Winter Farmers Market Kale Salad

This has been some kind of week! Oh what did I do, you ask? I just chatted up with some pretty cool baker-chick…I think some of you may know her….



However, I won’t have Joy’s book for much longer…I’ll be giving it to her next biggest fan and what Joy signed to as “Katie the Baker”, my 10 year old niece. She can whip up some mean cupcakes like no ones business and I can’t wait to see what she makes from Joy’s creations. Under one circumstance though, she MUST share the book with me. Fair enough right? I’m oogling over her  Salted-caramel recipe already! Oops…spoiler alert!

So onto something without butter and sugar.. (Sorry)…

Last weekend Joey and I took a road trip to the Santa Monica’s Farmers Market and fell in LOVE! Of course we hit the food vendors first and stocked up on some of the best breakfast burritos Southern Cali has to offer. The market was intimate and welcoming and had the coolest vibe.

 Raw kale salads have been intriguing to me recently, however I’ve been intimidated to get my hands onto the curly leaves and the last thing I wanted was a scratchy mouth and bitter aftertaste. This time I was determined to fight my fear of the curly greens. I had a vision to pair them with gorgeous deep red beets and succulent sweet oranges.

1 bunch of Kale (any variety, I used curly purple kale)

2-3 roasted beets (red or yellow), sliced

1 orange, zested (for vinaigrette) then cut into segments

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2-3/4 c olive oil

Orange zest and 1 orange, juiced

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 Tb honey

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Salt and pepper, to taste

1) Prep and clean your kale. Cut the ends off and wash very well. Cut kale into small pieces and rinse under colander. Then take a good pinch of kosher salt and sprinkle it onto the kale and “massage” the kale. Let that sit for a few minutes while you make the dressing.

2) To make the vinaigrette, in a food processor, add the zest, lemon and orange juices, honey, mustard and salt and pepper. Put the lid on and as you blend, slowly add in the olive oil until everything comes together and becomes thick. Taste for preference.

3) Now to back to your kale and rinse well, massaging as you rinse. I use a salad spinner to get all the moisture out.

Dress kale with vinaigrette and top with orange and beets.

Side note: I took some salad to school the next day and it held up wonderfully! The kale was still crisp and the dressing help well. Just make sure you use a good-closed Tupperware because the dressing and beet color will bleed.

Enjoy!