Post Turkey Day Detox Salad

Are you feeling a little guilty about all the Thanksgiving Day carbs you just had?  How about a little detox before you start baking those cookies!
This fresh, raw, spicy, sweet salad is the perfect remedy! I had this for lunch recently at Whole Foods, it was so good I copied down all the ingredients so I could make it at home.
Chopped kale, shaved brussel sprouts, shredded carrots, sliced celery, parsley, basil, dried cherries, shaved parmesan and toasted almonds.
The combination of flavors are heavenly together when tossed with the dressing!
I’m not at all embarrassed to tell you that almost all the ingredients came from a bag, thanks to my local Trader Joes, which means you can whip this up in the time it takes you to zip open the bag!
The pictures may not do this salad justice, all I can tell you is I made a huge bowl and my daughter and I couldn’t stop eating it, we had it for lunch and dinner, and it’s even good the next day.
No exact recipe here, just dump handfuls of chopped kale, shaved brussel sprouts, shredded carrots, dried cherries, celery, parsley, basil and toasted almonds into a large bowl.
For the dressing, whisk together some olive oil, fresh lemon juice, 1 smashed garlic clove, a good drizzle of honey and some red pepper flakes.
Toss everything together along with freshly grated parmesan.
Sweet, Spicy, Crunchy, Cleansing!

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Savory Kale and Pumpkin Scones

The next time you have a pot of homemade soup simmering on the stove take the extra time and whip up a batch of these savory scones, don’t they just scream fall?
They’re  crunchy, cheesy, and filled with all things good, like pumpkin, kale and of course… a little bit of butter!
Make sure you buy a sweet pumpkin that’s for cooking and baking, or better yet, just use a butternut squash, it’s a lot easier to peel and cut, it tastes good, and you’ll still be getting that pretty orange color.
You can even make them ahead of time, stick them in the freezer and warm up as needed.
I used a wonderful aged cheddar in mine and added kale that is still growing strong in my garden.
These yummy scones came from, ” The Book of Kale” by Sharon Hanna, and the recipe has been reprinted here.
I followed her recipe exactly but also added in about 1/3 cup of grated parmesan cheese, why not?
Perfect with a steamy hot bowl of soup!

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Kale and Almond Pesto with a Little Bit of Heat

We have three different varieties of kale growing in our garden, Cavolo Nero or tuscan kale, the curly and green-gray type and one that is a redish purple color with ruffled leaves, I love them all!
 Quite honestly I never thought of turning kale into a pesto, I’m such a basil person, until I saw the new Donna Hay magazine and then I got instantly inspired!
What a great way to use up all my kale!
What I loved was her addition of red chillies and toasted almonds, the chillies give a slight touch of heat and the toasted almonds add so much flavor to the pesto.
Blanching the kale for a few minutes and then placing it right into a bowl of ice water, helps to retain it’s vivid green color. I made mine about a week ago and it’s still bright green. 
If you’re a kale lover and you know just how good kale is for you, then you have to make this! Dare I say I’m liking this better than basil pesto right now, that’s how good it is.
The first time I made it I quadrupled the recipe.

I’ve been tossing and slathering it all over everything. Here I tossed it with roasted zucchini coins and orecchiette pasta.
Slathered over our weekend frittata, man was that good!
And my absolute favorite, ( thanks to Donna Hay) slathered over a warm, right from the oven, roasted chicken.
AMAZING!
I will be making many more batches of this before all my kale is gone… My family is thanking me!

Here is my adapted version, slightly different from Donna Hay’s because she used Manchego cheese and I used romano, she also added 1 cup of parsley in addition to the kale, I just used straight up kale.
2 cups of kale leaves stems removed, blanched and squeezed of moisture
1/3 cup of toasted almonds
2 red chillies
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup of grated romano
1/2 cup of olive oil
salt and pepper
Heat oven to 375F. On a small baking sheet place almonds, chillies, and garlic drizzle with olive oil and roast for 8-10 minutes or until almonds are golden brown. Deseed chillies.
Place the almonds, chillies and garlic in a food processor then add the kale and cheese, process until roughly chopped then drizzle in your olive oil.
Taste it for salt or more cheese or even more oil, the pesto should have a nice movement to it when stired.
Enjoy!

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