A massage and a secret ingredient helps breaks down the kale into this beautiful kale persimmon salad. We top it with pomegranates and almonds for the perfect sweet and crunch.

It’s December. Can you even wrap your head around that? I don’t understand how the time slips…..five  minutes..ten…an hour. And my sons grow and change and grow some more before my eyes. I worry about them like every other mama I can only assume does.

Do we read to them enough? Do they eat enough veggies? How can we play more and spend less time with devices in our laps? Are they healthy? Happy?

We’ve started reading chapter books to them recently and Moby Dick was selected as the book of choice. We had accidentally ordered a kids version years ago and had tucked it away so it felt right. They are wild little boys at 2 1/2 and 4 years old and I’m sure they are only catching bits and pieces of the story as they tear around the bedroom or living room. But it’s progress.

I don’t understand how they could possibly still have that much energy at the end of the day while I sit exhausted and listen to the story. And last night drifted off to sleep in my clothes to Kevin’s voice instead of writing this post.

But this morning as I listened to Noah ask about Queequeg and Captain Ahab and how the whale went “Poom! And crashed into the boat mama!”

I can’t help but smile. This guy loves stealing my iPad something fierce but he is learning to love these books like nothing else too and that makes me smile.

We’ve also been trying to make an even bigger effort to make sure we are getting out together as a family at least once a week. It snowed here last week and on Sunday we packed both the boys up and took them sledding. I didn’t take my camera, just my phone so I could really play instead of just watching them. I don’t remember the last time I went careening down a hill at high speed and I’ve certainly never done it with a toddler in my lap before. This huge hill is literally 2 minutes away from our house so now we have no excuse not to go.

They lasted for hours, up and down the hills. I managed to capture a few pics just before we headed home. This kid and these eyes…he’s my little spit fire, headstrong, loud, ping ponging off every wall and I love him so. He was in his element 100%.

But alas that’s enough waning poetic about my offspring. This salad is the main event of the day. First up….kale. You need this after all that craziness last week. I served this at Thanksgiving but it’s totally appropriate for a post binge cleanse as well.

Start by pulling the kale off the stalks and slicing thinly. If your kale is looking a bit droopy don’t toss them! Cut them and then place them in a bowl of ice cold water to bring them back to life.

Then we are going to employ a trick I learned from Aarti’s old youtube channel….lemon juice! The acid in the lemon juice and just a bit of salt goes into the bowl and then we get our hands in there and give the kale a good massage. You will start to feel it breaking down after 2-3 minutes which is perfect if you have a few hours before dinner for it to rest. If you are serving it right away aim for 5 minutes of massaging.

After that it’s seriously just as easy. Grab a bottle of your good olive oil (not the stuff you cook with) and whisk a quick dressing together. I personally am a huge fan of Dellalo’s extra virgin olive oil for situations like this. Drizzle about 1/4-1/2 cup of the olive oil in, squeeze the second half of your lemon and adjust to your taste with honey and pepper. I leave the salt out since we already tossed some in the kale.

Once that’s done you get to top this bad boy with whatever goodies you like. I happen to currently be obsessed with the Fuyu persimmons that are in season right now and pomegranates so that was my choice but really the sky is the limit on what you mix in here. A few crunchy almonds for a bit of visual interest and crunch and we are done!

Here’s to still fitting in our pants by the end of the month! You could totally top this with some grilled chicken or a poached egg and call it a full meal too.

Are you still in a post Thanksgiving food coma or have you emerged from the leftovers yet?

Is it snowy in your neck of the woods yet? I have friends in Michigan who don’t have any snow yet and it’s been literally -5 to a warm balmy 30 degrees the whole past week here in Oregon. Brrr.

Massaged Kale Persimmon Salad

Yield: 12 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

A massage and a secret ingredient helps breaks down the kale into this beautiful kale persimmon salad. We top it with pomegranates and almonds for the perfect sweet and crunch.

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Ingredients

• 1 large head kale stems removed
• 3 ripe Fuyu persimmons tops removed and diced
• Seeds from 1/2 a pomegranate
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds
• 1 large lemon
• 1/4-1/2 cup good quality olive oil We use Delallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1-2 teaspoons honey
• salt and pepper

Instructions

1. Thinly slice kale into ribbons and place in a large bowl. Squeeze half of the lemon into kale over it and a liberal sprinkle of salt (about 1/4 of a teaspoon or so but I don't measure it).
2. Massage kale for 2-3 minutes if you have several hours before dinner or 5 minutes if serving immediately.
3. Whisk remaining lemon juice, olive oil, honey, and salt and pepper to taste into a simple vinaigrette and pour over salad.
4. Top with persimmons, pomegranate seeds, almonds, and toss.
5. Keeps well for up to 2 days in the fridge.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 12 Serving Size: 1
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 190Total Fat: 16gSaturated Fat: 2gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 13gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 28mgCarbohydrates: 13gFiber: 3gSugar: 8gProtein: 1g

This is not a sponsored post. I enjoy sharing the brands I use and love with my readers regardless of compensation. 

Shop The Products I Used In This Post:

Vintage Forks, Vintage Myrtlewood Bowls, Linen Napkins-Natural

Delallo Extra Virgin Olive Oil