Wilted Kale Salad With Pea Pesto

I haven’t come across a raw foodie who doesn’t love kale. For most, it’s not only loved, but usually consumed daily – I am no exception. However, I will admit, when I first tried kale it was not love at first bite (to say the least). Overtime though, I learned how to manipulate it in ways that made it much more enjoyable. Now, I love the flavor so much, that I’m able to consume it without much manipulation at all.

For those of you inexperienced ones looking to add more greens into your diet, I recommend consuming raw kale in a wilted form. Wilting gives raw kale a cooked texture, while preserving all of it’s nutrients – basically, letting you have your cake and eat it too (a concept I’m all for). The following recipe will give a basic step-by-step on how to achieve such a salad, while also including a nice little pea-pesto I came up with tonight.

So, here goes…

Cut center vein from kale and discard.

Chop kale into bite size pieces.

In large mixing bowl (or salad spinner), soak, wash and rinse greens.

Add to clean kale; olive oil, lemon juice (lemon counteracts the green taste, so add more or less taste depending), sea salt, pepper, dijon, and a dash of apple cider vinegar. With clean hands (oh so important, ha), vigorously massage kale for approx. 5-10 minutes. If you don’t plan on adding the pea pesto and zucchini, then I recommend also adding .25 to .50 of an avocado before massaging – it’s amazing, promise.

Once massaged, you can see how the kale takes on a wilted appearance – making the kale more tender and palatable.

Set greens aside. Mince parsley and place with 1-2 tablespoons of your favorite pesto (due to an overgrowth of basil on my porch, I have an abundance of fresh pesto right now).

Mash peas (I used frozen organic peas) with a large fork. You could use a food processor, but I enjoy the chunky texture.

In a bowl, combine mashed peas, pesto and minced parsley.

Julienne two zucchini.

In another bowl, combine zucchini, pea pesto and sea salt – mix thoroughly.

To serve; layer zucchini mixture over wilted kale salad and garnish with sun-dried baby tomatoes.

Mmmm, that’s it – and – it looks so much more elaborate then what It really is… love it.

Now that dinner has been consumed and the kitchen is clean (somewhat, ha), I think I’m going to go do some reading. I love reading, but I feel like I never have the time (I think everyone feels the same way). Tonight’s read will be Slaughterhouse – a shocking story of greed, neglect, and inhumane treatment inside the U.S. meat industry… Not exactly your typical bed time fairy tale story, but hey, sometimes you gotta mix it up a bit…

Goodnight!

Tagged as: dehydrator free, easy, entree, kale, nut free, quick, Raw, salad, side, summer, vegan