![]() But I also do enjoy vegetables, covered in cheese or otherwise, so please know this salad isn’t about getting you to make better choices this holiday season. So, as you can see I am a glutton and I need to be let off my leash from time to time. ![]() Sometimes life is just for living and to me, living is eating stilton and cream crackers with abandon. Sometimes life isn’t about planning your next ideal step. With social media reinforcing our need to appear perfect at all times, I think it’s nice to have humble moments when one succumbs to the power of pate. I think the holidays are weirdly good for us. I enjoy working out and looking good, but I also enjoy pie for breakfast. Yes, the holidays are here again to ruin us. It’ll boost your vitamin intake while holding its own flavor-wise next to a mountain of mashed potatoes. So, allow me to introduce you to the healthiest, most indulgent holiday salad I can muster – this Mushroom Confit Kale Salad with Blistered Red Grapes. And while the holidays only come but once a year, scurvy can hit whenever. With all these rich and carb-tastic indulgences in our midst, it’s easy to lose things like greens or self-control in the shuffle. ![]() Decided to kick dairy? This slab of triple cream brie says otherwise. Decided to give up gluten? Say hello to shortbread. In other words, the holidays do not favor dietary restrictions of any kind. Whisk in oil and season with salt and pepper.The holiday season is all about nog, cookies, crackers, and cheese. Combine maple syrup, lemon juice, mustard, shallot and thyme in a small bowl.Stir in apple, cranberries, goat cheese and pecans.Thinly slice fennel and place in a cold water bath while you prepare the other salad ingredients.Place kale in a medium bowl, and massage with salt for a minute or so, or until the greens are dark and glossy.The original recipe called for three tablespoons but I used two and next time I will use only one.ġ bunch kale, stems removed, leaves cut into thin stripsġ small fennel bulb, trimmed, thinly sliced and submerged in ice waterġ-3 Tbsn pure maple syrup (add 1 Tbsn at a time until desired sweetness) This is a yummy dressing but it can tend to be too sweet when paired with apples, cranberries and pecans, so try adding one tablespoon of maple syrup at a time to the other ingredients until it is to your preferred sweetness. Or you can find toasted or candied pecans in most grocery stores. If your pecans are raw, just toast them in the oven at 350 for about about 7 minutes and let cool. I think pomegranate seeds would provide a fresh pop of sweet and tart, so next time I will be better organized and give them a try. This recipe calls for dried cranberries but I was planning on using pomegranate seeds instead but I didn’t get the pomegranate seeded before my guests came and I didn’t want the kitchen to look like a tragic kitchen accident with all that pomegranate juice, so I stuck with dried cranberries, which were good. TIPS: You can skip the massaging and soaking if you’re pressed for time or can’t be bothered. You could probably soak your julienned apples too to prevent browning. ![]() The soaked fennel paired really well with the silky kale so there must be something to this. Soaking fennel in cold water seemed to mellow the flavor and soften the texture of shaved fennel while still preserving it’s crispiness. So now you probably want to ask why one would soak shaved fennel. That said, this Maple Dijon Dressing is pretty good so don’t skip it entirely. Another benefit is that massaged kale has such a wonderful texture with just the right mix of sweet and bitter flavor, you need to use less salad dressing, thus fewer calories. That bitterness mellows to a sweet softness. The kale will darken, shrink in size and become silky in texture. The flavor changes as well. When it is massaged, it’s tough cellulose structure breaks down (LA Times) making it less fibrous. Why do we massage kale anyway? Kale is a slightly bitter green which is also somewhat fibrous. Not bad for ballpark food, don’t you think? Good on you, Fenway Park! What could be better than a salad that has been given the ultimate in pampering and spa treatments? This lucky salad is a delicious combination of sweet and savory on a bed of velvety kale and fennel and drizzled with a Maple, Lemon, Dijon Vinaigrette. So when I spotted this recipe from Vegetarian Times, June 2016 for Fenway Park’s signature salad, I thought I would give it a try – even down to the kale massaging and fennel soaking, (Nope, I hadn’t done that before either). I have always thought kale was just fine the way it is naturally but have heard that massaging kale is a thing and have been wondering if ‘super relaxed’ kale is really worth all the fuss. Well I’ve finally done it! I massaged kale.
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