Massaged Fruit Kale Salad!

In my amazing Pro-Start cooking class we learned how to make this salad, as a class we experimented with many variables. This is the finished product. First time having kale and I absolutely loved it!

Ingredients

• 1 bushel of kale (organic just a suggestion)
• 1 Gala apple or Asian pear (oranges might be good use whatever is seasonal)
• 2 Tbs of fresh lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup of slivered almonds
• 1 1/2 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/2 Tbs. honey (I like clover honey)

Direction

     

     Prepare kale by washing it and tear apart the leave is even sized pieces (don't need to be perfect). Make sure the kale is dried, salad spinner does a great job. Put kale and 1 Tbs of the lemon juice in a bowl. Then with clean hands massage or beak down (rub in your hands or squeeze, should shrink) the leaves. It should begin to release some of its juices (not to much!). This should only take about a minute and a half.  Begin dressing by whisking together the remainder of the lemon juice, pepper, salt, oil, and all the honey. The dressing might have to be thinned slightly with a 1/4 tsp of water. Pour and evenly distribute the dressing over the kale. Next thinly slice or segment your choice of fruit (don't slice to early or fruit will brown). Toss salad with the slivered almonds and fruit slices. Serve suggestion of a Italian pasta dish or light fish meal. Hope you enjoy this delicious way of eating an extremely healthy green!

Pumpkin Seeds

Holidays are coming! For Halloween I always think pumpkins, which means jack-o-lanterns, which equal pumpkin seeds! This year I carved a Superman symbol on my pumpkin! Toasted Pumpkin seeds is my favorite snack food during this fall season! I was experimenting with this recipe, for my sister she loves pumpkin seeds. If anything else it is such a waste to throw away all those seeds. 

Ingredients

• 4 cups of fresh pumpkin seeds
• 2 1/2 tsp regular table salt (do to taste)
• 2 Tbs. Grape seed oil (to much oil will make the seeds soggy)

Directions

      For the seeds just pull the pulp and all out of the pumpkin and place in a colander. Place the colander under running water in the sink, remove any orange pulp. Pour out the rinsed seed on a clean towel that has been laid out on the counter. Let the seeds dry. Once dry, place on a 1/2 sheet pan (might also need to use a quarter sheet pan). At 350 degrees cook alternately 5 min. You will want your seeds to have a nice toasted brown color. Let cool and store on the counter. Enjoy!