Tuscan Kale Salad - It's Not Just For Breakfast Anymore

Now…Do I have your FULL attention?

Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts and a bit of
crumbled Low Carb Spinach Crackers with Pascal Manale Shrimp 

Look, I could sit here and probably create a cute story of how my mama hand-picked the kale from our back yard on Reed Road, when we were growing up. But the truth is to my knowledge, the only thing Mama and Daddy thought kale was fit for was as a decorative embellishment on a tray of fattening and wholly comforting appetizers, or maybe as a "platter carpet" for a plate of oozing and unctuous barbequed duck!

I was 48 years old before I figured out that I could eat the stuff planted in the border of my front flower bed. I was 49 years old before I decided kale was for kids and not for tricky rabbits!

So let me say that again slowly…in English. Kale is an acquired taste. Yep, I'm tellin' you the honest truth. I am.

Gosh I feel healthier just looking at these ingredients,
don't you? My moral superiority gets stronger, daily!

If you didn’t grow up eatin’ kale, then the first few times you eat it, you will make the sign of the cross, paste a smile on your face, think of Dixie and act superior like you’ve never acted superior before, as all great martyrs will, when placed in a similar situation.

You will don your “I’m-evolved-and-on-a-higher-social-plane-than-you-cuz-I’m-eatin’-kale” smile and you will feel smug and superior. End of story.

Kale for lack of a better description tastes exactly like the color green sounds. And looks.

But once you get past that. And if you persevere, you will get past that…what happens next is you wind up trying to score a bunch of the “good Tuscan stuff” from food vendors at every farmer’s market this side of East Side. Before long, you get your Jones on for the leathery stuff and no other green will suffice.



Not much to look at photographed, but it's beautiful in
real life!

 I find myself eating this salad for breakfast with poached or boiled eggs and dreaming up what to pare it with for lunch and dinner - especially when you drench it in lemony, garlicy, olive oil deliciousness. Good times! The latest paring of leftover Pascal Menali Barbequed Shrimp – WAS. THE. BOMB.

(Denny ate his Kale Salad with chicken. The boys calmly informed me that sock monkeys don’t “wike” kale, they only eat bananas and peanut butter, or peanut butter and bananas.)

And OMG, if you introduce kale to feta, or God forbid, Blue Cheese, Walnuts, and Bacon? You will feel the full power of your gifts.

There can be only one Highlander!

Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts
Yield – 8 Serving
Prep Time – 15 Minutes
Cook Time – None
Refrigerator Time – 15 Minutes – 1 Day

Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts -
Simple Summer Supper at its best!

Ingredients6c Tuscan Kale (Lacinato, Dinosaur Kale), cut in ribbons
1c Cucumber, peeled and chopped
½c Purple Onion, chopped
½c Red Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped
½c Tomatoes, chopped
¼c Carrot, grated
1/3c Italian Flat Leaf Parsley, chopped coarsely
1 Lemon, zested
½ Lemon, juiced
¼ c Feta Cheese, crumbled
2 Tbsp Pine Nuts, toasted
6 Tbsp Fluffy Chix House Vinaigrette
4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinaigrette, Walden Farms

Instructions
Wash and dry kale. For this raw application, tear out large, coarse stems and cut leaves into ¾-inch ribbons or strips.



Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts packs
nutrient density in each bite! You'll have to wear your
super-hero undies after eating this salad! You will be STRONG,
like bull!



Peel and dice cucumbers. Dice onion, red bell pepper, tomatoes and parsley. Grate carrot on coarse setting. Zest lemon.

Combine lemon juice, Fluffy Chix House Vinaigrette and Balsamic Vinaigrette. Toss to evenly coat salad.

Chill kale salad for a minimum of 15 minutes and up to 24 hours before serving. If marinating for longer than an hour, add chopped tomatoes just prior to serving.

Nutrition Information
Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts – Full Recipe

Tuscan Kale Salad with Feta and Pine Nuts – Single Serving

SusieT’s NotesThe easiest way to ease into kale is by way of cooking it in hearty soups or stealthily sneaking up on it in a green smoothie. But you should do it, because Kale is a nutritional powerhouse.

Tuscan Kale Salad With Feta and Pine Nuts gives
cancer a punch in the old mitochondria!

I’ve told you this before about Swiss Chard, but apparently, it’s quite prominent on the anti-cancer front or as I like to say, “It’s a top Cancer Fighter.” Here’s what Whole Foods has to say about it.

Eat your kale.

Susie says, "Move over Popeye, eat your Kale!"