Triple Berry Kale Salad with Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette

OMG… it’s another way I can eat kale.

June 28, 2012

And I’m pretty serious too.

Ugh. I know. This is just so… not me.

But don’t you want to bite into that cherry?

I swear it has nothing to do with the fact that I’ve been in California all week and has no correlation to the quinoa and bean burgers and other stuff that happened in the last four days. I knew I’d be traveling until late tonight, and a few days after I first made this kale salad last Tuesday? I made those bean burgers which I’m contemplating putting on my table tonight the instant I return home. They are THAT good. That might end in divorce, but whatever. Do you even KNOW who I live with?

[p.s. I sort of feel something giggly inside about sharing quinoa, kale and lots of beans in the same week. It's like I'm playing a major major trick on myself. And you. I don't even know me anymore.

Oh and it's definitely the same kind of giggly I felt all day yesterday when my phone decided to consistently auto-correct "totally" to "orally." Like "OMG, I orally want to hug you right now." And "I orally love you." Or "I'm going to orally kill you!" And "are you orally serious?"

I don't know. Am I? Apparently my phone was,]

So yeah.

Anyway, I’ve made no bones about the fact that I can only eat kale in chip form. Like roasted to a crisp and seriously salty. But but but… I’ve WANTED to be able to eat it in other ways. I mean, I’ve always wanted to eat vegetables, it’s just that I… find them utterly disgusting. Just the sight of raw kale scared me away for ages, so I knew I needed to add something incredibly addicting on top. And I’m reallllly obsessed with a local restaurant’s strawberry vinaigrette, so I figured it was a good place to start. It was.

Plus avocado. Plus crunchy toasted almonds. And then I massaged the kale with the strawberry dressing and let it sit… and sit… and then tossed everything else on top. AND THEN I ATE IT. Like, really ate it. Actually, I ate it twice. This.is.huge.

Triple Berry Kale Salad

serves 4

1 head of curly kale, leaves removed from stem and torn

1 cup fresh tart cherries, pitted and sliced

1 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup fresh blackberries

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

1 avocado, chopped

2/3 cup chopped toasted almonds

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Place kale in a large bowl, and add about 1/4 cup of the strawberry vinaigrette. Massage and rub dressing into kale with your hands, then let the kale sit for 5-10 minutes.

Add in salt, pepper, cherries, berries and avocado, then add a few more tablespoons of dressing and toss. Finish by topping with chopped almonds.

Fresh Strawberry Vinaigrette

3/4 cup sliced fresh strawberries

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1 teaspoon honey

1 pinch salt

1 pinch pepper

1 pinch cinnamon

Combine all ingredients together in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.