Oh my gosh, the last days were absolutely crazy in terms of food! As though my family just consists of hopeless food lovers like me, when we get together over the xmas holidays, we’re going nuts with snacking, cooking and eating all the goodness of course. Actually we didn’t do much besides that, to be honest, so you can imagine how stuffed I am.
On the one hand this was so satisfying and I enjoyed every bite of it, but on the other hand it makes crave fresh, raw greens now like there’s no tomorrow. Do you also feel like you need a little detox? Then this salad is what you’re looking for!
Kale is the perfect salad green for these cold months, as it contains all the vitamins and nutrients our body needs in winter. Massaged long enough in my favoritism go-to honey-mustard dressing it gets quite soft, but still keeps a lovely crisp. The apple adds acidity and sweetness at the same time and works so well with the balsamic-glazed mushrooms and the avocado. The dried cranberries and pecans make it a firework of wintery flavors. So if you want to do some good to your body and put into practice the good resolutions for eating clean in 2017, give this nourishing and colorful queen of a salad a try! And happy new year of course peeps! 🙂
Categories: 4 people, 20 min prep time, 5-10 min cooking time, min. 15 min waiting time
glutenfree, lactosefree, vegan, vegetarian
Ingredients:
salad
– 1 huge head of kale (I found this pretty purple one on my local market :))
– 1 avocado
– 1 apple
– 1 pomegranate
– handful of pecans
– 70 g dried cranberries
– red dried flower petals (optional)
balsamic glazed mushrooms
– 200 g mushrooms
– 2 Tbsp olive oil
– 1 Tbsp dried thyme (substitute with 3-4 stalks fresh one, if you get it)
– 3 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
– sea salt and pepper
honey-mustard dressing
– 1 heaped tsp mustard
– 1 heaped tsp honey
– 6 Tbsp olive oil
– 2,5 Tbsp white balsamic vinegar
– pepper
Preparation:
- As though the kale gets the best texture when the dressing can soak in some time after the massaging, we get started with this step. Thoroughly rinse the kale with cold water. Remove the hard stalks from the softer leaves. Cut the leaves in bite-sized peaces.
- For the dressing combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Mix well until a smooth consistency is reached.
- Pour the dressing over the kale in a huge mixing bowl and take you hands to massage the dressing in for 5-10 minutes until the leaves have absorbed the liquid entirely. Then put it aside for at least 15 minutes or more. This step is quite essential because the vinegar needs its time to work in and soften the kale.
- Clean the mushrooms and cut them into thin slices. In a large pan heat the two tablespoons olive oil, add the mushrooms and saute them for 5-7 minutes until they’ve taken on a nice golden color. If some water comes out, keep the heat on high until completely evaporated. Then add the thyme and deglaze with the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste and set aside to cool.
- Peel the avocado, remove the stone and cut into cubes of 1 cm size. Wash and quarter the apple, remove the core and cut into thin pieces. Halve the pomegranate and take out the seeds carefully.
- Add the avocado, apple, dried cranberries and pomegranate seeds to the massaged kale and mix well. Distribute the salad on plates, top with the glazed mushrooms and decorate with the pecans and flower petals.
- And now: Enjoy! 🙂
ali goes nuts 