Diary of a Nutritionist

I love raw kale salads and I know I am not alone. There is something so delightful about a perfectly wilted raw kale salad that I am beginning to wonder if they are not addictive. It must have something to do with the combination of that raw fat and salty crunch that woos me, making it one of the most satisfyingly simple and nutrient dense raw dishes that I have come to crave.

My personal favorite kale recipe is a raw kale rubbed down in pink himalayan sea salt (a slightly sweet salt) and massaged in a rich olive oil, with freshly squeezed lemon juice and red pepper flakes. But, because that has been done so many times before, I decided to do something a little different (with what was on hand– and I was lacking lemon).

Step 1: Start with one bunch of kale (I recommend organic). Remove the curly leaves from the stem. Rip them into more (bite sized) manageable pieces and toss the stems (or save for juicing). Place your leaves into a large salad bowl–

Note: You may want to just start with half of the bunch of kale at first (it is easier to work with it this way).

Step 2: Sprinkle the kale with your sea salt and begin to massage, squeeze, and rub the kale so that it becomes wilted. The sea salt helps to wilt the rough kale making it easier to massage, eat and digest. This will take a couple minutes…

Step 3: After about 2 minutes of your kale’s rub down, (it should be less crunchy now), add in 2 tbsp of your preferred oil (I use olive oil, but Macadamia Nut Oil has come highly recommended).

Mediterranean-ize. 

Now… normally I would add in lemon juice but in an attempt to be creative I added:

• 10 Castelvetrano Olives, roughly chopped (the olive juice will help take the place of the lemon juice)
• 1/8 cup red onion, diced
• 4 sun dried tomatoes, soaked, softened, and chopped
• 6 artichokes, roughly chopped
• Red pepper flakes (optional)
• Black pepper, to taste