![]() ![]() You know the trader joe’s broccoli kale salad you can buy? It’s amazing. This salad delivers the richness of a holiday meal and a whole lot of badly needed greens.This post is sponsored by ASMI. All opinions are my own.Ī good kale and broccoli salad is one of my favorite things. It’s salty, sweet and surprisingly meaty for being meatless. So, that’s everything you need to know about this Mushroom Confit Kale Salad. I would suggest leaving the mushroom confit, blistered grapes, nuts, and cheese separate until just before serving. The acidity and oil in the dressing will quiet the fibrous nature of the kale and you will have an essentially tender leaf salad waiting in your fridge. All you have to do is toss the kale in the vinaigrette and let it sit for at least an hour. Okay, I get it, that takes time and who has it? It really doesn’t have to be for a dog’s age. Now, I have one more tip on how to make a kale salad more palatable – marinate it. I think the better question is “Why not blister a grape?”. You simply toss the suckers in olive oil and throw them in the oven. Another reason to blister a grape: It’s easy. And the color? Well, let’s just say, I’m desperate to find a dress in this particular shade of blistered grape. The grape’s sugars have the opportunity to caramelize resulting in a gorgeous depth of flavor. Popping grapes into the oven is a great way to intensify their flavor. You will have oil leftover, but save that for all your sauteing needs. But please, don’t discard it! The oil takes on a wonderful flavor and it is the base for the vinaigrette in this Mushroom Confit Kale Salad. Well, I can’t say mushroom confit is “light” but you can take comfort in the fact that a lot of the oil is strained off. Now, I’m sure you’re more than a little concerned about all that oil. From there you bring the oil’s temperature up to 170° F and hold it there as best you can for 20 minutes. You simply brown the mushrooms, add a few herbs and aromatics and positively drown everything in olive oil. Let’s Talk Processįor something that sounds as fancy as “confit”, it’s actually a very simple process. But I wanted to keep things vegetarian, so I made my mushroom confit using olive oil. Well, if you’re making mushroom confit for non-vegetarians, you have the option to cook the mushrooms in lard. Now, I’m sure the obvious problem you have arrived at is mushrooms don’t have fat. But just because duck confit is the most popular doesn’t mean you can’t have other forms of confit. The result is ultra moist and ultra-rich meat. A duck leg is seared and then cooked low and slow while fully immersed in duck fat. Duck confit is probably the most familiar form of confit. Have you ever confited? Do you know what’s involved? Well, brace yourself because it’s a whole lot of fat. See? The kale in this Mushroom Confit Kale Salad is the only healthy thing in it. ![]() Oh and if mushrooms poached in olive oil wasn’t decadent enough for you, I threw in some cambozola too. Doesn’t sound loaded with joie de vivre does it? Well, to counteract the general bummer that tends to follow kale wherever it goes, I added rich mushroom confit and sweet blistered red grapes. I just think vitamin C is super important regardless of what level of debauchery you happen to find yourself at. You won’t hear any proclamations like “summer bodies being built in the winter” from me. But I also do enjoy vegetables, covered in cheese or otherwise, so please know this salad isn’t about getting you to make better choices this holiday season. So, as you can see I am a glutton and I need to be let off my leash from time to time. Sometimes life is just for living and to me, living is eating stilton and cream crackers with abandon. Sometimes life isn’t about planning your next ideal step. With social media reinforcing our need to appear perfect at all times, I think it’s nice to have humble moments when one succumbs to the power of pate. I think the holidays are weirdly good for us. I enjoy working out and looking good, but I also enjoy pie for breakfast. Yes, the holidays are here again to ruin us. It’ll boost your vitamin intake while holding its own flavor-wise next to a mountain of mashed potatoes. So, allow me to introduce you to the healthiest, most indulgent holiday salad I can muster – this Mushroom Confit Kale Salad with Blistered Red Grapes. And while the holidays only come but once a year, scurvy can hit whenever. With all these rich and carb-tastic indulgences in our midst, it’s easy to lose things like greens or self-control in the shuffle. Decided to kick dairy? This slab of triple cream brie says otherwise. Decided to give up gluten? Say hello to shortbread. In other words, the holidays do not favor dietary restrictions of any kind. ![]() The holiday season is all about nog, cookies, crackers, and cheese. ![]()
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