In an effort to get us to eat more vegetables, and to eat a bit lighter for our meals at home, I’ve started a one salad a week for dinner rule. So far, so good, and we are mostly through January 🙂 I’ve always been a salad fan, but I don’t always think of it as a complete dinner. The salads we have eaten, have been surprising satisfying meals. Sometimes I will add a side of bread, but usually just the salad will do for us. Today, I’m sharing one I made-up last week.
Salad
1 bunch red-kale (or whatever kale you like), massaged
1 bunch radishes, chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved & roasted (see below)***
1 large cucumber or english cucumber, chopped
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
***DO THIS FIRST: Pre-heat oven to 400º F. Halve the cherry tomatoes and spread on foil lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil, salt & pepper over tomatoes and stir to coat tomatoes. Roast in oven for 20-30 minutes.
Wash kale well, dry, de-stem, and tear or cut into pieces. On board or in a bowl sprinkle with a little kosher salt and massage (squeeze/mush around). Place in big bowl. Chop radishes & cucumber, add to bowl. Drain & rinse the white beans (you could heat them a bit in a pot if you wish), add to bowl. When tomatoes are done, let cool while you make dressing and add to bowl…I like to add them when they are still warm.
Dressing
2 Tbsp granulated organic sugar
3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp dijon grain mustard
2 Tbsp olive oil
Pinch salt/pepper
Add the above to a mason jar and shake. Taste and adjust seasoning as you wish. If you don’t have a mason jar, than just whisk in bowl. Add in slowly, until your salad is coated to your liking. This should give you more than enough dressing, so don’t just dump it all in.
This was enough for a dinner for both of us, though we did not have left-overs. Our kale bunch was on the small side, so a larger amount of kale would make a bulkier salad.
To see some of the other salads we tried, make sure to check out my Pinterest “Food” board.
Do you have any favorite winter salads to share?