A very exciting event is happening at FIG restaurant in Santa Monica this Wednesday, January 26 from 5:00pm – 10:00pm. The first Farm Dinner of 2011 features wonderful citrus from my favorite grower ever – Garcia Farms. I've written about our awesome visit to their farm last year and have featured their produce in several menu items (including one of this Thursday's salads). The quality of their produce is consistently exceptional. Not only are they the best, but they are the friendliest and most helpful growers at the market. Letty and Armando know most of their customers by name and Lupe is always quick with a sample, an answer to a question or a helping hand. You can visit their stand on Wednesdays and Saturdays on Arizona & the Promenade or on Sunday at the Main Street market. But this dinner is a rare treat! Call FIG at 310.319.3111 for information and reservations. Unfortunately Letty just handed me the postcard this past Sunday. If I had known sooner, I would have put it on my calendar! I’m sad to miss this great event, but will be learning all about fermentation instead. (More on that later.) So call and make your reservation. It’s going to be delicious!
Speaking of Garcia Farms & delicious, I used their Meyer lemons and Fuerte avocados for the recipe I’m sharing with you. I also enjoyed one of their insanely yummy cocktail grapefruits (a hybrid of an orange and a grapefruit) with this salad and earlier this morning, added some Satsuma mandarins to my fresh green juice. The juice was deceptively sweet given it's green hue, and was loaded with straight up nutritious & cleansing goodness. I'll post that recipe tomorrow.
Citrus, fuerte avocados and kale are abundant at the Farmers Markets this season and this recipe is a tribute to all their healthy and tasty qualities. Lemon zest, surprisingly sweet curly kale and creamy avocados make a refreshing, tangy, healthy, satisfying salad base that’s packed with nutrients and is versatile enough to add your own creative additions.
I learned the basis of this recipe from my first-ever food prep class. I felt so good after eating a bowl of this salad that I’ve made it a point to enjoy it several times a week since. I’ve put a Sage Kitchen spin on it and encourage you to add your own flair to this basic foundation.
Creamy Citrus Kale Salad.
4-5 leaves of curly kale removed from stem and torn to bite sized pieces
1 Fuerte avocado
1 Meyer lemon
Salt, Pepper, Cayenne to taste
½ teaspoon Bragg liquid Aminos (optional)
Sunflower seeds and/or cashews (optional)
Remove leaves of kale from stems. Tear leaves into bite sized pieces and place them in a large bowl. Save the stems. You can juice those!
Zest the entire lemon.
Add ½ the zest and all the juice of the lemon to bowl of kale and avocado. Sprinkle with salt, fresh ground black pepper, dash of cayenne, and Bragg if desired.
Now put your hands into the bowl and massage all the ingredients together until the kale is well coated and the ingredients are well mixed. Sprinkle remaining zest on salad.
Top with sunflower seeds and/or cashews for a little protein and you’ve got yourself a nutrient dense salad.
Another great thing about this salad is that you can prep it in the morning, or even the night before you want to enjoy it for lunch. It won't get soggy and the flavors meld nicely over time. Clean, fresh fuel to get you through your day or a great start to a healthy dinner. This simple salad stands well enough alone, but you can add pistachios, pinenuts, pear, apple or maybe carrots or red pepper for more color and nutrients. For the best of both raw & cooked worlds, garbanzo or kidney beans would be a great addition.
The possibilities are delicious!