The Best Kale Salad EVER! {guest post}

I’m so glad you guys liked the video I posted on Monday just as much as I do—and I’m really sorry it made y’all cry, even if they were happy tears. We’re switching topics today. No babies, no kids, no deployment/military talk. Nope. We’re going to talk about food, which is right up this pregnant lady’s alley (I promise that’s the last pregnant talk for today)!

If you’re not following Coconuts and Stripes, I highly recommend you click that link and bookmark it or add it to your reader. She’s here today sharing one of her favorite, easy meals with us, which looks like the perfect meal for some hot summer days. Take it away, Meghan!

hi there! i’m so excited to be here on jessica’s blog today. my name’s meghan and i’ve had kind of a crazy summer, moving from new york to la and traveling all over in between. we’re finally getting settled and i’m getting used to saying that i live in california now!

since we’ve moved, i’ve started working from home full-time, so it’s been really important to have quick and easy lunches to pull together at the beginning of the week. this kale salad has become my go-to, and i think you’ll really like it too!

Ingredients:
– 1 bunch lacinto (sometimes called dinosaur) kale
– 1 mango, peeled and diced
– 1 english cucumber, diced
– 1 red bell pepper, diced
– 1/4 cup roasted, salted pumpkin seeds or sunflower seeds
– 1 cup rotisserie chicken (optional)

Dressing
– Juice of 1 lemon
– 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
– 1 tsp dijon mustard
– 1 tsp honey or maple syrup
– 2 tbsp fresh basil, chopped
– Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
First, prep your kale. Fold each leaf in half, slice out the stem, and then chop the rest of the leaf into little ribbons and put into a big salad bowl.

Then, mix your dressing – just whisk all of the ingredients together – and pour over the kale. Get your hands dirty and massage the dressing into the kale so it’s evenly distributed. The dressing will wilt the kale as it sits, making it less bitter, so let it marinate while you prep the rest of the veggies.

Once you have the mango, cucumber, and pepper diced, toss it all together with the kale, and top with pumpkin or sunflower seeds. I like to add some rotisserie chicken for some protein, but you can leave it out if you’re vegan or vegetarian.

The beauty of this salad is you can mix and match any kinds of seasonal fruits or veggies with this basic recipe, so have some fun making new combinations! Kale yeah!