Spring is here and you know what that mean – salad season! Salads are light, easy and a great way to incorporate more veggies into your daily diet. I personally love salads and eat them most days of the week. While salads can be healthy and very beneficial to health, they can also be just as easily 9k=detrimental. High fat dressings, and toppings, over-sized portions, or extra croutons can add up to unwanted calories. It’s important to be mindful of what is really in your salad, especially when ordering from a restaurant. Most often its best to just skip the bacon, ranch dressing and croutons. Below is a recipe to one of my favorite salads, mostly because it is flavorful and easy to whip up. If you are not a huge fan of kale, give this one a try. Massaging olive oil into raw kale helps even out the bitter taste. If you still can’t force yourself to eat kale, substitute spinach or another dark leafy green.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 head of kale, removed from stem and lightly chopped
  • 5 grape tomatoes
  • 1 tsp pumpkin seeds
  • 1 tsp sunflower seeds
  • ½ cucumber, sliced
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 oz of your favorite cheese
  • ¼ lemon wedge
  • black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Place chopped kale in bowl. Add olive oil and massage so kale becomes evenly coated. Refrigerate 5-10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and top with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice and black pepper.

Enjoy!

Bridget Baxter
www.bridgetbaxter.com