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Please tell me you love Kale! Because in my house I am the only kale lover! The rest of the fam loves spinach but when it comes to kale, they are like ‘ahem..no thank you’. So I am the lone camper in the Kale camp! But this nutritionist mom can be sneaky and kale does end up in their smoothies and soups and such:)
As for me, I am always looking for ways to incorporate kale in my diet. If you didn’t know about the health promoting properties of Kale already, allow me to educate you! Kale is one of the most nutrient dense plant foods. It is rich in many vitamins – A, B, C, K and minerals (Magnesium, Potassium, Calcium, Manganese, Copper and Iron). Kale also contains powerful antioxidants which have anti-inflammatory and anti cancer properties 1.
So lately I have been so obsessed with kale that I have been even dreaming about Kale..LOL! No kidding, I am serious! Ha ha so this year I started growing basil and so far it’s been growing well! Fingers crossed because although I seem to be able to grow flowers and vegetables pretty well, when it comes to herbs, I end up killing them:( So anyways, I have been thinking of using the lovely basil that has been growing indoors in my sunroom in some new recipes. And this morning I woke up thinking about this recipe! Yes can you believe it? Dreaming about kale! And it was a pretty detailed dream – Kale and shrimp salad with a basil something dressing!
Had to give it a try and so this was going to be my lunch today! I ended up making a coconut basil dressing that smelled heavenly! And in the salad went some fresh blueberries and kiwis! I absolutely love fruit in my salads and these two were just perfect in this gorgeous summer salad. Yum:)
This is an easy recipe but one thing I would like to mention is that the massaging of the Kale with the evoo and salt is an important step and so don’t skip it! I am bringing this gorgeous salad to the Phoenix Helix Recipe roundtable which has a delicious collection of AIP recipes every week – Do check it out!
- 2 cups chopped kale leaves (thick middle ribs/stem removed), washed and drained
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 8-10 medium size shrimp, de-shelled and deveined
- pinch sea salt
- 1 celery stalk diced (about ½ a cup)
- ¼ of a red onion, thinly sliced (I use a mandolin slicer)
- ½ cup fresh blueberries
- 1 kiwi peeled and diced
- 8-10 fresh basil leaves
- 2 tbsp coconut milk (for a creamy texture, use coconut cream)
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- ⅛ tsp sea salt
- Take a large mixing bowl and add the kale leaves and add the olive oil. Sprinkle the sea salt on top. then using your hands massage the salt and the olive oil onto the kale for about 1 minute. Leave aside for 5-10 minutes.
- Heat a stainless steel frying pan and add the olive oil. When hot, turn heat to medium and add the garlic and stir for 30 secs. Then add the shrimp and sprinkle with the salt. Stir fry for 1 minute and then cover and cook the shrimp for 2 minutes. Turn the heat off and keep aside.
- To make the dressing, add all the dressing ingredients to a small food processor and blend until you get a smooth consistency.
- After the Kale has softened, add the rest of the salad ingredients and the cooked shrimp into the bowl. Pour some of the dressing on top and serve!
