Kale skeptics be warned! This honey mustard kale salad recipe might convert you.
I’ve had a goal of making some kind of honey mustard dressed salad for awhile now and just kept putting it off. I’ve watched two beautiful heads of kale go bad in my fridge for no good reason other than I never got around to making this. Shame on me! Shame on me for letting perfectly good kale go bad and shame on me for not making this amazing salad sooner. Never again.
Salads should be simple. My perfect salad always contains a hearty leafy grain as the base, 2-3 additional veggies of my choice, a nut, a cheese, and a delicious dressing. From time to time I’ll throw on a protein of some kind too like chicken, shrimp or quinoa. Oh and maybe a bean or two! The possibilities are endless.
This simple little honey mustard kale salad only needed a handful of ingredients to make it the perfect side. A creamy avocado, crunchy almonds and savory parmesan all tossed amongst bright green kale and drizzled with one of my favorite dressings: honey mustard.
Some people don’t like mustard. My husband is one of those people. I don’t understand it, I probably never will, but don’t let your mustard hating self stop you from trying this dressing.
It’s equal parts sweet and equal parts tangy. It’s a little spicy and a little creamy and a lot delicious. I’m using it here as a salad dressing, but this stuff works just as well as a dip for chicken fingers or french fries or as a sauce on baked chicken or a turkey sandwich. It’ll be as versatile as you want it to be and it’s incredibly easy to make.
I’ve noticed that people seem to get intimidated by kale. It’s like the Crossfit of vegetables. You really want to try it because everyone talks about it like it will change your life, but when you go to give it a try you shy away from it because it’s out of your comfort zone. Well I’m still intimidated by Crossfit, but I took the kale leap years ago and me and my body are glad I did. Don’t be afraid of it. It’s a vegetable.
On the other side, people also seem to be really impressed by kale. You take a kale salad to work over a plain ol’ romaine caesar and all of a sudden your coworkers look at you differently. “Is that kale?! Wow you must be in really good shape!” And to that you say, “yes, yes I am.” Kale will give you super powers. I’m sure someone out there has gotten a raise because their weekly kale salad made them seem like they have it all together. Leaders eat kale. CEOs eat kale. Athletes eat kale. Eat kale, get promoted. Please don’t quote me on this. Or if it actually works, then please do.
Summer hasn’t officially begun yet, but now is your chance to make this the summer of kale. The summer of health. The summer of fresh ingredients and bold flavors. The summer of kale promotions and Crossfit attempts.
You can do it. Ready, set, go.
WHAT TO BRING TO THE STORE
In order to reduce your packaging waste, bring the following reusables with you to the store:
- 1 reusable produce bag for the almighty kale
- 1 reusable bulk bag for the almonds
AND, your reusable grocery bags. And some courage.
WASTE METER – 5!
This delicious little honey mustard kale salad gets a 5 out of 5 on the waste meter because very little packaging needs to be dealt with. Here’s what to do:
Recycle: Parmesan Tub, Mustard Jar (once emptied of course)
Compost: Kale Stems, Lemon Leftovers, Avocado Shell and Seed
Trash: Not a single thing
