salad

Happy Sunday y’all! Since it has been awhile since I’ve posted a recipe, I figured today would be perfect to share this vegan salad that I’ve been obsessing over with all of you. At New Seasons, or New Leaf, there’s this kale salad that I absolutely love. Before road trips to LA, sometimes my family picks up some of that salad so that we can eat it for lunch instead of In N Out. It’s healthier, tastier, and did I mention healthier already?

Well, guess what? My dear, super amazing mother has discovered how to make an equally if not better tasting version of it. All I did was figure out the base ingredients. She tinkered around with the ratio of the ingredients and pretty much got it perfect the first time around. Pretty amazing, right? This is an extremely simple, fibrous, and vitamin filled salad that’ll keep your stomach and heart happy. We had some of this for dinner last night. I bet you that this salad will make you feel as strong as some of those olympic athletes in Rio. Have you seen what some of them are capable of???

Hit up your local farmer’s market to get a bundle of kale. Sometimes if you go near the closing of the farmer’s market, they’ll sell 3 bundles for 5 dollars. But if you go to any grocery market, like Food 4 Less or something, it shouldn’t cost more than 2 dollars for a bundle.

Ingredients:

• 1 bundle of kale
• 1 small red onion thinly sliced (soak in a jar for at least 20 minutes with 2 Tbsp vinegar, 1 1/2 Tbsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt)
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
• 1 Tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 3 Tbsp sugar
• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil

Instructions:

1. Roast the sesame seeds in a pan of low-medium heat until browned, stir consistently to prevent burning. Do the same with the sunflower seeds.
2. Rinse and drain the kale. Chop the kale (each leaf should end up being about a 1/2 inch).
3. For the dressing, mix the vinegar, sugar, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, olive oil, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Taste the dressing to make sure it suits your taste buds. Add more salt or lemon if necessary.
4. In a large salad bowl, toss the kale, red onion, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, and dressing together until it has been evenly mixed.

The recipe should serve about 4-5 people (4 of those bowls pictured above).

Go ahead and whip up some of this for your lunch this week. I guarantee that it’ll keep you satisfied, and your body with thank you for it. Have a great Sunday and hope you’re all enjoying the Olympic games! My dad has the TV running constantly so that we don’t miss any of the aquatics events. I absolutely cannot wait to watch Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky swim. What are you guys all looking forward to watching in these olympic games?

Health Benefits:

Kale is a green leafy vegetable; therefore, it has a high nutrient density. It is full of fiber, low in calories, and has zero fat. It is also high in iron, which helps with the formation of hemoglobin in red blood cells (helps transport oxygen through your body). Vegans and vegetarians should eat it to help with getting enough iron since it’s generally found in red meats. If you don’t get enough iron in your diet, you could end up with iron deficient anemia, which causes fatigue and other health problems.

Kale is also high in vitamin K, which helps with blood clotting and protecting bone health. It’s high in calcium, vitamin A, and vitamin C, ad antioxidants. It can therefore help protect you against certain cancers. Talk about a superfood, right? Of course, there are other leafy veggies just as healthy for you as kale, but kale is pretty darned delicious, especially when prepared in a salad like this!