If you had a weekend full of beer and pizza, get back into the zone with this delicious salad to go along with your grilled chicken. First of all, salads aren’t like your mom used to make ‘em. By tossing in nuts, dried fruit and and making your own dressing, you can turn a bland salad into a crowd-pleaser. Iceberg lettuce with unripe tomatoes are a thing of the past. The new king of salad is kale – a great leafy green that packs a ton of nutrients, and keeps longer, too.

Ingredients for the vinaigrette dressing:

  • 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ tablespoon dijon mustard (pro tip: try other mustards that you like)
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • sea salt and pepper to taste

Ingredients for the salad:

  • 1 bunch kale, stems removed (or buy them pre-cut in a bag)
  • ¾ cup dried cranberries
  • ¾ cup of chopped walnuts (skinless walnuts if you can find them)

What to do:

  1. To make vinaigrette: Whisk (this means to beat/blend) in a bowl all ingredients together, add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Tear the kale into bite sized pieces and set aside.
  3. Heat olive oil in frying pan over medium heat, add garlic and saute. Toss kale into the frying pan. Cook for approximately 1 minute until just wilted and remove.
  4. Toss kale, dried cranberries and walnuts together in a bowl, add vinaigrette and abd sea salt and pepper to taste, then serve warm.
  5. Keep any leftover vinaigrette in the fridge to use later.

This is how you make green veggies like kale taste amazing.