Recipe Makeover - Whole30 Winter Fruit Kale Salad
Do you ever look at one of those food magazines, love the recipe, but then you realize you can't eat it because you have dietary restrictions or doing a Whole30? Well, I did too, then I started to think, how can I update and change it so I can enjoy this anytime without sacrificing the amazing flavors that made me drool? I am working on a bunch of these and I want to show you that you can do the same with other recipes.
I haven't put up a salad yet so here is a delicious salad that has been madeover and it is seriously delicious. This is no ordinary salad, it has great texture, sweetness, crunch, and would be amazing with some grilled chicken to make it a meal. I used kale instead of romaine because we can never finish a salad in one night and leftover salad is one of the saddest things ever, but good ole kale can stand up to a night all dressed and lookin' purdy. Plus, my oldest daughter is obsessed with kale, seriously begs for it, totally her natural inclination and I am capitalizing on it!
Winter Fruit Kale Salad
Inspired by All Recipes
- 2 lemons, juiced
- 4 dates, softened in hot water for a few minutes
- 1/2 small onion, diced
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, compliant (check there is no sugar or white wine)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 - 1 cup Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon poppy seeds
- 4 cups chopped kale, stems removed, ripped into small pieces
- 1 Granny Smith apple, diced or sliced, your choice
- 1 cup cashews, chopped
- 1/4 cup dried cranberries, apple juice sweetened
- Combine the first 5 ingredients (lemon-salt) into a high speed blender or food processor. Once combined, slowly drizzle in the oil until the dressing becomes thicker. Add the poppy seeds and blend until distributed.
- In a large bowl, toss together the kale, apple, cashews, and cranberries. Drizzle some of the dressing, about half, onto the salad and massage with your hands. This will break the kale down a bit, making it easier to eat. Let sit for a few minutes and add more dressing if you want!
Here are some of the changes I made to make this Whole30 approved:
- Sugar was swapped for dates
- Vegetable Oil was updated to Olive Oil
- Dried Cranberries was specified to be Apple Juice Sweetened
- Parmesan was removed from the recipe
I made other tweaks to my palate but those above are things you can look into when you run into those ingredients on a recipe you like. I will always share the original recipe (linked at the top) that inspired me and let you know what changes I made!
