Jamie Cullum ~ I Only Have Eyes For You
Sheryl Crow ~ If It Makes You Happy
Kidman/McGregor ~ Come What May
Nerina Pallot ~ I Don't Want To Go Out
Anna Nalick ~ Sort of Delilah
Rosemary Clooney ~ You'll Never Know
Muse ~ Panic Station
Alicia Keys ~ No One
Madeleine Peyroux ~ Half The World Away
Beth Hart ~ G.O.P
Tina Dico ~ Two Funerals
Halestorm ~ Shout It Out
Maroon 5 ~ Give A Little More
Maroon 5 ~ Losing My Mind
Once again I am a little late to the party...but better late then never, eh? I have spent the last couple of years watching all the beautiful and health filled salads being had. The main ingredient being kale..luscious and leafy loveliness. And I have watched...and watched...as others have been making and delighting in the eating of these dishes. You are probably wondering why I haven't tried them for myself?....simple...the kale suppliers around here consisted of the main supermarkets who sold bags of pre-chopped kale..that was full of stalks and very dry and unappetising pieces of leaves. OK in a pinch for cooking...but as a fresh ingredient for a salad...erm...no thank you.
Then very recently one of the supermarkets had a revamp and added a whole new fresh produce line..one that has fresh stems of kale...of four varieties and many other items that you couldn't buy for love nor money here. They even stock lotus root and fresh turmeric root...I know, right? lol.
So this Friday we purchased three massive stems of green kale (for salad, kale chips and cooking purposes), one lush large stem of purple kale and a plump head of radicchio..also something that was near impossible to find here.
As today is Saturday and we have my sister and her gang here for lunch I thought it was a great time to try out an idea I had floating around my head for a while. I can't eat what everyone else eats anyway...so Kale Salad it was going to be.
I had seen a very simple salad dressing online that had been served over kale leaves. So ML bravely went into the kitchen to do battle with the kale..lol. Chick peas and chopped kale went into a bowl followed by the dressing and it was left mulch for a while. And whole radicchio leaves were torn off and cleaned ready to be filled. A good start.
Now...I have to say....I enjoyed this lunch very much. And the changes I would make to it were little but very important. ML left the kale in largish pieces..next time I would chop the leaves down further..into very small pieces. The large pieces were quite chewy..lol. I would also grate the garlic clove in the dressing instead of finely chop...I don't think I'll have any bother from vampires for quite some time..lol. So those are the changes.
But the positives were a delicious light lunch that satisfied but didn't leave you bloated. The kale and chick peas worked well together and the dressing albeit a little too garlicky this time...was also bittersweet thanks to the lemon. The salad worked really well as a filling in the radicchio cups. It gave it another level of flavour and crispness.
And thanks to ML for making it for me...
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| Chick Pea & Kale Salad in Radicchio Cups |
(Adapted from an idea found online)
4 fresh radicchio leaves, rinsed and drained
1 tin of chick peas, rinsed and drained
6 sm-med leaves of kale, cleaned and chopped
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, grated
Juice of 1 lemon
sprinkling of vegan Parmesan cheeze - optional
Combine all ingredients, retaining a little cheeze for serving, in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Cover and allow to mulch together in the fridge.
Spoon the salad into the radicchio cups and sprinkle over with remaining cheeze and serve.
Crunch away and enjoy...
NB The online recipe for the dressing was posted by anon..that wonderfully talented person...so I take no credit for its creation and send out thanks to whomever did.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope your weekend is being kind to you...
~R~
