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Category Archives: Salads/Greens
Kick A$$ Kale Salad and other musings.
Gluten Free Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash and Polenta Croutons
bomb diggity. the croutons are good solo.
Those ten words basically define the term rich white girl. I’m definitely two of those things, and to be the third, throw a couple dollars my way, peeps. (I accept AMEX).
But seriously…. how f*cking trendy can I get? Truth: I actually like kale (said no one ever). And squash tastes as close to a potato without being a Fatty McFatpants salad topping. And gluten free croutons (that are actually just as bad for you as the real thing). Sign. Me. Up. This is an easy weeknight meal that can be served with or without meat. Also—I thought of this meal this morning and thought I was a genius for creating a delish meatless Monday meal. Turns out, it’s Tuesday. I’ve got to stop drinking.
Anyways, this salad it the ( . Y . )s. Make it before it gets way too hot to eat roasted squash. It’s freezing in Midland today (61 degrees), so roasted veggies didn’t seem so asinine.
Ingredients for salad
- 2 bunches of lacinato kale, stalks removed, chiffonaded (pretty sure that’s not a word)
- ½ butternut squash, cubed
- ½ tube of polenta (you’ve seen it before in the pasta aisle), cubed
- 1 tbs. olive oil, mixed with juice of half a lemon
- 10 leaves Fresh basil, chiffonaded
- 1 tbs. safflower oil
Ingredients for the dressing
- 2 tbs. olive oil
- 2 tbs. water
- 1 tbs. miso paste
- 1 tbs. Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp. agave (sup trendy)
- Fresh black pepper to taste
- 2 cloves garlic
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Toss butternut squash with a small amount of olive oil and salt and pepper, and roast for 30-40 minutes until tender and a little golden—making sure to stir during cooking. While the squash roasts, heat a nonstick skillet with tbs. safflower oil (has a high smoke point, use olive if you don’t have it!) Once the oil starts to shimmer, add in the cubed polenta and sauté until crispy (you will have to judge this by sight—all pans/temps cook differently!) Mine were about 4 minutes per side. Also, burned the shit out of my arms/face (or maybe covering up for the fact that I have acne and a rash?…) so use a splatter screen. For the dressing, blend everything together. For a thicker dressing, use less water.
This salad basically rules. If you legitimately will not eat kale (plebeians), use spinach or another dark green. Enjoy!
P.S. Spellcheck had a hayday with figuring out what I meant by ( . Y . )s. YES.
Detox Kale Salad
When I say detox, I don’t mean non-fat dressing made of lemon juice, cayenne and apple cider vinegar. I mean detox, like it’s Monday, and I don’t know if I’m hungover or getting sick so I need vegetables that don’t suck and are raw detox. No one craves kale or kale juice–you’re lying if you do. BUT, you might like the sh*t that comes with it–like the dressing, which is exactly why I always order the kale salad at Houston’s when I am back in the big City. And yes, I realize that it is called Hillstone now, but I don’t care for change. (which is probably why I still can’t seem to stop introducing myself with my maiden name… I still think my husband should have switched to my name, three two syllable names has a nice ring to it.)
Anyways–here is my riff on Houston’s kale salad. The dressing is the most important part, and I tried several different ways based on other food blogs that tried to recreate it.
Salad Ingredients
- 5 cups of chopped kale (this will get smaller as you add dressing)
- 1.5 cups of shredded cabbage
- 1 cup chopped cilantro
- 2 green onions, chopped including stems
Dressing ingredients
- 1/3 cup peanut oil plus 1 tbs
- 2 tbs. apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbs. sesame oil
- 1 tbs. soy sauce
- 1 tbs. honey
I used a blender to mix the dressing. It was way easier than trying to whisk in the ingredients. Combine the dressing with all the other shiz and massage the kale. It seems creepy–just do it. Let it sit in the fridge for an hour then top with crushed peanuts. Makes your Monday not suck so bad. 