Raw Kale & Radicchio Salad

Below is a recipe for my delicious raw kale and radicchio salad. There are no amounts listed, because it's really according to personal taste, and how many people you are making it for. Just use your judgement!

This salad is definitely not for everyone, as kale and radicchio (see photo to the left) are bitter by nature. Personally, I am a fan of bitter greens, and the dried fruit and aged balsamic vinegar really help counterbalance the bitterness. I could eat this salad all day!

I have included some other options at the bottom of this recipe if dried cherries and blueberries aren't your thing, or you just want to change it up! Also, if you're not sure what kale looks like, take a look at my blog post titled "Kale Chips" from November 2, 2010.

Ingredients:

Organic green Lacinato or Tuscan kale (I don't remove the rib, but you can!)

Organic red/purple Radicchio (Do not confuse it with purple cabbage!)

Dried tart cherries (Trader Joe's carries them)

Dried organic blueberries (Trader Joe's carries them)

Pine nuts (toasted and cooled)

Organic extra virgin olive oil

Aged balsamic vinegar (see note about "aged")

Sea Salt

Lemon

Directions:

Rough chop the kale and radicchio. (Make sure to wash, dry, and chop the bottoms off of each first. You just want the leaves, not the kale stalks or radicchio core.)

Combine the kale and radicchio together with your hands in salad bowl.

Sprinkle with toasted pine nuts, dried tart cherries, dried blueberries, and good sea salt - just a couple pinches of each! (Obviously if you are making this for a group, you'll need more than a pinch.)

Drizzle with olive oil, aged balsamic vinegar, and a couple squeezes of fresh lemon juice.

Toss and enjoy!

Note:

Good, aged balsamic vinegar is on the sweeter and thicker side... almost like a syrup. You can use regular 'ol balsamic vinegar, but it has more of a bite to it. I prefer the sweeter, less vinegary kind with this salad.

Other great options for this salad include pink grapefruit segments, sliced Asian pear, chopped dried apricots, sweet peppers (yellow and orange), salted ricotta, and crumbled goat cheese.

Morning Glory Muffins

These good-for-you muffins are terrific for breakfast with a cup of coffee, tea, or steamed milk. They aren't too sweet (no morning tummy aches!), and they are rich in antioxidants. If you are used to eating big sugary Starbucks-type muffins, these muffins might taste a little healthy to you. Personally, I think they are deeeeee-lish!

The below recipe makes about 16 muffins. I like to cook them directly in the pan, as opposed to using a paper liner. I think they bake better that way, and if you use nonstick spray, there's barely any clean-up.

Ingredients:

2 cups bran cereal (no raisins)

1 cup mashed ripe banana (3 medium)

½ cup nonfat or soymilk

1 egg (beaten)

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 cup whole-wheat or white flour (I use whole-wheat)

¼ cup organic Sucanat or regular ‘ol white sugar (I use Sucanat, available at Whole Foods)

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 heaping teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 tablespoons flax seeds (I buy the golden roasted flax seed at Trader Joe’s, they have a lot more flavor!)

½ cups chopped walnuts (or other nut if you don’t like walnuts)

2 handfuls or 1 cup fresh organic blueberries (washed and dried)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan with nonstick spray.

Combine cereal, bananas, milk, egg, vanilla, and oil in bowl; mix well. Let stand 5 minutes; stir to break up cereal.

Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, flax seeds, and nuts in separate bowl. Mix with fork.

Add flour mixture all at once to cereal mixture, stirring just until moistened. Then fold in the fresh blueberries. Try not to mash or crush them.

Divide evenly among prepared muffin cups. (I use a large ice cream scooper with a lever/release. It’s not only super easy, but it creates a lot less mess and uniform size muffins.)

Bake 12-15 minutes (using convection feature if you have one) or until toothpick inserted in center of muffin comes out clean.

When finished, let stand in muffin pan for 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins and place them on a cooling rack. (The bottoms of the muffins get a little moist with all of the fruit and cooking spray, so by placing them on a cooling rack they are able to dry out.)

Store in a glass container, if possible. The muffins keep for about a week. After a few days, I put them in the refrigerator, so the blueberries don't mold. You can pop them in the microwave for 15 seconds to bring them back to "life" before eating them. You can also freeze them if you like!

Note:

You can substitute 1 cup of bran cereal with oatmeal if you prefer. They are not branny tasting either way.

You can eliminate the blueberries if you don’t like them. The recipe still remains the same.

You can add other yummies in place of the blueberries – diced green apple, dried tart cherries, etc. You cannot eliminate the banana though.

The muffins are roughly 125 calories each.