Taking my k-card

Forget the v-card, I lost my k-card tonight.  That's right, I was a kale virgin before today.  Not anymore, and I didn't approach it timidly either.  I figure you ought to fully immerse yourself in the good stuff, so I jumped in with both feet.  (Ok, so sex will always be better than kale, but I do agree with everyone else that kale is mighty tasty.)

So as you know, I often have to eat something as I cook.  I tend to wait until I'm staaaarving, so I have to get some instant gratification.  Tonight it was one heck of a winner!

 

What is it, you ask?  Why it's organic Tikka Masala sauce on a whole grain flax english muffin.  Could that be good?  Oh heck yes.  Drool-worthy good!

The stats, in case you're interested.  It's vegetarian, but not vegan.

 

I'm sure if somebody wanted to veganize a tikka masala recipe (and mail me a jar), it wouldn't be that hard to change the cream to an alternative (coconut milk perhaps?).  

 

So on to the other part of my dinner.  A massaged kale salad of my own making. So here we go...

About 4 servings worth of kale.  Seriously, whole hog would be an understatement.  I massaged the stuffings out of it.  There was so much that I had to massage in several batches to get it all wilted.

 

I threw a few ingredients together from the fridge and pantry to create a single serving of dressing.

 

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, sesame seed oil, lemon juice, dijon mustard, minced garlic.  Plus a few dashes of spice for good measure.  I had heard that kale can be very tart, so I figured that a strong dressing would help me cope if the kale was hard to handle.  I forgot how very little I like sesame seed flavor, so I added extra lemon, vinegar, and garlic to compensate.

 

I tossed in chopped broccoli, carrots, and a handful each of dried cranberries and sliced almonds.

 

I drizzled the top with the dressing, then hand tossed it for even coverage.

 

If that beautiful salad doesn't take your breath away, I don't know what would.

 

I did manage to save half of my tikka masala muffin to eat with dinner.  It was all so d-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!  Gotta say, I love kale.  Even though I really don't like sesame seed oil and tasted it on almost every bite, it worked.  It was tamed with the lemon and all the textures.  A little ping of sweet cranberry or creamy almond in the mix of it all was decadent.  This is now one of my new favorite salads.  I'd have to compare it closely to my Thanksgiving salad to decide which was the best.

I ate it all.  By the last bite, I wasn't even sure if I could chew anymore, but I did and it was good to the last drop bite.  Kale virgin, no more!