Kale Salad

Kale salad before adding the grapes and carrots

If you are tired of spending $12 a pound on this wonderful salad...worry no longer! This "superfood" salad offered at grocery store delis across the U.S. is truly an easy salad to make at home. I think I did it in under 20 minutes. You will just need to find a market where you can buy food in bulk to make this meal cost effective. Then you can really get that bang for your buck! This is my spin on it.

Things that you'll need:

Kale (2 small bunches-chopped)

1 lb blueberries

2 cups Walnuts (substitute almonds if you must)

1 heaping cup Craisins

1 cup Pumpkin kernels (sunflower kernels work too)

1 pint Grape tomatoes

The grapes are in...

3 Green onions sliced

20 Red grapes- sliced in halves 

10 baby Carrots-julienned (optional)

10 oz crumbled Feta cheese (optional)

Dressing:
Simply whisk together the following
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cup raw apple cider vinegar

Tip: Place the kale down first and then layer in your ingredients. Wait until your company has arrived and then toss it at the table. It truly is a lovely salad visually, but once it is tossed the heavy aditions tend to fall to the bottom of the bowl.

I made the healthy dressing above and the salad did NOT taste good. I love bitter but this was unpalatable. That's when I knew if my teenage girls were going to devour this medley of healthfulness, I was going to need to bring out the big guns. Luckily I had a bottle of dressing in the cupboard.

I absolutely love Ken's Steakhouse "Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette." Any brand variation will do in a pinch. I vote try it my way first. Toss with the dressing and then add about 1/4 cup of the Ken's and taste it again. Start small as you don't want to overdress it.

Note*** Next time I will opt out of adding the feta. It turned purple from the blueberries and made the overall salad look milky upon tossing a second time. I really appreciate the gorgeous, glossy sheen of a vinaigrette! I also thought the carrot flavor was too strong. Great color but not my personal favorite. Orange bell pepper will be in the next addition.

All tossed and ready to go