Welcome Spring with Delicious Kale Salad!

Food Snob has been getting questions from readers asking why her food blog disappeared during the month of April.  Well, Food Snob has been on the road – for business, not fun – and after eating at some very wonderful restaurants in Washington D.C. and New York City, she is ready to go back to cooking her OWN food.  There is nothing so satisfying as eating delicious food you have prepared yourself and, above all, knowing what is in it!

Spring is finally here in Denver – after a solid month of snowstorms (which Food Snob would not entirely know about because she wasn’t in town for most of the month) - and it is time to turn to fresh food that welcomes the warm weather ahead.  Fresh salad greens are showing up in markets and Food Snob has fresh lettuce that has wintered over in her garden.  Greens - including leaf lettuce, spinach, arugula, chard, and kale – are at their best in the early spring before the weather gets hot.

Kale, a type of green growing in popularity, is available year-round and grows well in back-yard gardens.  Kathleen Zelman, MPD, RD, LD, who writes for WebMD, calls kale “the queen of greens  . . . recognized for its exceptional nutrient richness, health benefits, and delicious flavor.”  A nutritional powerhouse, “kale may provide significant health benefits, including cancer protection and lowered cholesterol.”  According to Ms. Zelman, “one cup of kale contains 36 calories, 5 grams of fiber, and 15% of the daily requirement of calcium and vitamin B6 (pyridoxine), 40% of magnesium, 180% of vitamin A, 200% of vitamin C, and 1,020% of vitamin K. It is also a good source of minerals copper, potassium, iron, manganese, and phosphorus.”  What’s not to like?

Below is a fantastic recipe for a kale salad that Food Snob adapted from one found on the Food Network website.  The salad is a wonderful treat for spring, but Food Snob makes it all year long.  It is a winner in so many ways:

• It is one of the few green salads that will keep well enough to make ahead or to serve the next day.
• It has a bright citrus vinaigrette dressing that will win over even those people that think they will NEVER like kale, in any form (that wouldn’t describe you would it?)
• The recipe works well with any type of kale (dinosaur, curly, ornamental), and is a great compliment to summer or winter meals.
• The salad is a bargain – Food Snob purchased one bunch of organic lacinato (dinosaur) kale for $1.25 and two yellow mangos for $1 at Sprouts over the weekend.

This simple salad relies on two important techniques for success.  First, you will need to make the salad BEFORE you prepare the rest of your meal, so that the kale has a little time to soften and for the flavors to meld.  The salad can sit and wait until the rest of your meal is ready.  Second, you will need to spend five minutes or so massaging the oil into the kale – which softens it and prevents the texture for being too tough.  Wash your hands before proceeding, and don’t skip this important step.

To prepare the kale for this recipe, use a sharp knife to remove the spine from each leaf.  Cut the leaves crosswise into ¼ to ½ inch strips.  You can stack the leaves to make this a quick-to-finish chore.

Leftovers, if you are lucky enough to have them, keep well and will make a delicious addition to your lunch the next day!

Kale Salad with Mango and Pine Nuts – makes 4 servings

Ingredients 1 bunch kale (any type), spines removed and discarded and leaves sliced in ¼- or ½- inch pieces

2 Tablespoons good quality olive oil

2 mangos, peeled and diced into ½ inch cubes (about 1 cup)

Juice from one lemon, freshly squeezed

2 teaspoons honey

Coarse kosher salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

3 Tablespoons pine nuts, toasted (you can do this in your toaster oven at 325 degrees for about 2 minutes)

Preparation

Place kale in a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil.  Using clean hands, massage the oil into the kale for about 5 minutes, until the kale softens. 

Add the mango, lemon juice, honey, kosher salt, and fresh ground paper.  Toss and taste; adjust seasoning if necessary.  Add toasted pine nuts and toss again.  Set salad aside, or refrigerate and serve later or the next day.  Keeps about 24 hours.

IMPORTANT NOTE about using salt in Food Snob’s recipes:  While Food Snob has been out of town, her husband made chili from the recipe on her blog.  He complained that the recipe was too salty.  When Food Snob investigated, she found her husband was using iodized table salt instead of COARSE KOSHER SALT.   Food Snob’s recipes will not turn out properly if you use table salt instead of coarse kosher salt.  There is a lot more sodium and “salt” flavor in table salt than in coarse kosher salt.  Using kosher salt is a good way to begin reducing the sodium in your diet. 

NEXT WEEK:  Food Snob continues the spring theme with a recipe for Linguine with Shrimp, Asparagus, and Fresh Basil.  Yes, asparagus is in season right now, and this dish comes together in minutes.  Head outside and eat it on the deck or patio!