Often times I find myself eating well but spending hours in the kitchen preparing and cleaning. With two little ones running around, time is a precious commodity. Lately I have been striving to balance and organize my life, downsizing and simplifying, which includes time spent prepping meals. With all these new goals, our family still prioritizes eating a diet full of organic wholefoods. And since we’re headed into such a bountiful season, filled with vibrant leafy greens and crunchy vegetables, I thought it to be the perfect time to incorporate more nutrients without compromising time.
Browsing the local farmers market is one of my favorite moments during the week. My kids and I love seeing what is available this week, tasting and learning about new foods, talking to the farmers and creating memories. When we’re trying to pinch our budget, shopping at the farmers market saves us money while eating the foods locally grown keeps our bodies balanced with the seasons. So while exploring a new market recently, I picked up some kale, microgreens, cucumbers and heirloom eggs to bring home and create a wholesome filling salad, with a few extra pantry ingredients that I had.
When it comes to eating wholefoods, people associate high prices and expensive bills. With this dish, I want to show that any family can dine like kings and queens without sacrificing lots of money, resources or time. And what’s more, there are no exact measurements, feel free to improvise and adjust to taste.
Summer Kale Salad
1 bunch fresh curly kale
4 hard boiled eggs
1 large cucumber
1 avocado
apple cider vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
sea salt
ground pepper
garlic granules
sprouted seeds
capers
sprouts, microgreens, or pea shoots (optional)
Tear kale leaves off of stems. Rinse and toss into a large bowl.
Drizzle with apple cider vinegar and a good glug of the olive oil. Massage the vinegar and oil into the kale leaves.
Sprinkle with garlic granules and a heaping pinch of sea salt. Grind fresh pepper over top.
Slice cucumbers and toss in the bowl. Cut open avocado, score, and remove pieces with a spoon. Incorporate in with kale and cucumbers.
Add in about two tablespoons worth of rinsed capers and garnish with a a handful of sprouted seeds.
Peel the hard boiled eggs and mash with fork. Using your hands crumble the mashed eggs into salad bowl and toss all together. Serve with a handful of sprouts, microgreens or pea shoots.
See how incredibly easy it was to make this nutrient dense and filling dish? Doesn’t require any special equipment and what’s more, occasionally I like to serve just the massaged kale leaves, cucumbers and microgreens in a bowl and have the rest of the ingredients on the table for family or friends to add to their own salad. This way people can choose how much of what they would like on top.
Now that your family has indulged in a luscious salad and spent 5 minutes cleaning up after the meal, what will you do with your time together?
Kristin Jukes blogs at The Seasonal Family about the changes of life as a family fromseason to season. After the birth of her and her husband’s first child in 2008, she began to slowly change their families diet to one high in whole foods. With various food allergies, many of the recipes are wheat free, egg free, peanut free and refined sugar free. Now, a mommy of two little ones, her site content continues to expand to homesteading and homeschooling while striving to be a Godly wife and mother.
Latest posts by kristinjukes (see all)
- Spicy Salsa - August 14, 2012
- Curried Bean Dip - July 6, 2012
- Summer Kale Salad - June 11, 2012
WOW, this sound delish! I would add a use of one special equipment, my hands. When I mash kale with oil salt and avocado with my hands, it comes out so tender that every person that ever tried this method, can’t go without this salad for too long.
Lina
Lina, that sounds utterly beautiful. Love the image of massaging the kale with your hands and blending the oil, salt and avocado in like that. So rustic, traditional… those who taste your cooking are in for a real treat.
YUM! Especially the capers and cucumbers!
capers and cucumbers are terrific, my good friend recommend adding the capers, I thought she was a genius!
What a beautiful salad – love the pea shoots!
thank you! pea shoots are underrated, we love them in our house!
I LOVE massaged kale, in fact we are having it this week. Adding eggs is the missing link I was looking for. Thanks!
Did your family enjoy the kale salad with the eggs Jackie?
These two articles from the Weston A. Price Foundation website are very eye opening concerning crucifers. The first warns of goitrogens in raw and under cooked crucifers. The second has great ideas for the summer. Thanks anyway, still love your blog.
http://www.westonaprice.org/basics/bearers-of-the-cross
http://www.westonaprice.org/childrens-health/feeding-the-family-when-its-too-hot-to-cook
Hey Linda,
Did you notice the link I provided at the top of this post? It linked to where I talked about this issue. I think that most people can have raw crucifers every once in a while with no problem in the context of a nourishing diet (if you eat sauerkraut, then you are also consuming goitrogens). But it is an important thing to know!
The following excerpts were copied directly from the article at the Weston A. Price Foundation that the first link, provided above, accesses.
“As a plant matures, its level of glucosinolates declines dramatically.”
“The use of sauerkraut as a condiment and several servings of steamed crucifers per week is probably beneficial. ”
Main Article
Although cruciferous vegetables were not staple foods of our Paleolithic ancestors, they earned a reputation as medicinal plants among Greek and Roman civilizations and achieved widespread distribution throughout Europe during the Middle Ages. While cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage and broccoli are rich in many essential nutrients, they are distinguished for their abundance of chemical toxins called glucosinolates. Though they were once spurned as the predominant cause of goiter—a thyroid disease that in its most severe form produces a large swelling of the neck—many modern nutritionists now enthusiastically embrace glucosinolates as our most powerful insurance against a wide range of cancers.
I just made a variance of this. I used 2 types of kale, avocado oil and EVOO, coconut vinegar, red salt, garlic granules, and shredded eggs! I will be serving it alongside some broiled wild salmon.
wow, that sounds like quite the salad, next time you make it, I’m coming over!! From time to time, I like to add large chunks of dulse to my kale salad, gives it a salty flavor that’s unbeatable.
This salad looks hearty and delicious. And health benefits of this kind of a meal makes it even more worthwhile. Thanks for sharing.
I agree! do enjoy … 🙂