Winter Kale Salad

I feel whole again. This was a stressful week of tons of work (and more to come), of no time for cooking exciting meals, and it left me feeling less than. But after an awesome Saturday yoga flow class, a run with my dog, (and ok a little shopping), and a giant bowl of this hearty, healthy kale salad, I felt renewed, revived, and energized. Easy to make but so, so delicious, this salad just makes you feel good. It would also make a great addition to a Thanksgiving spread.

Winter Kale Salad
4 large servings
Ingredients:

• 1 large bunch curly kale, washed, de-stemmed, and chopped
• 1 small bunch red endive, center and hard end removed, washed and chopped
• 1 large, ripe avocado
• 1 tsp agave
• 1 tsp stone-ground Dijon mustard
• 2-3 Tbsp garlic & dill Miso Mayo* (see notes for substitution options)
• 1 orange, peeled and sliced
• 1 persimmon, skin removed and chopped
• 1 pink lady or gala apple, chopped
• Salt & pepper to taste

Steps:

1. Prepare your "dressing" by mashing the avocado together with agave, mustard, and about 1 Tbsp of the miso mayo.
2. Place your washed, destemmed, chopped kale in a large bowl and add the dressing. Make sure your hands are clean, and "massage" the avo dressing into the kale. Essentially you're just mashing the stuff around, taking clumps of it all and squeezing until it is all well coated. This makes sure it's well mixed, but also breaks the kale down a bit. Yes it seems kind of gross, but it's the best way to make a kale salad. You just might not want to let your guests know this is how you did it ;-)
3. Add in the rest of the ingredients and toss to serve. Add additional miso mayo if you want it a little more dressed. 

This keeps well for a day (even dressed, it won't get soggy), so you can easily prepare this morning of or day before, without having to worry about yet another dish that needs to get done while you're making other ones!

A little creamy, a little crunchy, a lot delicious

*A note on the Miso Mayo- my husband brought this home, along with soy dogs and pickles with red peppers in the jar one night when he said he was making dinner. I just stared at him. I don't like fake meat, and hot dogs- soy or not- are probably the last type of fake meat I'd ever want. I can't eat red peppers because they upset my stomach, and I've never liked mayo. Sigh. Lazy meat eater who doesn't read labels- at least he's trying though. And, surprisingly, I ended up loving the miso mayo- it's fairly light and has a great dill flavor. So I recommend seeking it out and giving it a try!

If you can't find it, though, you could probably sub in a little Vegenaise and dill, perhaps with a bit of miso mixed in (something like 2 Tbsp Vegan mayo, 1 tsp fresh chopped dill, 1/2 tsp miso might work, but play around with it.)

This salad reminded me how much I love kale salads. They are always so good and filling- satisfying meals of greens piled high that fill you up without weighing you down. This salad tastes creamy and hearty, with its thick greens all wrapped up in that dill-spiked avocado, but it's also brightened and lightened by the citrus, crunchy apple, and sweet persimmon. For Thanksgiving, adding cranberries in might be really nice too.