Today, we had our cousins visiting from Abu Dhabi and Amir decided to order Iranian Chicken kebabs. The meat usually comes with some whole tomatoes and onions. Sadly the vegetables are only for decoration and not always eaten. We ordered the yogurt and rice as a side.
I felt the meal was very incomplete in its nutrients, so to add some Mediterranean foods for good health and well being, I decided to make a kale salad and add the nutrients we were missing.
I used Tuscan kale as it has the most antioxidants. I added sun dried tomatoes, Fuji apples with the peel, goat cheese for some creaminess and sun flower seeds and sliced almonds.
The kale gave us a high intake of vitamin A, C and K. The nuts gave us calcium, zinc and Iron. The sun dried tomatoes also had lycopene another very important antioxidant for preventing diseases. The whole salad had fiber too.
For the dressing, the Cider vinegar, olive oil and some raw honey were the three major ingredients. I added salt, pepper and sumac for a kick.
Kale Salad with Apples and Sun-dried tomatoes
Ingredients
- 4 cups chopped Tuscan Kale, hard stems removed
- 1/3 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes in olive oil
- 1/4 cup sunflower seed
- 1 Fuji Apple chopped
- 1/4 cup sliced almonds
- 2 ounces goat cheese
- 1 1/2 tablespoon Cider Vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon raw honey
- 4 tablespoon extra Virgin Olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sumac
- salt and pepper to taste
Method
Whisk the vinegar, honey sumac and olive oil add salt and pepper. Keep the dressing aside.
In a big bowl, put the chopped kale, chopped sun dried tomatoes and sunflower seeds. Massage the dressing into the kale to soften the tough fibers and allow the dressing to permeate. This should be done for at least 5 minutes then let the salad sit for 15-20 minutes. Then add the sliced apples, almonds and goat cheese and mix again.
For Thanksgiving, I usually add dried cranberries.
The salad was a great addition to the meat, yogurt and eggplant dip we ordered.
The dressing may need to be tweaked if its too sour. A lot of recipes use a teaspoon of Dijon mustard, so instead of the sumac you can do that.
Quick Meal Idea
If the chicken is left over, the next day I chop the onions and tomatoes and saute them in olive oil with garlic and red chili flakes. I add the left over chicken chopped into small pieces and I have a new dish that tastes different. The kale salad stays well for two days.