I truly love this salad!  It’s simple and beautiful.  When the peaches are this fresh, they are such a wonderful complement to the salad.  I learned a little trick about wilting the Kale from the Malibu Farms Cookbook.  It makes the leaves glossy and tender and just delicious.  The trick is to add a bit of olive oil, sprinkle of salt and a teaspoon of sugar and then gently rub the kale in your hands to tenderize the leaves, giving it a lustrous sheen that helps the dressing cling just a little bit better.  Also, make a big batch of quinoa and store in the fridge and add a bit of it to any salad as a great way to include some grains with your greens.  In another  post, I talked about cooking quinoa.  The easiest method is to boil it as you would pasta, for 12 minutes in salted water, and then drain and place quinoa back in the pot and cover for at least 15 minutes (allowing it to steam), or even longer is fine.  You will find this method yields a fluffy and delicious grain.

Serves 2 as main salad

Ingredients:

  • 8-10 ounces Kale, stems removed
  • 8 brussel sprouts, shaved thinly using mandolin or cuisinart slicing blade
  • 1 peach, cut in thin segments
  • 1/4 of red onion, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  •  1/4 cup pumpkin seeds, toasted or raw
  • 1/2 -1 cup cooked red quinoa
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, more for drizzling as desired
  • juice of half a lemon
  • 1 teaspoon white balsamic vinegar
  • freshly cracked pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, place cleaned kale and shaved brussel sprouts in a bowl.  Drizzle olive oil salt and sugar on the greens.  Using your hands, rub the leaves with the salt, sugar and olive oil to coat them and create a glossy tenderized bowl of greens.  It doesn’t take long, you will notice the leaves softening.  Place the greens in a serving bowl, add sliced peaches, red onion, crumbled feta and pumpkin seeds.  Toss with lemon, vinegar and additional olive oil if needed.  Season with freshly cracked pepper as needed and enjoy!