A New Dark Leafy Green For Me...

I enjoy eating a large variety of fruits and veg.  Okay, maybe a little heavier on the fruits... With most of these fruits and veggies being zero points if eaten raw and very low points if cooked (plus low in carbs for my Type I diabetic husband), I needed to up our consumption, especially of those dark leafy greens. After watching "Ten Dollar Dinners" I got inspired by Melissa's kale salad (after all, I had already made her kale chips) so that was my jumping off point for my Kale Slaw recipe - hope you give it a try!

  
 Kale Slaw 

     Salad Ingredients

• A bunch of kale
• A large carrot
• A crisp, sweet apple
• An orange
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

      




Dressing Ingredients

• A silverware teaspoonful of Dijon mustard
• A tablespoon of honey
• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (I like a 1:2 ratio of sweet to sour)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin (adjust the spices to your liking)
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garam masala
• 1/4 teaspoon coriander
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
•  Few grinds of black pepper

Putting it Together

     Wash, trim and de-rib your kale (curly or leafy).  After making this salad a few times I found my favorite and the easiest way to remove those hard, tough ribs - I fold a leaf inward onto itself like a heart half and just tear up and away from the rib.  Stack the leaves on your cutting board and cut through the stack, making them into strips and place in a large bowl. 

     Zest the orange right over the leaves in the bowl (I find it easier to zest a whole fruit so I halve it after).  Now I halve the orange, juice one half and pour it over the kale.  Sprinkle over a quarter teaspoon of salt and toss so the leaves can mellow a bit while you continue with the ingredient prep. 
     Scrub the carrot, wash and trim the apple then place your box grater right in the salad bowl and shred them using the large grate.  Whisk up the dressing ingredients in a small bowl - taste it!  Adjust if necessary and pour over salad. Stir/toss to combine, cover and chill. This salad is so tangy, a bit sweet and spicy and though it has no oil, the shredded apple and carrot absorb the dressing so every bite is well-flavored. 
     Now that I've made this salad a number of times (and still love it!) I've tried a few variations:  Substituting a lemon for the orange; a firm pear when I had no apple; Swiss chard when I couldn't find kale - and they were all delicious.  Let me know what you come up with!

Just a note to my fellow Weight Watchers: I have plugged this slaw into Recipe Builder and it equaled 13 Points though the only ingredient that showed points was the honey at 2 Points for 1Tblsp.  At 6 servings that would be 2 points per serving.  The majority of fruit and veg are in their "natural" state but for the orange so I leave it up to you, dear eaters, how to value it.  My husband with Type I diabetes doesn't need to count veggie carbs so this makes for a healthy salad choice for both of us!